Could Northern Virginia See Bad Tornadoes?
Some of Fairfax County's came in the 1970s.
By Mary Ann Barton | Email the author | 5:45am
http://rosehill.patch.com/articles/could-northern-virginia-see-bad-tornadoes-8

In the wake of the devastation by monster tornadoes in Joplin, Mo., on Sunday and now Oklahoma City, Okla., Northern Virginians must wonder: Could it happen here?

A look at some of the history of tornados in Fairfax County, from information provided by theNational Weather Service, shows that the strongest tornadoes to hit the county in recent years were in 1973 and in 1979.

F3 in 1973: On April Fool's Day, Sunday, April 1st, 1973, just past 3 p.m., a magnitude F3 tornado touched down three times in central Fairfax County, damaging homes in Fairfax Station's Middleridge Subdivision and the Zion Drive area and tearing the roof from Pickett Shopping Center, according to news reports. Woodson High School also lost a roof in the tornado. Property damage was estimated up to $25 million.
Barbara McNaught Watson, warning coordination meteorologist for the National Weather Service in Sterling, noted that the tornado touched down in Prince William County and traveled 15 miles northeast through Fairfax and into Falls Church. Extensive damage occurred along a six-mile stretch in Fairfax, including damage to the high school, two shopping centers, an apartment complex, and 226 homes. Only 37 people were injured. It could have been much worse, she noted since it was Sunday and "Blue Laws" were still in effect: The normally busy shopping center which had extensive damage, was closed and school was not in session.

F3 in 1979: On Sept. 5, 1979, Hurricane David spawned 34 tornadoes, eight of which were in Virginia and six of those were strong ones, including an F3 tornado that struck Fairfax County tracking 18 miles, killing one and injuring six people. It struck the same school (Woodson) hit by the tornado on April 1, 1973, this time causing $150,000 damage. Numerous cars were demolished, 90 homes damaged, and trees and debris blocked roads. Damages in Fairfax County reached $2.5 million dollars.
F2 in 1996: On June 24, 1996, Watson said in a tornado report, a strong rotating thunderstorm developed over Virginia. After dropping hail in the Shenandoah Valley, it moved east. A state trooper spotted a small funnel drop down and pick up some trees along Route 50, west of Middleburg...An F2 tornado (winds 100 to 150 mph) moved from the southeast tip of Loudoun County into Fairfax County and struck the Sully Station community of Centreville. Seventeen homes had major damage and six of them were condemned. Dozens more had moderate damage. After about five miles, the tornado began to weaken.
The tornado had weakened to a borderline F1 (70-90 mph winds) as it moved across the southern outskirts of Fairfax City. Homes here were in a heavily wooded area and so unless a tree fell right on the house, they were somewhat protected by the strongest winds. Soon the downburst wind from the rear-flank of the storm became stronger and bigger than the weakening tornado. It was a small weak F0 tornado by the time it passed George Mason University and reached the Capitol Beltway.

F1 in 2001: On Monday, Sept. 24, 2001, about 3:45 p.m., a tornado downed trees and damaged buildings from Newington to Franconia before moving onto Shirlington and Alexandria. It was one of five tornados that touched down that afternoon, spawned by a cold front, according to the National Weather Service. The Newington tornado's winds were clocked at F1 and another tornado in Rixeyville, in Fauquier County was clocked at an F4 strength at Indian Fork Road, where witnesses said a house looked like it had exploded after the tornado touched down.
F4 in 2002? At about 6:12 p.m. on Tuesday, April 28th, 2002, emergency management officials noted a tornado spotted on radar in Northern Virginia and sent out a warning to the City of Manassas, southern Fairfax, eastern Fauquier, and Prince William counties in Virginia. The tornado was part of a "supercell" that what would eventually become an F4 tornado that would strike La Plata, Md., causing four deaths. Some news reports mention more destruction from this storm in Virginia, but the National Weather Service does not list it.
The following chart, from the National Weather Service, shows tornadoes that have hit Fairfax County since 1950. The times listed are in military time. The abbrevations are: Mag (Magnitude); Dth (Deaths); Inj (Injuries); PrD (Property Damage); CrD (Crop Damage)

(Following the chart is a further description of the wind speeds associated with the Fujita Scale.)
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Why were there such severe storms in the 70's?

@FFX - global warming LoLz

that 1996 tornado left a twisted tree near the Braddock Rd/Pkwy interchange - I dont know if you can still see it, but you used to be able to see if from the Pkwy after it first opened up near there - nice size tree and it looked like someone huge had just grabbed both ends, twisted it asunder, and put it back in the ground..........

I was driving near the 7100/29 interchange when that storm came thru in 96. I didn't realize it was a tornado ar the time, but it was one motherfucker of a storm. The sky was green and everyone had to pull over because you literally couldn't see more than 10 feet in front of you. When I finally reached Cville, I remember one of those 4th of July Fireworks stands had been totally scattered over one of the parking lots.

I was working in Springfield that time....I remember it well.

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"...your suffering will be legendary even in Hell!"

The '96 tornado may have been the one that took the top off a house a few hundred yards away (Sully Station)...and got the neighborhood rebuilt "like new" due to all the hail damage to aluminum-sided houses (I had a roof and siding replaced).

BTW - I did an image search to see if I could find a photo of the deroofed house...there are a LOT of "Centerville"s and "Centreville"s in the US!.

TheMeeper Wrote:
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> I was driving near the 7100/29 interchange when
> that storm came thru in 96. I didn't realize it
> was a tornado ar the time, but it was one
> motherfucker of a storm. The sky was green and
> everyone had to pull over because you literally
> couldn't see more than 10 feet in front of you.
> When I finally reached Cville, I remember one of
> those 4th of July Fireworks stands had been
> totally scattered over one of the parking lots.

What I remember most about that storm is that everything looked green. I thought it was just me. Glad to know I wasn't going crazy. I was expecting to see Dorothy and Toto flying by.

Rebecca Wrote:
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>
> What I remember most about that storm is that everything looked green. I thought it was just me. Glad to know I wasn't going crazy.

Yup, green like the way the ocean looks greenish from certain angles. I've heard it's caused by all the water in the atmosphere.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/27/2011 10:08AM by TheMeeper.

I was playing basketball in the gym at Woodson High School when the '73 tornado hit. We were shooting around between games when my cousin pointed up to the windows - it was the eerie green color. Then all hell broke loose. We bolted for the exits, then stood in the exit stairwell looking out into the side parking lot as the rain and debris flew by horizontally.

It was quickly over. We went back into the gym, and a panicked custodian ran in yelling "Everybody out." We went out to the front of the school, where the roof of the gym had peeled off and landed on some cars.

We then wandered over to Pickett Shopping Center, where a school bus had been blown across the parking lot and crashed into the front of the ABC store.

We finished out the school year at Oakton High School. Oakton kids went early, we went late.

I watched the 2004 tornado track North through centreville, i saw it when it was near the sewage treatment facility, and tracked north over Lee OVerlook, into London Town and up Stone Rd.

That area has never been the same since. lol.

I was at 28 & 29 looking down on Western Centreville. Parked next to a WJLA news truck. it was weird to go home moments later and see the same view on TV over and over again.

How the hell do tornadoes form anywhere in Virginia, much less the northern region? I always thought the Appalachians prevented this type of weather.

eesh Wrote:
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> How the hell do tornadoes form anywhere in
> Virginia, much less the northern region? I always
> thought the Appalachians prevented this type of
> weather.

Big plains between them and us. See the area between Charlottesville and us:


View Larger Map

eesh Wrote:
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> How the hell do tornadoes form anywhere in
> Virginia, much less the northern region? I always
> thought the Appalachians prevented this type of
> weather.


They do, that's why the tornados are fairly uncommon in Nova when systems move in from the west. But have you noticed that most of this areas warnings are for the eastern side of the metro area (King George County, Charles County, etc.)? that's because the storms start to pick up steam right around Warrenton/Manassas and then kick some ass as they move east. When the storm system moves up from the south, there's plenty of bad shit to go around.

PackLeader is really into weather, he could probably explain it better than I.

__________________________________
That's not a ladybug, that's a cannapiller.

I swear when I read the subject line it said "tomatoes."

I am profoundly disappointed. I feel like I imagine Warhawk feels about the Rite-Aid chick.

haha i would be more interested if it were about tomatoes too!

My tomatoes are kicking ass this year! Already 4 ft high.

Fairfax/Fairfax City must have an invisible mountain (maybe by Lamb Center). That really strong band of storms late last week... split right before Fairfax and all we got was rain... no thunder. Happens almost every time.

Any pictures or videos of any of those tornados?

>> Could Northern Virginia See Bad Tornadoes?

As compared to "good" tornadoes? What's the difference?

Joke Insurance Wrote:
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> Any pictures or videos of any of those tornados?

A tornado flew over my house back in the mid-90s (Centreville) - took the 2nd floor off a house a quarter mile away.

But I never saw it.

Same with all the others in the last 20+ years.

The problem in this area isn't the lack of power of the tornados (though they tend to be "weak" compared to, say, Oklahoma's), it's the fact that they're almost always (maybe even just always) embedded in thick rain showers.

http://www.google.com/search?q=tornado+fairfax

Having typed that, I think there might be a video or two of tornados that hit in close-by Maryland:

http://www.google.com/search?q=tornado+maryland

eesh Wrote:
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> How the hell do tornadoes form anywhere in
> Virginia, much less the northern region? I always
> thought the Appalachians prevented this type of
> weather.


This question has a very easy and obvious answer. Tornadoes are attracted to mobile homes, trailer parks, etc. Because there are none of those eyesores in Fairfax County, we are practically immune. In areas to the East including King George, Calvert, and Charles Counties, there are a fair number of people living in "homes" that once had -- or still have -- wheels on the bottom. Hence they experience more tornadoes.

^ Wrong. There are two mobile home parks in Fairfax County - one right in the heart of Fairfax on 29 (**shudder**). The other is Meadows of Chantilly.

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Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 06/26/2015 01:44PM by chuckhoffmann.

Think Again Wrote:
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> ^ Wrong. There are two mobile home parks in
> Fairfax County - one right in the heart of Fairfax
> on 29 (**shudder**). The other is Meadows of
> Chantilly.


Oh horrors!!! However this does explain why the few tornadoes we have had in the county have been drawn to those areas.

Thankfully they are well-hidden as I have been living here 20 years and never seen a trailer in Fairfax County.

A rare picture showing Sharon Bulova
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Are there any photos and/or videos out there of the 1996 Centreville tornado?

>>>A rare picture showing Sharon Bulova

I'm certain this is Mary Salins.