JUST IN: Second tornado confirmed in Centreville during last week’s storm

Fairfax County was, in fact, hit by two tornados during last week’s rainstorm.

The National Weather Service determined there was a tornado in Centreville on Thursday (March 31), in addition to the one that touched down in Tysons.

The tornado had peak winds of 85 miles per hour, according to NWS, which conducted a damage survey today (Monday).

Approximately 15 pine trees were snapped or uprooted at the end of Batavia Drive behind Cub Run Elementary School.

“No damage to nearby residences or other structures was evident during the survey,” the report reads. “The tornado was on the ground for well under a minute.”

The National Weather Service confirmed an additional tornado in the county during Thursdays’s storms. Details below. 👇 https://t.co/d8zHZxPZKB

— Ready Fairfax (@ReadyFairfax) April 4, 2022

The NWS estimates the tornado tore an about 80-yard path with a width of 30 feet around 8:21 p.m.

The Tysons hurricane didn’t touch down until about 20 minutes later and was also rated as an EF0 but damaged two gas stations.

Read the full NWS damage survey below:

Public Information Statement
National Weather Service Baltimore MD/Washington DC
440 PM EDT Mon Apr 4 2022

…NWS Damage Survey for 03/31/22 Tornado in Centreville VA…

Rating: EF-0
Estimated Peak Wind: 85 mph
Path Length: 80 yards
Path Width /maximum/: 30 yards
Fatalities: 0
Injuries: 0

Start Date: March 31, 2022
Start Time: 8:21 PM EDT
Start Location: Centreville VA
Start Lat/Lon: 38.8653/-77.4579

End Date: March 31, 2022
End Time: 8:22 PM EDT
End Location: Centreville VA
End Lat/Lon: 38.8655/-77.4570

Narrative:

Today, the National Weather Service in Sterling, Virginia, conducted a survey of storm damage in Centreville, Virgina, of localized damage from storms that occurred Thursday evening, March 31, 2022.

It was determined that a brief tornado occurred in Centreville, Virginia, near the end of Batavia Drive behind Cub Run Elementary School. Multiple softwood pine trees surrounding the end of Batavia Drive were impacted/damaged by the tornado, with several snapped and others uprooted. No damage to nearby residences or other structures was evident during the survey. The tornado was on the ground for well under a minute.

The tornado touched down immediately east of Cub Run Elementary School and transited from west to east toward the cul-de-sac at the end of Batavia Drive. The cul-de-sac was formerly surrounded by about two dozen trees. The seven trees on the south side of the cul-de-sac were undamaged, while most of the remainder were either uprooted, snapped at the base, or snapped 10-15 feet in the air. One of the tree tops was turned in mid-air and landed
opposite to its expected orientation had this been straight-line winds, indicative of a very brief tornado touchdown.

The tornado lifted as it moved east of the cul-de-sac.

Weather radars from NOAA/NWS KLWX WSR-88D in Sterling, VA, and FAA Terminal Doppler Weather Radars for Reagan National Airport, and Joint Base Andrews, all had corroborating doppler radar velocity data supporting the tornadogenesis.

EF Scale: The Enhanced Fujita Scale classifies tornadoes into the following categories:

EF0………65 to 85 mph
EF1………86 to 110 mph
EF2………111 to 135 mph
EF3………136 to 165 mph
EF4………166 to 200 mph
EF5………>200 mph

Photo courtesy of @RealPotatus