Franklin County Tornado Confirmed as Strong EF3

The National Weather Service in Blacksburg has completed their storm survey of the damage in Franklin Co.

They have concluded that an EF-3 Tornado, with winds of 159 miles per hour touched down near Oak Level, before ending 4 miles southeast of Rocky Mount.

EF-3 is the 4th of 6 levels of tornado strength. (See info from NWS below)

According to the report, the tornado significantly damaged three structures, while heavily destroying ten outbuildings.

Additional details: ABC 13

PUBLIC INFORMATION STATEMENT

NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BLACKSBURG VA

225 PM EDT SAT APR 20 2019

...NWS DAMAGE SURVEY FOR APRIL 19 TORNADO EVENT...

.FRANKLIN COUNTY...

START LOCATION...OAK LEVEL IN FRANKLIN COUNTY, VIRGINIA

END LOCATION...HENRY FORK IN FRANKLIN COUNTY, VIRGINIA

DATE...APRIL 19, 2019

ESTIMATED TIME...10:25AM EDT

MAXIMUM EF-SCALE RATING...EF-3

ESTIMATED MAXIMUM WIND SPEED...159 MPH

MAXIMUM PATH WIDTH...250 YARDS

PATH LENGTH...8.2 MILES

* FATALITIES...0

* INJURIES...2

...SUMMARY...

A TORNADO TOUCHED DOWN FRIDAY MORNING JUST TO THE NORTH OF OAK LEVEL IN

FRANKLIN COUNTY. THE TORNADO MOVED NORTHEASTWARD, SIGNIFICANTLY DAMAGING

THREE STRUCTURES WHILE HEAVILY DAMAGING OR DESTROYING TEN OUTBUILDINGS. THE

TORNADO REACHED A PEAK INTENSITY OF EF-3 NEAR WINDY RIDGE ROAD AND AGAIN

NEAR SEALTEST LANE. THE TORNADO EVENTUALLY DISSIPATED TO THE EAST OF

HENRY FORK, FOUR MILES SOUTHEAST OF ROCKY MOUNT, JUST SHORT OF DOE RUN ROAD.

EF SCALE: THE ENHANCED FUJITA SCALE CLASSIFIES TORNADOES INTO THE

FOLLOWING CATEGORIES:

EF0...WEAK......65 TO 85 MPH

EF1...WEAK......86 TO 110 MPH

EF2...STRONG....111 TO 135 MPH

EF3...STRONG....136 TO 165 MPH

EF4...VIOLENT...166 TO 200 MPH

EF5...VIOLENT...>200 MPH

* THE INFORMATION IN THIS STATEMENT IS PRELIMINARY AND SUBJECT TO

CHANGE PENDING FINAL REVIEW OF THE EVENT AND PUBLICATION IN NWS

STORM DATA.


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