Tornado cuts 9-mile-long path through Halifax County

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A tornado cut a 9-mile-long path through Halifax County on Wednesday, but the damage was almost entirely limited to trees.

A National Weather Service survey on Thursday confirmed the tornado, which was on the ground for 9.3 miles with a path 75 yards wide and maximum winds of near 100 mph, rating it EF-1 on the 0 to 5 Enhanced Fujita Scale of tornado intensity. An EF-0 tornado barely pulls shingles off houses, while an EF-5 tornado completely sweeps well-constructed homes off their foundations.

In this case, uprooted trees were the main damage, with “no significant damage to structures or property,” the National Weather Service reported. One photo posted by a WSET (Channel 13) meteorologist did show what appeared to be a collapsed carport in the Meadville area of Halifax County.

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The tornado’s path began at the intersection of Chatham Road and Ridgeway Road in western Halifax County at 6:06 p.m. and continued eastward to a point just east of U.S. 501 three miles north of the town of Halifax at 6:24 p.m., the weather service determined.

Wednesday was the second day in a row Halifax County was placed under a tornado warning, although there were no apparent reports of a tornado on the ground with Tuesday’s storm that followed a similar track but farther south.

The Halifax County storms were part of a series of showers and storms that have moved over much of Southwest and Southside Virginia this week. Beyond some sporadic reports of wind damage and the EF-1 tornado, the storms have brought much-needed rain to help ease widespread drought. Thursday’s issuance of the U.S. Drought Monitor Map for Virginia , based on data through Tuesday, showed improvement from severe to moderate drought in several localities from just south of Roanoke and Lynchburg to the North Carolina state line. Halifax County improved from moderate drought last week to “abnormally dry” this week.

Upper-level winds have not been sufficient to support any sort of widespread outbreak of severe storms, but a few storms have emitted strong downdraft winds or developed spin for a short time, feeding on somewhat greater wind shear and instability near the North Carolina state line.

The Halifax County storm marks the third confirmed tornado in Cardinal News’ Southwest and Southside Virginia coverage area this year. Previously, EF-1 tornadoes have occurred in Pittsylvania County on April 11 and in Salem on May 26 .

After several days of occasional showers and storms, drier weather is expected across the region for the weekend.

Journalist Kevin Myatt has been writing about weather for 20 years. His weekly column, appearing on Wednesdays, is sponsored by Oakey’s, a family-run, locally owned funeral home with locations throughout the Roanoke Valley.

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