Tornadoes · United States · Virginia · 2015

EF0 tornado, Mollusk to Millenbeck, Virginia, June 18, 2015

From Mollusk to Millenbeck, this EF0 tornado ran 3.8 miles across Lancaster County on June 18, 2015, touching down at 9:51 PM EDT and reaching 50 yards wide. It killed nobody, and did $15,000 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
June 18, 2015
Touchdown
9:51 PM EDT (01:51 UTC)
Lifted
10:06 PM EDT (02:06 UTC)
On the ground
15 minutes
Path length
3.8 miles (6.1 km)
Path width
50 yards (46 m)
Deaths
0
Injuries
0
Property damage
$15,000
County
Lancaster County
Touchdown point
37.740, -76.550
Lift-off point
37.690, -76.520
Record number
1506181951-01

What the Weather Service recorded

Scattered severe thunderstorms associated with a trough of low pressure produced damaging winds and three weak tornadoes across portions of central and eastern Virginia.

The tornado touched down in Lancaster County near Mollusk and tracked southeast to Ottoman. This tornado remained mostly in the tree tops and bounced as it tracked southeast for about 4 miles. The tornado paralleled River Road eventually crossing River Road near Ottoman. Peak winds were between 60 to 70 mph. Hardwood trees were uprooted and snapped off. Power lines were downed.

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

The warnings

14 minutes of warning. NWS AKQ issued a tornado warning for this county at 01:37 UTC, 14 minutes before the tornado touched down, in force until 02:15 UTC.

Issued (UTC)ExpiredProductOffice
01:37 UTC02:15 UTCTornado WarningAKQ
02:10 UTC03:00 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 Marginal Risk. The outlook in force was issued at 00:53 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), 00:00Z

1.9 hours before the tornado, 103 km from the path. June 19, 2015.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Wallops Is Stn, VA at 00:00Z on 2015-06-19Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel lifted from the surface. Mixed-layer CAPE 419 joules per kilogram, CIN -69, lifted condensation level 1188 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 2015-06-19The 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 47 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 24 knots.193958Sfc1 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
419 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-69 J/kg
Surface CAPE
1731 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1188 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
24 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
21 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
47 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
73 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.1
Supercell composite
1.4
0-3 km lapse rate
6.1 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

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

10.1 hours after it, 103 km from the path. June 19, 2015.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Wallops Is Stn, VA at 12:00Z on 2015-06-19Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel lifted from the surface. Mixed-layer CAPE 36 joules per kilogram, CIN -234, lifted condensation level 1313 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 2015-06-19The 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 -57 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 24 knots.193958Sfc1 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
36 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-234 J/kg
Surface CAPE
174 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1313 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
24 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
14 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
-57 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
82 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
-0.0
0-3 km lapse rate
5.3 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The radar

The Norfolk radar (KAKQ), 91 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 01:52 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
00:30 UTCTSTM WND DMGNewlandRichmond, VATREES DOWN ALONG NEWLAND ROAD.
00:53 UTCTSTM WND DMG1 W Germans CornerRichmond, VATREES AND POWER LINES DOWN ALONG WATERVIEW ROAD. POSSIBLE TORNADO.
00:53 UTCTORNADO2 W Germans CornerRichmond, VAEF0 TORNADO DOWNED NUMEROUS TREES BETWEEN GERMANS CORNER AND EAST OF RT. 360 SW OF WARSAW
00:56 UTCTSTM WND DMGNaylorsRichmond, VATREES DOWN ON STRANGEWAY ROAD. POSSIBLE TORNADO.
01:03 UTCTSTM WND DMG2 Se NaylorsRichmond, VATREES DOWN BLOCKING HIGHWAY 360 ABOUT A QUARTER MILE FROM THE BRIDGE. POSSIBLE TORNADO.
01:03 UTCTSTM WND DMGWarsawRichmond, VANUMEROUS TREES DOWN IN WARSAW
01:05 UTCTSTM WND DMGWarsawRichmond, VAVERY STRONG WINDS...SEVERAL TREES DOWN IN WARSAW
01:21 UTCWALL CLOUDTappahannockEssex, VAWALL CLOUD SEEN WITH FUNNEL CLOUD TO THE EAST OF TAPPAHANNOCK
01:21 UTCWALL CLOUDTappahannockEssex, VAWALL CLOUD SEEN WITH FUNNEL CLOUD TO THE EAST OF TAPPAHNNOCK
01:28 UTCTORNADO1 N SharpsRichmond, VAEF0 TORNADO TRACKED SE ABOUT 3 MILES FROM A POINT JUST NORTH OF SHARPS. NUMEROUS TREES SNAPPED OFF AND UPROOTED.
01:32 UTCTORNADO1 Se SharpsRichmond, VAPOSSIBLE TORNADO REPORTED JUST SOUTHEAST OF SHARPS. TRAINED SPOTTER WAS ON HIGHWAY 17 SOUTH OF TAPPAHANNOCK LOOKING SOUTHEAST ACROSS THE RIVER.
01:40 UTCTSTM WND DMGSse MoratticoLancaster, VAMULTIPLE TREES AND POWER LINES DOWN
01:50 UTCFUNNEL CLOUDMolluskLancaster, VARELAYED BY WRIC MEDIA
01:51 UTCTORNADOMolluskLancaster, VAEF0 TORNADO TRACKED FROM NEAR MOLLUSK TO NEAR OTTOMAN. NUMEROUS TREES SNAPPED OFF OR UPROOTED.
02:00 UTCFUNNEL CLOUDMolluskLancaster, VARELAYED BY WRIC MEDIA
02:00 UTCTSTM WND DMGMerry PointLancaster, VAMULTIPLE TREES AND POWER LINES DOWN
02:08 UTCTSTM WND DMGWeemsLancaster, VAMULTIPLE TREES AND POWER LINES DOWN
02:26 UTCTSTM WND GST 751 Nw Greys PointMiddlesex, VA75 MPH THUNDERSTORM WIND GUST WITH DIME SIZED HAIL AND HEAVY RAIN
03:10 UTCHAIL 0.881 Sse HudginsMathews, VA

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

This ground now

The live radar over the trackEvery 2015 tornado in VirginiaEvery tornado in Virginia since 1950Warnings in force in Virginia nowThe forecast where you are

The other tornadoes of June 18, 2015

5 more were confirmed in the United States that day.

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
June 185:09 AM CDTEF1De Soto Parish, LA0.6126$50,000
June 186:38 AM CDTEF1De Soto Parish, LA3.5190$75,000
June 187:07 PM EDTEF1Stark, OH8.5100$110,000
June 188:53 PM EDTEF0Richmond, VA5.6100$15,000
June 189:28 PM EDTEF0Richmond, VA3.150$15,000

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.