Summary of November 11, 2022 Severe Weather Event

Overview

Tropical Cyclone Nicole made landfall in Florida during the early morning hours on Thursday, November 10th. Nicole quickly became extratropical and turned sharply to the NNE as it interacted with an upper trough approaching from the west. Nicole tracked from the southern to central Appalachians on Friday. The associated warm front moved well to the north of the local area by midday Friday. Given that this was a remnant tropical system, near record levels of deep-layer moisture advected into the area. In fact, the 12z WAL sounding reported a Precipitable Water value of 1.8", which is quite impressive for the middle of November! Temperatures rose into the mid-upper 70s by early afternoon, with dew points in the low 70s area-wide (again, very impressive for the middle of November). As is often the case with remnant tropical systems, the low-level (975-850mb) wind fields were strong. In this case, surface winds were out of the SE with S-SSW winds of 40-50 knots from 950-850mb. With modest (500-1000 J/kg) of MLCAPE in place as well, scattered thunderstorms formed during the afternoon, and nearly all of the storms exhibited some degree of rotation. Several of the storms had rotational velocities of 30-50 knots measured a few thousand feet above ground level by our KAKQ radar. However, only 2* tornadoes were observed, despite the favorable instability/shear parameters. While it is hard to pinpoint the exact reason for this, observed soundings give a couple of clues. ACARS soundings from KRIC show a bit of a capping inversion around the 850mb layer, which resulted in a small (~60 J/kg) amount of MLCIN. This may have played a part in the lack of tornadoes. In addition, there was a lack of mid level dry air in the sounding and there were also no frontal boundaries near the area (at the time of the event). For example during, both of these features were present during Isaias (2020) with a subtle warm front near the Richmond Metro with the tornado outbreak of 9/2018 (due to the remnants of Florence). Of course, there were likely other limiting factors at play as well that are not discussed here. *All tornado information is preliminary and subject to change.*

Tornadoes
Photos
Radar
Environment

Tornadoes:

Tornado - Sparta Road
KING AND QUEEN/CAROLINE COUNTIES

Date	11/11/2022
Time (Local)	3:43-3:48 PM EST
EF Rating	EF-0
Est. Peak Winds	75 mph
Path Length	2.8 miles
Max Width	150 yards
Injuries/Deaths	0/0
Summary: An EF-0 tornado touched down briefly in northern King and Queen County south of Root Swamp Road. The tornado tracked north along north Root Swamp Road uprooting trees and snapping tree limbs. The tornado struck a farm in Tignor at the intersection of Sparta Rd and Tignor Rd (Root Swamp Road becomes Tignor Road). Several outbuildings were heavily damaged along with 3 tractors. The tornado dissipated just north of the farm.

Track Map

Downloadable KMZ File

Tornado - near McKenney
DINWIDDIE COUNTY

Date	11/11/2022
Time (Local)	3:59-4:04 PM
EF Rating	EF-0
Est. Peak Winds	50 mph
Path Length	2.3 miles
Max Width	50 yards
Injuries/Deaths	0/0
Summary: The tornado was confirmed partially by drone footage from a storm chaser positioned along Route 40 as the storm tracked north. The video showed a funnel reaching the ground and a brief period of debris just north of Route 40. NWS storm survey found a snapped cedar tree and broken limbs along Ridge Rd just south of Route 40. Much of the area is highly wooded and inaccessible. Damage was very light with winds estimated around 50-55 mph.

Track Map

Downloadable KMZ File

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

Storm Survey Photos from Caroline County

Radar

Selected Radar and MRMS Rotation Track Images/Loops


Radar Loop of supercells in Richmond Metro from ~2:20 to 3:10 PM	Loop of storm that caused the EF-0 in King and Queen/Caroline Counties (loop goes from ~3:30 to 3:55 PM)	Loop of storm that caused the EF-0 in Dinwiddie County (loop goes from ~3:45 to 4:10 PM)	MRMS Rotation Tracks

Environment

Synoptic summary.


Loop of WPC Surface Analysis from 7 PM on 11/10 to 7 PM on 11/11 in 3 hour increments	Loop of 500mb analysis from 12z/7 AM on 11/10 to 12z/7 AM on 11/12