Tornadoes · United States · Virginia · 2006

F1 tornado, Burkeville, Virginia, September 28, 2006

This F1 tornado ran 3.5 miles across Nottoway and Amelia counties on September 28, 2006, touching down at 5:40 PM EDT and reaching 100 yards wide. It killed nobody, and did $30,000 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
September 28, 2006
Touchdown
5:40 PM EDT (21:40 UTC)
Path length
3.5 miles (5.6 km)
Path width
100 yards (91 m)
Deaths
0
Injuries
0
Property damage
$30,000
Counties
Nottoway and Amelia counties
Touchdown point
37.250, -78.200
Lift-off point
37.280, -78.100
Record number
938

What the Weather Service recorded

F1 tornado tore off numerous tree tops and twisted large branches near South Genito Road and Lakeside Road. This tornado tracked from Nottoway county into Amelia county.

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.

The county was under a severe thunderstorm watch, issued at 20:50 UTC and running to 01:03 UTC.

Issued (UTC)ExpiredProductOffice
20:50 UTC01:03 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WatchAKQ
21:35 UTC22:00 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WarningAKQ
23:04 UTC23:30 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WarningAKQ

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 Slight Risk, with a 0.02 chance of a tornado within 25 miles. The outlook in force was issued at 19:56 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.

Roanoke, VA (KRNK), 12:00Z

9.7 hours before the tornado, 120 km from the path. September 28, 2006.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Roanoke, VA at 12:00Z on 2006-09-28Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel lifted from the surface. Mixed-layer CAPE 0 joules per kilogram, CIN -28470, lifted condensation level 792 meters above ground. Wind barbs in knots down the right edge.LCL10008507005003002001001 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, Roanoke, VA at 12:00Z on 2006-09-28The 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 38 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 46 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
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-28470 J/kg
Surface CAPE
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
792 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
46 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
31 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
38 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
138 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.0
0-3 km lapse rate
3.5 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

Roanoke, VA (KRNK), 00:00Z

2.3 hours after it, 120 km from the path. September 29, 2006.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Roanoke, VA at 00:00Z on 2006-09-29Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel lifted from the surface. Mixed-layer CAPE 0 joules per kilogram, CIN -96086, lifted condensation level 826 meters above ground. Wind barbs in knots down the right edge.LCL10008507005003002001001 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, Roanoke, VA at 00:00Z on 2006-09-29The 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 -182 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 60 knots.1939587897117Sfc1 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
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-96086 J/kg
Surface CAPE
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
826 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
60 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
31 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
-182 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
-235 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.0
0-3 km lapse rate
5.1 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The surface observations

Farmville (FVX), 27 km from the path, in the two hours either side.

Time (UTC)Temp (°F)Dew point (°F)WindGust (kt)Pressure (mb)Weather
19:41 UTC7760.8190° 7 kt141006.1
20:02 UTC75.260.8180° 6 kt1005.8
20:21 UTC7760.8190° 8 kt1005.4
20:41 UTC75.260.8190° 7 kt1005.1-RA
21:01 UTC69.862.6190° 3 kt1005.4+RA
21:21 UTC6862.6220° 4 kt1005.4-RA
21:41 UTC66.260.8130° 3 kt1005.1-RA
22:02 UTC64.460.80° 0 kt1005.1
22:20 UTC64.460.8250° 8 kt1006.8
22:40 UTC59310° 16 kt211008.1
23:00 UTC57.253.6310° 7 kt1008.5+RA
23:20 UTC57.253.6320° 5 kt1008.1+RA

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

The radar

The Norfolk radar (KAKQ), 106 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 21:41 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
21:30 UTCTSTM WND DMG7 E FarmvillePrince Edward, VAPOWER LINES AND TREES DOWN NEAR RTE 307 AND 460. 1000 WERE REPORTED WITHOUT POWER.
21:40 UTCTSTM WND DMG1 Nw BurkevilleNottoway, VATREES DOWN NEAR INTERSECTION OF RTE 360 AND 460. POSSIBLE TORNADO.
21:40 UTCTSTM WND DMG5 N BurkevilleNottoway, VATREES DOWNED BY STRAIGHT LINE WINDS...NEAR PATH OF F1 TORNADO.
21:40 UTCTORNADO 15 N BurkevilleNottoway, VAPATH LENGTH 1.5 MILES...WIDTH 500-800 YARDS. TORNADO TOUCHED DOWN IN RURAL AREA OVER EXTREME NORTHWEST NOTTOWAY COUNTY...NEAR SOUTH GENITO ROAD AND LAKESIDE ROAD. TOPS OF TREES TORN OFF...LARGE BRANCHES TWISTED.
21:50 UTCTSTM WND DMG1 W JetersvilleAmelia, VASILO TOPPLED, OFF DRUNKARD ROAD NEAR RTE 360. POSSIBLE TORNADO.
21:50 UTCTORNADO 02 Sw JetersvilleAmelia, VATWO BRIEF F0 TOUCHDOWNS...WITH THE TOTAL PATH LENGTH OF 2 MILES AND WIDTH ESTIMATED AT 50-75 YARDS. THE FIRST TOUCHDOWN WAS NEAR SOAP STONE ROAD ABOUT 2 MILES SW OF JETERSVILLE...WITH TREES DOWN. THE NEXT TOUCHDOWN WAS A
21:50 UTCTORNADO 12 Sw JetersvilleAmelia, VATWO BRIEF TOUCHDOWNS...TOTAL PATH LENGTH OF 2 MILES AND WIDTH ESTIMATED AT 50-75 YARDS. THE FIRST TOUCHDOWN... RATED F0...WAS NEAR SOAP STONE RD 2 MILES SW OF JETERSVILLE...WITH TREES DOWN. THE NEXT TOUCHDOWN... RATED F1
22:00 UTCTSTM WND DMG9 E Charlotte Court HouCharlotte, VALARGE TREE UPROOTED ON OLD WELL RD. IN NORTHWEST PART OF COUNTY.
22:35 UTCHAIL 0.25Bon AirChesterfield, VAWINDS ESTIMATED AT 40 MPH
22:35 UTCHAIL 0.88MidlothianChesterfield, VA
22:43 UTCHAIL 0.88Bon AirChesterfield, VA
23:05 UTCTSTM WND DMG3 S Chase CityMecklenburg, VATREES DOWN.
23:05 UTCTSTM WND DMGAmelia CourthouseAmelia, VATREES DOWN.
23:15 UTCTSTM WND DMGPattersons StoreNottoway, VATREES DOWN.
23:15 UTCHAIL 0.75SublettsPowhatan, VA
23:35 UTCTSTM WND DMG5 Nw SutherlandDinwiddie, VANAMOZINE ROAD...BETWEEN RTE 611 AND 623. STRUCTURAL DAMAGE TO BARNS AND 3 RESIDENCES. ANOTHER BARN REPORTED DESTROYED. TREES DOWN. PUBLIC REPORTED PSBL TORNADO.
23:35 UTCTSTM WND DMG5 Nw SutherlandDinwiddie, VANAMOZINE ROAD. STRUCTURAL DAMAGE TO BARNS AND 3 RESIDENCES. ANOTHER BARN REPORTED DESTROYED. TREES DOWN. PUBLIC REPORTED PSBL TORNADO.
23:35 UTCTSTM WND DMG5 Nw SutherlandDinwiddie, VANAMOZINE ROAD...BETWEEN RTE 611 AND 623. STRUCTURAL DAMAGE TO BARNS AND 3 RESIDENCES. ANOTHER BARN REPORTED DESTROYED. TREES DOWN. STRAIGHT LINE WIND DAMAGE PER STORM SURVEY.
23:35 UTCTSTM WND DMGSutherlandDinwiddie, VASTORM SURVEY CONDUCTED TO ASSESS POSSIBLE TORNADO. STRAIGHT LINE WIND DAMAGE OVER NUMEROUS PARTS OF THE COUNTY BUT NO EVIDENCE OF TORNADIC DAMAGE.
23:45 UTCTSTM WND DMGEttrickChesterfield, VATREES AND POWERLINES DOWN BETWEEN ETTRICK AND MATTOACA
00:05 UTCTSTM WND DMG4 Ne LawrencevilleBrunswick, VATREES DOWN NORTH OF US-58.

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 September 28, 2006

3 more were confirmed in the United States that day.

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
September 285:05 PM EDTF1Cumberland, PA3.0100$70,000
September 286:34 PM EDTF1Anne Arundel, MD2.0250$6.0 million
September 288:35 PM EDTF1King and Queen, VA2.0100$30,000

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.