Tornado Recap From Wednesday

Several tornadoes touched down in central Virginia Wednesday, most of which have not been officially rated yet. But the damage is clear in much of the areas affected with tree branches twisted off at the top and thrown in all directions from the rotation onto houses and cars. It's incredible that no one was injured in these storms during the late afternoon, a time when many people are coming home from work or are out and about doing late afternoon/evening chores and activities. Despite the damage, we are fortunate to have had no losses of life in this severe weather event Wednesday.

(Photo Matt Segal, Mechanicsville)
The first tornado of Wednesday, October 27th occurred while most people were sleeping in rural Mecklenburg County. A tornado-warned isolated thunderstorm produced an EF0 on the Enhanced Fujita Scale at 3:14 a.m. five miles north of Skipwith, VA. The National Weather Service storm survey team concluded their investigation this morning with the following statement:
NWS STORM SURVEY HAS CONFIRMED A TORNADO NEAR THE INTERSECTION OF SKIPWOOD RD AND NEW HOPE RD. PATH LENGTH WAS APPROXIMATELY 1 1/4 MILES IN LENGTH WITH A PATH WIDTH OF APPROXIMATELY 100 YARDS. STORM DAMAGE IN THE AREA WAS CONSISTENT WITH A HIGH-END EF-0 TORNADO...WITH WINDS ESTIMATED AT 70 TO 80 MPH. NUMEROUS TREES AND POWERLINES WERE KNOCKED DOWN...MINOR SHED DAMAGE WAS INCURRED AND SEVERAL TREE TOPS WERE TWISTED.

We are awaiting the rest of the official ratings on the other tornado reports. Here are the preliminary NWS reports from yesterday, which are unrated:

0442 PM: TORNADO, 2 NE BOWLING GREEN (Caroline Co)

0500 PM: TORNADO, 2 NW DOWNTOWN RICHMOND, NEAR
INTERSECTION OF BROOK RD
AND BROOKLYN PARK BLVD.
DAMAGE IN 5 BLOCK RADIUS.
TREE DOWN ON MOVING CAR.
WOMEN BRIEFLY TRAPPED IN HOUSE.

0510 PM: TORNADO, 2 SW MECHANICSVILLE (Hanover Co).
INTERSECTION OF LABURNUM AND AUSTIN AVE.
EXTENSIVE TREE DAMAGE.
WITNESSED BY NWS EMPLOYEE.

0513 PM: TORNADO, 1 SE MECHANICSVILLE (Hanover Co).
PROPERTY DAMAGE...ONE INJURY. 
ELLERSON MILL NEAR COLD HARBOR RD

0550 PM: TORNADO, 2 E KING WILLIAM (King William Co).
TORNADO REPORTED ON THE GROUND ABOUT 1 MILE EAST OF
THE KING WILLIAM COURTHOUSE.