SUFFOLK, Va. (WAVY) — The National Weather Service (NWS) confirmed that two tornadoes touched down in Suffolk on Christmas Eve.
Damage surveys conducted by the NWS Wakefield office revealed that both were categorized as EF-1 on the Enhanced Fujita scale — which rates the intensity of tornadoes.
The first tornado touched down on Corinth Chapel Road in Suffolk and ended just west of the intersection of Corinth Chapel Road leaving a path length of about 0.3 miles, according to the damage survey report.
The tornado was active from 11:21 p.m. until 11:22 p.m. with peak wind speeds reaching about 90 mph with a maximum width of nearly 150 yards.
The report says that the tornado “caused significant damage to at least one home, uprooted and snapped off several large trees, and flipped over a large pickup truck.”
There were no injuries or fatalities as a result of the first tornado.
The second tornado touched down about 6 miles northeast of the first tornado on Dutch Road in the southwest portion of Suffolk and ended on Lummis Road. The path length was about 2.2 miles, according to the damage survey report.
The tornado was active from 11:28 p.m. until 11:31 p.m. with peak wind speeds reaching from 95 mph to 100 mph with a maximum width of nearly 200 yards.
The damage reportedly began on the south side of Dutch Road and ended along Lummis Road just north of the intersection with Box Elder Road.
At least six homes along Dutch Road sustained significant damage including shingles being torn off roofs. Damage to a large trailer was also reported and several large trees were uprooted along the path.
There were no injuries or fatalities as a result of the second tornado.
Read the summary here.
While there was also some damage around Courtland near the high school, meteorologists don’t believe there was a third tornado.
“We went and found some limbs snapped around Courtland near the High School. We [did] not see anything substantial as far as wind damage, but there was strong wind there around 70 mph. Looking at the radar there was a nice bow echo which moved across Courtland indicative in high wind, but signatures all looked like straight line wind,” said Jeff Orrock, meteorologist in charge at the National Weather Service Wakefield.
