Tornadoes · United States · Virginia · 2006

F1 tornado, Jamestown, Virginia, January 11, 2006

This F1 tornado ran 0.8 miles across James City County on January 11, 2006, touching down at 6:23 PM EST and reaching 25 yards wide. It killed nobody and injured 2, and did $20,000 of property damage.

The rating scale

Tracks are drawn in the color of the rating. The Fujita scale rates the damage rather than measuring the wind: the speeds are what that damage is taken to imply.

  1. F040 to 72 mph

    Light damage. Surface peeled off some roofs, gutters and siding damaged, branches broken, shallow-rooted trees pushed over.

  2. F173 to 112 mphthis tornado

    Moderate damage. Roofs badly stripped, mobile homes overturned or badly damaged, exterior doors lost, windows broken.

  3. F2113 to 157 mph

    Considerable damage. Roofs torn off well-built houses, frame homes shifted on their foundations, mobile homes destroyed, large trees snapped or uprooted, cars lifted off the ground.

  4. F3158 to 206 mph

    Severe damage. Whole stories of well-built houses destroyed, large buildings badly damaged, trains overturned, trees debarked, heavy cars lifted and thrown.

  5. F4207 to 260 mph

    Devastating damage. Well-built houses leveled, structures with weak foundations moved some distance, cars thrown and large missiles generated.

  6. F5261 to 318 mph

    Incredible damage. Strong frame houses swept off their foundations, car-sized missiles thrown more than 100 meters, steel-reinforced concrete badly damaged, high-rise buildings deformed.

  7. Unrated

    The survey recorded a tornado but could not put a number on it, most often because it crossed open country and damaged nothing a rating can be read from.

The record

Rating
F1
Date
January 11, 2006
Touchdown
6:23 PM EST (23:23 UTC)
Path length
0.8 miles (1.3 km)
Path width
25 yards (23 m)
Deaths
0
Injuries
2
Property damage
$20,000
County
James City County
Touchdown point
37.220, -76.820
Lift-off point
37.220, -76.820
Record number
21

What the Weather Service recorded

F1 tornado caused intermittent damage at the Jamestown Beach Campground and Foxfield subdivision. One trailer and a pop-up camper were destroyed at the campground and caused minor injuries to two occupants. Two townhomes suffered minor roof and siding damage in the subdivision. Many trees were damaged along Jamestown Road.

From NOAA NCEI's Storm Events Database, the narrative the local forecast office wrote for Storm Data.

The warnings

No tornado warning for this county appears in the archive as in force at the moment the tornado touched down.

Every warning and watch covering the touchdown point that day, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service products. Lead time is measured from the issue of the warning in force to the touchdown time in the database, both of which were recorded to the minute by different people.

The forecast that day

The Storm Prediction Center had this point in a General Thunderstorms Risk. The outlook in force was issued at 19:27 UTC.

SPC's Day 1 convective outlook as it stood when the tornado began, read at the touchdown point. The same archive is on the radar archive.

The air that afternoon

The radiosonde launches on either side of the tornado, from the nearest station that was launching then, drawn and analyzed the way Storm Lab does: the same diagram, the same parcel and shear definitions SPC's mesoanalysis uses.

Wallops Is Stn, VA (KWAL), 12:00Z

11.4 hours before the tornado, 148 km from the path. January 11, 2006.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Wallops Is Stn, VA at 12:00Z on 2006-01-11Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel lifted from the surface. Mixed-layer CAPE 3 joules per kilogram, CIN -109, lifted condensation level 935 meters above ground. Wind barbs in knots down the right edge.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°0°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed. The warm shading is its CAPE, the cool shading the inhibition it has to break through.
HodographHodograph, Wallops Is Stn, VA at 12:00Z on 2006-01-11The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers as a curve, rings every 10 meters per second labeled in knots. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 83 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 47 knots.19395878Sfc1 km3 km6 km9 kmRMLM
The wind turning with height, colored by layer: ground to 1 km, 1 to 3 km, 3 to 6 km, 6 to 10 km. RM and LM are the right and left moving storms Bunkers' method gives; the shaded area is the 0 to 1 km storm-relative helicity.
Mixed-layer CAPE
3 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-109 J/kg
Surface CAPE
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
935 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
47 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
22 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
83 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
108 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.0
0-3 km lapse rate
1.9 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

Wallops Is Stn, VA (KWAL), 00:00Z

0.6 hours after it, 148 km from the path. January 12, 2006.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Wallops Is Stn, VA at 00:00Z on 2006-01-12Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel lifted from the surface. Mixed-layer CAPE 124 joules per kilogram, CIN -48, lifted condensation level 927 meters above ground. Wind barbs in knots down the right edge.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°0°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed. The warm shading is its CAPE, the cool shading the inhibition it has to break through.
HodographHodograph, Wallops Is Stn, VA at 00:00Z on 2006-01-12The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers as a curve, rings every 10 meters per second labeled in knots. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 194 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 40 knots.1939587897Sfc1 km3 km6 km9 kmRMLM
The wind turning with height, colored by layer: ground to 1 km, 1 to 3 km, 3 to 6 km, 6 to 10 km. RM and LM are the right and left moving storms Bunkers' method gives; the shaded area is the 0 to 1 km storm-relative helicity.
Mixed-layer CAPE
124 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-48 J/kg
Surface CAPE
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
927 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
40 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
37 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
194 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
216 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.0
0-3 km lapse rate
4.6 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The surface observations

Williamsburg (JGG), 9 km from the path, in the two hours either side.

Time (UTC)Temp (°F)Dew point (°F)WindGust (kt)Pressure (mb)Weather
21:40 UTC66.255.4220° 6 kt1017.3
22:00 UTC66.255.4240° 4 kt1017.6
22:20 UTC66.257.2230° 3 kt1017.6
22:40 UTC62.660.8180° 3 kt1016.9
23:00 UTC60.860.8190° 4 kt1016.9
23:20 UTC5959110° 6 kt1015.9
23:40 UTC60.860.8220° 5 kt1016.9
00:00 UTC60.859220° 4 kt1016.6
00:20 UTC60.860.8190° 6 kt1016.3
00:40 UTC60.859200° 6 kt1016.3
01:00 UTC5959190° 8 kt1015.9
01:20 UTC60.859210° 5 kt1016.3

From the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of airport observations.

The radar

The Norfolk radar (KAKQ), 31 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 23:21 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment, over the track

Reflectivity and velocity, decoded from the Level II archive in the browser. Volumes take a few seconds to open the first time.

What was reported nearby

Local storm reports within 60 km of the path, in the three hours either side.

Time (UTC)ReportWhereCountyRemark
22:20 UTCFUNNEL CLOUD2 N SussexSussex, VAFUNNEL CLOUD SIGHTING NEAR SUSSEX.
22:20 UTCFUNNEL CLOUDHomevilleSussex, VAFUNNEL CLOUD SIGHTING NEAR HOMEVILLE.
22:20 UTCTORNADO1 Ne BookerSussex, VAINTERMITTENT DAMAGE PATH OF 3.5 MILES IN LENGTH AND AROUND 200 YARDS IN WIDTH BEWTEEN ROUTES 40 AND 35 IN CENTRAL SUSSEX COUNTY. MOST SUBSTANTIAL DAMAGE... ASSESSED AS AS WEAK F1...OCCURRED WITHIN A MILE NE OF BOOKER...A
22:23 UTCTORNADO3 Nne SussexSussex, VAREPORT OF TRAILER TURNED OVER. ROOFS OFF SHEDS. DAMAGE OFF OF RTE 626.
23:23 UTCTORNADO2 Nw JamestownJames City, VA*** 2 INJ *** INTERMITTENT DAMAGE PATH OF 3/4 MILE... WIDTH AROUND 25 YARDS...BEGINNING AT JAMESTOWN BEACH CAMPGROUND. NUMEROUS TREES SNAPPED. MOBILE HOME DESTROYED...MOVED 15 YARDS. DAMAGE WAS RATED AS A WEAK F1.
23:23 UTCTORNADO2 Nw JamestownJames City, VA*** 2 INJ *** INTERMITTENT DAMAGE PATH OF 3/4 MILE...WITH AROUND 25 YARDS...BEGINNING AT JAMESTOWN BEACH CAMPGROUND. NUMEROUS TREES SNAPPED. MOBILE HOME DESTROYED...MOVED 15 YARDS OFF FOUNDATION. DAMAGE WAS RATED AS A WE
23:32 UTCTORNADO2 Nw JamestownJames City, VADAMAGE REPORTED OFF JAMESTOWN ROAD NEAR BEACH CAMP SITE. FUNNEL CLOUD ALSO SPOTTED IN AREA. OTHER DAMAGE REPORTED NEAR GOVERNORS LAND AND CARDINAL ACRES. POSSIBLE TORNADO.

From the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service local storm reports.

This ground now

The live radar over the trackEvery 2006 tornado in VirginiaEvery tornado in Virginia since 1950Warnings in force in Virginia nowThe forecast where you are

The other tornadoes of January 11, 2006

1 more were confirmed in the United States that day.

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
January 115:20 PM ESTF1Sussex, VA3.5200$20,000

What this means

Ratings are the survey's, read off the damage rather than measured; the rating scale is above. Tornado counts rise through the record as reporting improved, so a year in the 1950s is not comparable with one today except for the strongest tornadoes, which were always noticed.

Sources

NOAA Storm Prediction Center tornado database, 1950-2025, the official record kept by NOAA's Storm Prediction Center.