EF1 tornado, Amelia Hill Top Arpt, Virginia, January 12, 2018

1. EF065 to 85 mph

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

2. EF186 to 110 mphthis tornado

   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.

Rating

EF1

Date

January 12, 2018

Touchdown

10:02 PM EST (03:02 UTC)

Lifted

10:04 PM EST (03:04 UTC)

On the ground

2 minutes

Path length

0.4 miles (0.7 km)

Path width

150 yards (137 m)

Deaths

0

Injuries

0

Property damage

$30,000

County

Amelia County

Touchdown point

37.446, -78.001

Lift-off point

37.452, -77.998

Record number

1801122102-01

8 damage points were recorded along this path by NWS AKQ, in the Damage Assessment Toolkit the survey teams carry. The strongest indicator was rated EF1. The highest wind the damage implies is 95 mph.

• First visible signs of damage
• Visible end point of tornado

Survey points are preliminary and are the raw material the published rating was built from. Source: NWS Damage Assessment Toolkit.

Scattered severe thunderstorms in advance of low pressure and a cold front produced damaging winds and one tornado across portions of central and south central Virginia.

An EF1 tornado was confirmed in Amelia county. Numerous trees were uprooted or snapped off, an attached car port was destroyed with a vehicle damaged, and cement walls on an outbuilding were bowed out.

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

NWS Wakefield, VA wrote its last area forecast discussion before the tornado touched down at Jan 12, 7:39 PM EST, 2 hours 23 minutes earlier.

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In the hours before

Special Weather Statement
National Weather Service Wakefield VA
838 PM EST FRI JAN 12 2018

VAZ060-065>068-079-130230-
Mecklenburg-Lunenburg-Nottoway-Amelia-Prince Edward-Brunswick-
838 PM EST FRI JAN 12 2018

...A LINE OF SHOWERS WILL AFFECT MECKLENBURG...SOUTHEASTERN PRINCE
EDWARD...LUNENBURG...NOTTOWAY...AMELIA AND WESTERN BRUNSWICK
COUNTIES...

At 837 PM EST, radar indicated showers were located along a line
extending from near Charlotte Court House to near Raleigh. Movement
was northeast at 45 mph.

Wind gusts of 40 mph and heavy rain are possible with these showers.

Locations impacted include...
South Hill, Blackstone, Chase City, Crewe, Victoria, Kenbridge,
Brodnax, Hampden Sydney College, Amelia Courthouse, Nottoway,
Lunenburg, Clarksville, La Crosse, Burkeville, Boydton, Alberta,
Morven, Dundas, Jetersville and Scotts Fork.

Motorists should use extra caution in the vicinity of these showers.
Be prepared for rapid changes in weather and road conditions. Heavy
rain could cause ponding of water on roads...and possible minor
flooding of ditches and poor drainage areas.

LAT...LON 3668 7870 3669 7865 3664 7856 3670 7865
      3689 7849 3707 7844 3715 7855 3715 7856
      3734 7826 3746 7813 3744 7810 3750 7800
      3747 7789 3746 7787 3715 7787 3714 7790
      3700 7789 3699 7787 3654 7788 3654 7873
TIME...MOT...LOC 0137Z 231DEG 41KT 3700 7868 3564 7869

jo

Crewe (W81), 31 km from the path, in the two hours either side.

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

The Norfolk radar (KAKQ), 102 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 03:04 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.

The live radar over the trackEvery 2018 tornado in VirginiaEvery tornado in Virginia since 1950Warnings in force in Virginia nowThe forecast where you are

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.

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