Tornadoes · United States · Virginia

2011 tornadoes in Virginia

48 tornadoes touched down in Virginia in 2011, 335 percent above the average of the record for the state. They killed 6 people and injured 97.

2010 2012 The whole country in 2011

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.

EF065 to 85 mph
Light damage. Surface peeled off some roofs, gutters and siding damaged, branches broken, shallow-rooted trees pushed over.
EF186 to 110 mph
Moderate damage. Roofs badly stripped, mobile homes overturned or badly damaged, exterior doors lost, windows broken.
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.
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.
EF4166 to 200 mph
Devastating damage. Well-built houses leveled, structures with weak foundations moved some distance, cars thrown and large missiles generated.
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.
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.

Every tornado in Virginia in 2011

March 10 2 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
March 10	6:17 PM EST	EF1	Fauquier	4.4	75			$25,000
March 10	6:59 PM EST	EF0	Fairfax	4.9	75			$5,000

April 8 2 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
April 8	7:35 PM EDT	EF2	Pulaski	1.9	400		9	$3.9 million
April 8	7:42 PM EDT	EF1	Pulaski	3.1	480			$1.4 million

April 9 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
April 9	3:45 PM EDT	EF0	City of Norton	0.4	40			$50,000

April 16 11 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
April 16	2:03 PM EDT	EF0	Rockbridge	1.3	100			$6,000
April 16	2:20 PM EDT	EF0	Augusta	3.8	200			$2.2 million
April 16	3:30 PM EDT	EF1	Lunenburg	16.9	300			$100,000
April 16	4:37 PM EDT	EF1	Dinwiddie	7.0	400		5	$1.5 million
April 16	5:50 PM EDT	EF1	Southampton	1.9	300			$30,000
April 16	6:20 PM EDT	EF0	Southampton	1.8	50			$2,000
April 16	6:30 PM EDT	EF1	Middlesex	1.1	400			$100,000
April 16	6:45 PM EDT	EF3	Surry	26.5	800	2	24	$8.0 million
April 16	7:10 PM EDT	EF2	Isle of Wight	22.6	400			$300,000
April 16	7:12 PM EDT	EF0	Loudoun	4.1	50			$4,000
April 16	7:25 PM EDT	EF2	Middlesex	2.8	400			$6.0 million

April 27 13 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
April 27	6:15 PM EDT	EF0	Stafford	3.3	50
April 27	6:55 PM EDT	EF1	Prince Edward	5.5	100			$45,000
April 27	7:25 PM EDT	EF1	Goochland	2.1	100			$26,000
April 27	8:38 PM EDT	EF2	Halifax	18.1	350	1	7
April 27	8:55 PM EDT	EF1	Caroline	0.2	100			$15,000
April 27	10:04 PM EDT	EF0	Washington	0.5	50			$3,000
April 27	10:13 PM EDT	EF1	Washington	3.9	100			$75,000
April 27	10:46 PM EDT	EF1	Prince William	5.8	125			$15,000
April 27	11:25 PM EDT	EF0	Fairfax	1.1	75			$40,000
April 27	12:05 AM EDT	EF1	Washington	0.5	200			$50,000
April 27	12:13 AM EDT	EF1	Smyth	0.4	300
April 27	1:01 AM EDT	EF3	Washington	19.6	1,320	3	50	$5.3 million
April 27	1:39 AM EDT	EF0	Botetourt	1.6	125			$5,000

April 28 6 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Damage
April 28	2:12 AM EDT	EF2	Rockingham	33.5	400	$450,000
April 28	2:17 AM EDT	EF1	Augusta	4.0	150	$100,000
April 28	3:01 AM EDT	EF1	Rockingham	0.9	50	$50,000
April 28	3:45 AM EDT	EF0	Frederick	4.3	175	$25,000
April 28	3:55 AM EDT	EF1	Rockingham	2.6	150	$75,000
April 28	10:15 AM EDT	EF1	Hanover	2.5	150	$25,000

May 24 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
May 24	4:55 PM EDT	EF0	Russell	4.2	50			$30,000

August 27 2 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
August 27	8:49 AM EDT	EF0	City of Virginia Beach	0.1	50			$150,000
August 27	11:30 AM EDT	EF0	Accomack	0.5	50			$25,000

September 5 2 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
September 5	6:05 PM EDT	EF0	Fluvanna	0.9	100			$10,000
September 5	10:03 PM EDT	EF0	Carroll	0.0	50		2	$300,000

October 13 7 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Damage
October 13	3:40 PM EDT	EF1	Louisa	0.9	100	$175,000
October 13	4:05 PM EDT	EF0	Orange	1.4	50	$5,000
October 13	4:47 PM EDT	EF1	New Kent	9.2	200	$1.0 million
October 13	4:58 PM EDT	EF0	Fauquier	6.0	75	$30,000
October 13	5:22 PM EDT	EF0	Stafford	2.7	75	$25,000
October 13	5:29 PM EDT	EF0	Prince William	1.6	75	$5,000
October 13	5:40 PM EDT	EF0	Fairfax	2.9	50	$10,000

November 16 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
November 16	6:55 PM EST	EF1	Pittsylvania	2.6	125			$500,000

Crossed into Virginia

Tornadoes that touched down in a neighboring state and ran into Virginia. They are counted under the state they began in.

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
April 16	1:40 PM CDT	EF2	Person, NC to VA	26.2	300		6	$1.1 million

Nearby

Every tornado in Virginia since 1950 Warnings in force in Virginia The live radar over Virginia

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.