A cold front will stall near the Mississippi River Valley today with excessive rainfall bringing areas of flooding over parts of the region. Gusty winds and dry conditions will drive critical to extremely critical fire weather over portions of central and southern California through Thursday. Tropical Storm Watches have been issued for parts of the Florida Keys ahead of Tropical Cyclone Rafael. Read More >
PUBLIC INFORMATION STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BALTIMORE MD/WASHINGTON DC 905 PM EDT MON APR 21 2008 ...EF0 TORNADO IN MIDDLETOWN VIRGINIA ON SUNDAY APRIL 20TH CONFIRMED... THIS AFTERNOON...A NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE STORM SURVEY TEAM INVESTIGATED STORM DAMAGE WHICH OCCURRED ON SUNDAY EVENING APRIL 20 2008 IN MIDDLETOWN IN FREDERICK COUNTY VIRGINIA. THE DAMAGE WAS LOCATED ON THE GROUNDS OF AN APPLE FARM LOCATED OFF OF CHAPEL ROAD...AND OCCURRED AT APPROXIMATELY 10:02 EDT. THE SURVEY FOUND DAMAGE TO FARM OUTBUILDINGS AND A LARGE BARN...INCLUDING ONE FARM OUTBUILDING THAT WAS COMPLETELY UPLIFTED AND DESTROYED WITH THE REMAINS DEPOSITED ALONG A 1/2 MILE MILE PATH. APPLE TREES WERE UPROOTED...ALONG WITH TWO PINE TREES AND ONE HARDWOOD TREE SNAPPED AT THE TRUNK AT APPROXIMATELY 15 FEET FROM THE GROUND. THE METAL ROOF OF A LARGE BARN AND THE METAL ROOF OF A SMALL FARM OUTBUILDING WERE PEELED BACK IN OPPOSITE DIRECTIONS DESPITE BEING ALONG THE SAME DAMAGE PATH. SEVERAL TEN POUND WEIGHTS...THINK OF AN OBJECT THE SIZE OF A TEAPOT WEIGHING TEN POUNDS...WERE PICKED UP AND DEPOSITED 40 YARDS AWAY FROM WHERE THEY ORIGINALLY WERE LOCATED IN THE OUTBUILDING THAT WAS COMPLETELY UPLIFTED. AN OAK 6X6 WHICH WAS SET 3 FEET INTO THE GROUND AND SERVED AS A STRUCTURAL FOUNDATION FOR THE DESTROYED OUTBUILDING...WAS COMPLETELY AND CLEANLY SUCKED UP OUT OF ITS POSITION BY THE TORNADO AND DEPOSITED 400 YARDS AWAY FROM ITS ORIGINAL LOCATION. BASED ON THESE FINDINGS...THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS DETERMINED THAT A TORNADO DID OCCUR IN MIDDLETOWN VIRGINIA ON SUNDAY EVENING APRIL 20TH. BASED ON THE DAMAGE...IT HAS BEEN CLASSIFIED AS AN EF0 ON THE ENHANCED FUJITA SCALE. EF0 TORNADOES HAVE 3-SECOND WIND GUST SPEEDS RANGING FROM 65-85 MPH. WINDS FOR THIS TORNADO WERE ESTIMATED TO BE 80 MPH. THE PATH LENGTH WAS 1/2 MILE LONG...WITH A WIDTH OF APPROXIMATELY 30-40 YARDS. IT IS BELIEVED THAT THE TORNADO TOUCHDOWN WAS BRIEF...SPENDING LESS THAN 2 MINUTES ON THE GROUND. THE TORNADO EF SCALE RATES TORNADOES AFTER THE FACT FROM 0 TO 5 BASED ON THEIR ESTIMATED WIND STRENGTH. THE EF SCALE IS AN UPGRADE TO THE OLD F SCALE WHICH IT REPLACED IN 2007. THANKS TO THE VIRGINIA DEPARTMENT OF EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT REGION 2...THE FREDERICK COUNTY VIRGINIA FIRE AND RESCUE DEPARTMENT ...AND THE MIDDLETOWN VIRGINIA FIRE DEPARTMENT FOR THEIR ASSISTANCE ON THIS SURVEY.