Tornadoes · United States · Virginia · 2008

EF0 tornado, Etna Mills, Virginia, May 31, 2008

This EF0 tornado ran 1.0 miles across King William County on May 31, 2008, touching down at 4:52 PM EDT and reaching 50 yards wide. It killed nobody, and did $50,000 of property damage.

The rating scale

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

  1. EF065 to 85 mphthis tornado

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

  2. EF186 to 110 mph

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

  3. EF2111 to 135 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. EF3136 to 165 mph

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

  5. EF4166 to 200 mph

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

  6. EF5over 200 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
EF0
Date
May 31, 2008
Touchdown
4:52 PM EDT (20:52 UTC)
Lifted
4:54 PM EDT (20:54 UTC)
On the ground
2 minutes
Path length
1.0 miles (1.6 km)
Path width
50 yards (46 m)
Deaths
0
Injuries
0
Property damage
$50,000
County
King William County
Touchdown point
37.766, -77.270
Lift-off point
37.778, -77.249
Record number
0805311452-01

What the Weather Service recorded

Scattered severe thunderstorms, ahead of a cold front, produced damaging winds, large hail, and one tornado across portions of central and eastern Virginia.

Tornado touched down and caused structural damage to a few homes which included blown out windows and shingles torn off a roof. There was also an empty silo blown over. Numerous large trees were either snapped off or completely blown over, including oak trees 2 to 3 feet in diameter. The tornado was on the ground for about one mile along Etna Mills and Dabneys Mill Roads.

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

The warnings

4 minutes of warning. NWS AKQ issued a tornado warning for this county at 20:48 UTC, 4 minutes before the tornado touched down, in force until 21:11 UTC.

The county was under a tornado watch, issued at 19:10 UTC and running to 01:00 UTC.

Issued (UTC)ExpiredProductOffice
19:10 UTC01:00 UTCTornado WatchAKQ
19:57 UTC21:00 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WarningAKQ
20:27 UTC21:30 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WarningAKQ
20:48 UTC21:11 UTCTornado WarningAKQ
21:02 UTC21:45 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WarningAKQ
21:14 UTC21:42 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WarningAKQ
21:40 UTC21:58 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WarningAKQ
22:23 UTC22:44 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 Moderate Risk, with a 0.10 chance of a tornado within 25 miles. The outlook in force was issued at 20:00 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.

Washington/Dulle, VA (KIAD), 12:00Z

8.9 hours before the tornado, 132 km from the path. May 31, 2008.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Washington/Dulle, VA at 12:00Z on 2008-05-31Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel lifted from the surface. Mixed-layer CAPE 658 joules per kilogram, CIN -105, lifted condensation level 965 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, Washington/Dulle, VA at 12:00Z on 2008-05-31The 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 145 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 48 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
658 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-105 J/kg
Surface CAPE
128 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
965 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
48 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
24 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
145 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
165 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.4
Supercell composite
6.6
0-3 km lapse rate
5.5 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

Washington/Dulle, VA (KIAD), 00:00Z

3.1 hours after it, 132 km from the path. June 1, 2008.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Washington/Dulle, VA at 00:00Z on 2008-06-01Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel lifted from the surface. Mixed-layer CAPE 515 joules per kilogram, CIN -46, lifted condensation level 1399 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, Washington/Dulle, VA at 00:00Z on 2008-06-01The 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 160 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 56 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
515 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-46 J/kg
Surface CAPE
1901 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1399 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
56 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
36 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
160 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
198 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.2
Supercell composite
3.0
0-3 km lapse rate
7.0 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The radar

The Norfolk radar (KAKQ), 90 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 20:50 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
20:25 UTCHAIL 0.751 E OliverHanover, VAPENNY HAIL BETWEEN OLIVER AND GUMTREE NEAR ROUTE 738.
20:40 UTCHAIL 0.881 E Kings DominionCaroline, VAPUBLIC REPORTS OF NICKEL TO QUARTER SIZE HAIL AND TREES DOWN NEAR KING DOMINION
20:40 UTCHAIL 0.88DoswellHanover, VAPUBLIC REPORTS OF NICKEL TO QUARTER SIZE HAIL AND TREES DOWN NEAR KING DOMINION
20:52 UTCTSTM WND DMGEtna MillsKing William, VANUMEROUS TREES DOWN AND STRUCTURAL DAMAGE ALONG ETNA MILLS ROAD...POSSIBLE TORNADO TOUCHDOWN.
20:52 UTCTSTM WND DMGN Etna MillsKing William, VANUMEROUS TREES DOWN AND SOME STRUCTURAL DAMAGE ALONG DABNEYS MILL ROAD. POSSIBLE TORNADO TOUCHDOWN.
20:52 UTCTORNADO 0Etna MillsKing William, VASTRUCTURAL DAMAGE TO A FEW HOMES INCLUDED BLOWN OUT WINDOWS AND SHINGLES TORN OFF ROOF. THERE WAS ALSO AN EMPTY SILO BLOWN OVER. NUMEROUS LARGE TREES WERE EITHER SNAPPED OFF OR COMPLETELY BLOWN OVER...INCLUDING OAKS 2-3
20:54 UTCTSTM WND DMG5 Nw Hanover AirportHanover, VANUMEROUS TREES DOWN. MINOR STRUCTURAL DAMAGE TO A FEW HOMES.
21:00 UTCHAIL 1DawnCaroline, VAQUARTER SIZE HAIL FELL FOR ABOUT 5 MIN
21:03 UTCHAIL 0.75HanoverHanover, VAPENNY-SIZED HAIL AT COURTHOUSE NEAR ROUTE 1.
21:10 UTCTSTM WND DMGCentral GarageKing William, VANUMEROUS TRESS UPROOTED, SNAPPED OF BLOWN DOWN ROUTE 360 NEAR CENTRAL GARAGE...POSSIBLE TORNADO.
21:15 UTCTSTM WND DMG5 N StudleyKing William, VALARGE TREE UPROOTED AND FELL ONTO A GARAGE. POWER OUTAGE.
21:20 UTCTSTM WND DMG2 N King And Queen CourKing And Queen, VANUMEROUS DOWNED TREES.
21:30 UTCTSTM WND DMGW FoneswoodRichmond, VAPOWERLINES DOWN NEAR NEWLAND ROAD.
21:42 UTCTORNADO 02 Se King And Queen CouKing And Queen, VATORNADO TOUCHED DOWN FOR ABOUT A HALF MILE...WITH THE DAMAGE EXTENDING ABOUT 50 YARDS WIDE. NUMEROUS TREES WERE BLOWN DOWN OR SNAPPED OFF. ONE HOUSE SUSTAINED MINOR STRUCTURAL DAMAGE WITH SOME SHINGLES BLOWN OFF. DAMAGE
21:58 UTCTSTM WND DMGEtna MillsKing William, VANUMEROUS TREES DOWN AND STRUCTURAL DAMAGE ALONG ETNA MILLS ROAD...POSSIBLE TORNADO TOUCHDOWN.

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

This ground now

The live radar over the trackEvery 2008 tornado in VirginiaEvery tornado in Virginia since 1950Warnings in force in Virginia nowThe forecast where you are

The other tornadoes of May 31, 2008

2 more were confirmed in the United States that day.

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
May 318:30 AM EDTEF0Preston, WV1.4801$75,000
May 317:07 PM CDTEF0Osage, OK0.150

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.