Midwest to Mid-Atlantic United States tornado outbreak of 2002

The Midwest To Mid-Atlantic Tornado Outbreak of April 27, 2002 and April 28 2002 was a widespread outbreak that moved from west to east over a Saturday and Sunday. Iowa, Kansas, Missouri and Nebraska were affected on the 27th; tornadoes were reported in Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Maryland, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Virginia and West Virginia on the 28th. Generally, tornado reports were widely scattered in each state, but significant to severe damage was noted in multiple states. Overall, the outbreak was responsible for 7 deaths, 256 injuries and a total in excess of $224 million in tornado damage, with wind and hail adding to the damage total.

Tornado table

Confirmed tornadoes

April 27 event

A total of 6 tornadoes, all rated F0 or F1 in strength (see Fujita scale) were confirmed in these states. These first reported tornadoes of the outbreak - on the afternoon of the 27th - caused little or no damage.

Missouri

3 tornadoes were reported later in the day in Missouri. An F2 tornado produced damage in Willow Springs, MO, an F5 tornado struck about 15 miles northwest of Poplar Bluff and a large F3 tornado struck the Marble Hill, MO area in Bollinger County, MO shortly before midnight. This storm caused the first fatality of the outbreak, and produced $4 million in property damage.

Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky

Tornado reports began in Illinois late on the 27th and continued overnight into the 28th. 6 tornadoes were reported in Illinois, 10 in Kentucky and 1 in Indiana. In Illinois, F3 damage was seen at Dongola, IL and Dixon Springs, IL, with over 50 homes damaged or destroyed in Dongola. F2 to F3 damage was also noted with a long track tornado that moved from Tobinsport, IN through Meade County, KY, south of Brandenburg, Kentucky.

Tennessee

Tennessee saw 4 tornadoes reported during the pre-dawn hours on the 28th, with a 5th tornado reported shortly after noon. The most substantial damage was seen at Murfreesboro, TN, where 31 injuries and $2.3 million in property damage was reported. The same supercell spawned an additional F2 tornado at Bradyville, TN.

New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, West Virginia

Sporadic but strong tornadoes were reported in all four states on the afternoon of the 28th. A strong F2 tornado produced $45 million in damage in and around Jackson Twp., OH, and additional tornadoes (F0 to F2 in strength) were reported across southwest Pennsylvania, southwest New York, and at St. Joseph, WV. The St. Joseph supercell produced large hail a considerable time before this tornado occurred, and the parent supercell later produced the most severe weather recorded during this outbreak, after crossing into Virginia and Maryland.

Virginia, Maryland

The worst damage of the outbreak was seen in parts of these states. A supercell that had earlier produced the St. Joseph, WV tornado crossed the central Appalachian mountains, producing numerous hail and wind damage reports. This storm spawned its 2nd tornado (F2) in Shenandoah County, Virginia, blowing trucks from I-81. Shortly thereafter, funnel clouds were reported with the same storm in Fauquier County, Virginia and Prince William County, Virginia (at the southern edge of the metro Washington, D.C. area). Crossing the Potomac River into Maryland, the storm then spawned a series of powerful (F2, F3 and F4) tornadoes that moved along a nearly continual path starting south of Indian Head, Maryland, and continuing into La Plata, Maryland. The business district of La Plata was devastated (damage surveys revealed this tornado to be an F4, though a preliminary NWS survey first categorized it as an F5).

Continuing east, damage fluctuated between F2 and F4 levels through eastern Charles County, Maryland and southern Calvert County, Maryland. The tornado or tornadoes made a 10 mile crossing of the Chesapeake Bay, and emerged on the Eastern Shore in Dorchester County, Maryland. Now weakened to consistent F2 strength (still with brief F3 bursts), the storm dissipated several miles west of Salisbury, Maryland. This storm produced debris fallout 66 miles away, at Federalsburg, Maryland, and also in southern Delaware, and hail up to 4.5 inches in diameter was reported in northern Charles County.

Farther south, tornadoes also produced damage in the City of Bedford, VA west of Lynchburg, Virginia), and near Emporia, Virginia, along I-95 just north of the North Carolina state line.

Much of La Plata had previously been destroyed by an F4 tornado on November 9, 1926.

A total of $125 million in damage, 4 fatalities and 122 injuries were directly caused by the Maryland storms (the most expensive in the history of the state). Another $8 million in damage, along with 17 injuries were reported in Virginia.

ee also

*List of North American tornadoes and tornado outbreaks
*Tornadoes of 2002

References

External links

* [http://www.nws.noaa.gov/om/assessments/pdfs/laplata.pdf NWS Service Assessment]
* [http://www.crh.noaa.gov/pah/storm/aprtor.php April 2002 Tornadoes] (NWS Paducah)
* [http://www.srh.noaa.gov/ohx/surveys/ss042802.htm Storm Survey in Rutherford County] (NWS Nashville, TN)
* [http://cimss.ssec.wisc.edu/goes/misc/020428/020428.html Satellite imagery] (University of Wisconsin-Madison)