Summary of March 18, 2021 Tornadoes and Severe Hail

Overview

Low pressure tracked eastward across southern portions of the Ohio Valley during the day on March 18th while a warm front that started the day over northern South Carolina moved northward toward the local area. This warm front would serve as the focal point for much of the severe weather observed across Virginia as well as North Carolina during the late afternoon through evening on the 18th. By around 4-5 PM, the warm front made it to a Greensboro (NC)-South Hill-Wakefield-Williamsburg line before stalling. A strong cold front remained well to our north through the evening. A line of (initially) elevated convection formed across western NC during the early afternoon. This line moved eastward into the North Carolina Piedmont and one of the cells produced a tornado near High Point, NC (just SW of Greensboro). Meanwhile, a cluster of hail producing rotating cells formed across south-central/interior portions of SE Virginia (in the Wakefield CWA) by 5 PM. While these prompted both Tornado and Severe Thunderstorm Warnings from Emporia, VA to Hampton Roads, only severe hail (up to half dollar size) and a little but of straight line wind damage was observed.

However, the aforementioned line of convection entered western portions of the Wakefield CWA by around 7:30 PM. Initially, the convection was all elevated given that the warm front had not moved to the NW of Greensville/Brunswick Counties. That line of convection traversed the Wakefield CWA during the next few hours. The southernmost cell in the line roughly followed the warm front, and it produced 1 tornado in Walters, VA (in far southern Isle of Wight County) and one area of 65-85 mph straight line winds in Northampton County, NC. This was likely due to the enhanced low-level directional shear (and thus Effective SRH) near and just south of the warm front. See "Environment" section for images. Additionally the tornado in the Wakefield CWA (and the one in High Point, NC) occurred near the greatest temperature/instability gradient (associated with the warm front). While environmental parameters seemed favorable for severe weather (and tornadoes) to our SE, no severe weather occurred deep in the warm sector across eastern and SE North Carolina. This was likely due to a lack of forcing in the warm sector. Quite a few of our past severe weather cases feature reports clustered along an instability gradient/front.

Tornado and Significant Straight Line Wind Damage
Photos
Radar
Storm Reports
Environment

Tornado and Significant Straight Line Wind Damage:

Tornado - Walters, VA
ISLE OF WIGHT COUNTY

Date	3/18/2021
Time (Local)	9:27 to 9:31 PM EDT
EF Rating	EF-0
Est. Peak Winds	85 mph
Path Length	4 miles
Max Width	150 yards
Injuries/Deaths	0/0
Summary: The tornado touched down just east of Route 258 near the town of Walters. The damage began as it crossed Stevens Drive, where large tree branches were broken. The tornado then tracked east-northeast and uprooted numerous trees near Ballard Road. After crossing Ballard Road, the tornado knocked down a pole barn, destroyed a garage, and damaged a roof of a house near Colosse Road. The tornado continued to track eastward, roughly following Rhodes Drive, where it blew a roof off of a church near Little Norfolk Road. The tornado did more tree damage before lifting shortly after crossing Spivey Town Road.

Track Map

Straight Line Wind Damage- near Garysburg, NC
NORTHAMPTON COUNTY

Date	3/18/2021
Time (Local)	8:36 to 8:45 PM EDT
Est. Peak Winds	85 mph
Path Length	12 miles
Max Width	500 yards
Injuries/Deaths	0/0
Summary: A severe thunderstorm produced a large swath of straight line wind damage across Northampton County North Carolina. The damage began just east of Interstate 95 on Blythe Road. where 2 homes were severely damaged by winds estimated to be 85 mph. The swath of damage continued to the east-northeast for more than 10 miles. The path roughly followed Macon Price Road and Big Johns Store Road. In this area, several trees were uprooted, and winds were estimated to be in the 65 to 85 mph range. The path ended near the intersection of Mount Zion Church Road and Big Johns Store Road about 1 mile west of Margarettsville.

Track Map

The Enhanced Fujita (EF) Scale classifies tornadoes into the following categories:

EF0 Weak 65-85 mph	EF1 Moderate 86-110 mph	EF2 Significant 111-135 mph	EF3 Severe 136-165 mph	EF4 Extreme 166-200 mph	EF5 Catastrophic 200+ mph

Photos

NWS Storm Survey Photos


Tornado Damage in Walters, VA (source: NWS Storm Survey)	Tornado Damage in Walters, VA (source: NWS Storm Survey)	Garysburg, NC straight line wind damage (source: NWS Storm Survey)

Selected Radar Images

Loop from 9:15 to 9:37 PM of Walters Tornado

Loop of 0.5° Base Reflectivity (left) and Base Velocity (right). Note that the circulation that was responsible for the EF-0 tornado in Walters (circled) strengthened and weakened very quickly (in the timespan of a few minutes).

Storm Reports

0550 PM     TSTM WND DMG     DREWRYVILLE             36.71N 77.30W
03/18/2021                   SOUTHAMPTON        VA   911 CALL CENTER  

            TREES DOWN JUST NORTH OF HIGHWAY 258.

0555 PM     TSTM WND DMG     BETHEL CHURCH           36.96N 76.71W
03/18/2021                   ISLE OF WIGHT      VA   NWS EMPLOYEE     

            TREES DOWN NEAR RECYCLE CENTER ON FOURSQUARE 
            RD.

0559 PM     HAIL             CAPRON                  36.72N 77.20W
03/18/2021  E1.00 INCH       SOUTHAMPTON        VA   PUBLIC

0603 PM     HAIL             1 WNW MOGARTS BEACH     37.03N 76.61W
03/18/2021  E1.00 INCH       ISLE OF WIGHT      VA   PUBLIC

0609 PM     HAIL             1 NE BEACONSDALE        37.08N 76.45W
03/18/2021  M1.00 INCH       CITY OF NEWPORT NEWVA   TRAINED SPOTTER  

            NICKEL TO QUARTER SIZE HAIL IS CURRENTLY 
            FALLING.

0615 PM     HAIL             2 SW POQUOSON           37.11N 76.42W
03/18/2021  M1.25 INCH       YORK               VA   PUBLIC

0617 PM     HAIL             3 W LANGLEY AFB         37.09N 76.42W
03/18/2021  M1.75 INCH       CITY OF HAMPTON    VA   PUBLIC           

            REPORT VIA TWITTER. TIME ESTIMATED FROM 
            RADAR.

0618 PM     HAIL             2 SE TABB               37.11N 76.43W
03/18/2021  M1.00 INCH       YORK               VA   PUBLIC           

            REPORT VIA TWITTER.

0622 PM     HAIL             LANGLEY AFB             37.08N 76.37W
03/18/2021  M1.00 INCH       CITY OF HAMPTON    VA   PUBLIC           

            REPORT VIA TWITTER.

0625 PM     HAIL             1 WNW HALLWOOD          37.07N 76.32W
03/18/2021  M1.25 INCH       CITY OF HAMPTON    VA   TRAINED SPOTTER

0830 PM     TSTM WND DMG     3 E GASTON              36.49N 77.59W
03/18/2021                   NORTHAMPTON        NC   LAW ENFORCEMENT  

            DAMAGE TO A BARN ON BLYTHE ROAD. TIME 
            ESTIMATED BY RADAR.

1012 PM     TSTM WND DMG     1 SSW NORVIEW           36.88N 76.25W
03/18/2021                   CITY OF NORFOLK    VA   UTILITY COMPANY  

            TREE DOWN ON POWER LINE CAUSING MULTIPLE 
            POWER OUTAGES NEAR THE INTERSECTION OF ROUTE 
            247 AND ROBIN HOOD ROAD. TIME ESTIMATED FROM 
            RADAR.

Environment

Insert synoptic summary.


18z/2 PM EDT 3/18 WPC Surface Analysis	21z/5 PM EDT 3/18 WPC Surface Analysis	00z/8 PM EDT 3/18 WPC Surface Analysis	03z/11 PM EDT 3/18 WPC Surface Analysis