F1 tornado, Graysville to Limestone, West Virginia, January 9, 1998

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.

Rating

F1

Date

January 9, 1998

Touchdown

1:20 AM EST (06:20 UTC)

Path length

11.0 miles (17.7 km)

Path width

250 yards (229 m)

Deaths

0

Injuries

0

Property damage

$70,000

County

Marshall County

Touchdown point

39.800, -80.780

Lift-off point

39.920, -80.650

Record number

81

A weak tornado tracked from south of Moundsville to just east of Moundsville in the early morning hours of January 9. The tornado began approximately at 120 am and travelled northeast at 30 to 40 mph. The tornado started around Fish Creek near Route 74. It moved between Route 44 and continued northeast crossing Route 17, Route 34 and ending just south of Limestone. The first 8-9 miles of the path had continuous light to occasionally moderate damage. The last few miles appeared to have fragmented damage. The width of the tornado path was approximately 250 yards. About 17 homes were affected (mainly roof, chimney and siding damage). Most of the homes were single family wood frame homes with about 5 mobile homes damaged. There were at least 3 garages heavily damaged, 2 destroyed. These garages were mostly cinder block and wood construction. There was widespread tree damage along the path. Most trees were snapped with a few uprooted. Near Grave Creek, there were several acres on the side of a ridge that sustained major tree damage. Winds with this tornado were estimated to generally range from 55 to 75 mph. However, in the Grave Creek area along Route 54, winds were estimated between 75 and 85 mph. Golfball hail that covered the ground was also reported with this storm. One witness mentioned looking outside, only to see everything swirling about. Another witness heard the loud roar and immediately ran to the kitchen window. In a matter of seconds, his garage disappeared. Tornadoes are rare, especially in the early morning hours of January.

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

No tornado warning for this county appears in the archive as in force at the moment the tornado touched down.

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 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.

The Pittsburgh radar (KPBZ), 86 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 06:19 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 1998 tornado in West VirginiaEvery tornado in West Virginia since 1950Warnings in force in West Virginia nowThe forecast where you are

1 more were confirmed in the United States that day.

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.