May 8th Tornadoes
A strong storm system across the Ohio Valley during the afternoon of Thursday, May 8th, pushed east toward the mountains Thursday evening. A boundary was trailing from the low across southern Virginia. This put the region in a high shear enviroment, meaning, winds at the surface were blowing from the southeast, while a few thousand feet above the surface, the winds were blowing out of the southwest at 40 to 50 mph. Supercells formed in the foothills and piedmont ahead of a strong but broken line of thunderstorms that formed just west of the mountains and became more organized by the time it reached the Blue Ridge.
A summary of each tornado
From the Henry/Franklin County Event
A tornado, rated EF-1 with winds 86 to 95 mph, was on the ground in Henry and Franklin counties, along a path length of 1 mile, with a maximum width of 75 yards. Numerous trees were downed, with 4 homes damaged in both counties. More specifically, the tornado touched down near state route 886 in Henry County at 8pm, and lifted at state routes 618 and 632 in Franklin County. See figure below.
Path of the tornado from northern Henry County into Southern Franklin County, VA
Radar images of this tornado
This radar image displays the typical "hook" signature associated with supercells.
This radar image displays the wind direction and speed in the storm. The red is away from the radar which is to the
northwest of this storm in Floyd County. Green is wind toward the radar. The brighter shades of color indicate higher
wind speeds.
From the Pittsylvania County Event
A tornado, rated EF-1, with winds of 86 to 95 mph, touched down around 900 PM EDT on Thursday May 8th approximately 3 miles east southeast of the town of Ajax. The touchdown point was just southwest of Oxford Road near Highway 40.
The tornado remained on the ground for approximately 3 minutes, had a maximum path width of 60 yards, and traveled toward the northeast approximately 1 mile before lifting around 903 PM EDT, just northeast of the intersection of Darby Road and Highway 40. Numerous trees were downed along and near the path of the tornado, along with some damage to nearby homes. Additional damage to trees from straight-line winds were also noted approximately 1/4 mile north and east of the point where the tornado lifted.
The National Weather Service would like to extend its sincere appreciation to the community emergency response team, including Pittsylvania emergency management and the Gretna volunteer fire department, for assistance and support provided during the survey.
Track of the tornado in Pittsylvania county near Ajax.
Radar images from this storm
As viewed from the Blacksburg radar, the EF-1 tornado touched down around 900 pm, 3 miles southeast of Ajax, VA.
The Blacksburg radar depicting the rotation signature with the bright green indicating strong winds blowing toward
the radar, which is to the left of this picture, and bright red showing strong winds away from the radar
(white triangle depicts approximate tornado location). This is also at 900 pm edt, 3 miles southeast of Ajax.
From the Appomattox County Event
A tornado, rated EF-1 with winds of 86 to 95 mph, touched down around 11:20 PM EDT on Thursday May 8th, approximately 2 miles west of the town of Hixburg.
The touchdown point was 6 miles east of the intersection of Route 633 and Highway 460. The tornado remained on the ground for approximately three-quarters of a mile and had a maximum path width of 50 yards. The tornado traveled northeast and lifted just north and east of the intersection of Route 633 and Route 627 at 11:21 PM EDT. Numerous trees were downed along and near the path of the tornado. Two houses were damaged, along with two other smaller structures. The damage from the tornado was observed within a larger area of straight-line wind damage.
The National Weather Service would like to extend its sincere appreciation to Appomattox County emergency management for assistance and support provided during the survey.
