Two tornadoes touched down within very close proximity in extreme southern Hampshire County on July 12th, 2022. Because of this, the radar imagery below encompasses both storms.
Tornado #1: Glebe, WV
- Rating: EF-0
- Location: Glebe, WV
- County: Hampshire
- Start Time: 3:35 p.m. (39.2504, -78.8375)
- End Time: 3:36 p.m. (39.2502, -78.8304)
- Estimated Peak Wind: 85 mph
- Path Length: 0.4 miles
- Path Width Maximum: 30 yards
- Fatalities: 0
- Injuries: 0
Tornado #2: Delray, WV
- Rating: EF-1
- Location: Delray, WV
- County: Hampshire
- Start Time: 3:52 p.m. (39.1785, -78.6509)
- End Time: 3:53 p.m. (39.1783, -78.6462)
- Estimated Peak Wind: 100 mph
- Path Length: 0.25 miles
- Path Width Maximum: 50 yards
- Fatalities: 0
- Injuries: 0
Details from NWS storm survey: A powerful storm tracked across southern Hampshire County on July 12th, 2022, producing a 23 mile long, 9 mile wide swath of extensive tree and property damage. The vast majority of this damage was associated with a macroburst as a bowing storm and associated rear inflow jet tracked across the county. Winds within this 9 mile wide swath were estimated to be between 60 and 105 mph. Two brief tornadoes also occurred near the northern end of the surging bow, in the vicinity of a developing bookend vortex.
Within Hampshire County, sporadic tree damage was noted as far west as Purgitsville, but more appreciable damage began in the vicinity of the South Branch of the Potomac River several miles to the south of Romney, WV. Extensive damage was done to a farm along Arnold Farm Lane by an EF-0 tornado. Several snapped trees were noted in a treeline a couple hundred yards to the west of the farm. An open-faced barn was destroyed. As this occurred, the roof of the barn was projected into the top of a silo, severely damaging the silo. A portion of a roof on another barn was dislodged, and the roof on the farmhouse was peeled up, but not removed. This damage was focused in a very narrow area with little damage on either side. This same location coincided with a couplet off of KLWX, which suggests that the damage on the farm was tornadic in nature. A small zone with relatively little tree damage was found just south of the farm (within a half mile). However, significant tree damage associated with the bowing portion of the storm extended south from the farm along South Branch River Road for about four miles. Within this stretch of damage, entire corn fields were leveled just to the south of Trough View Road.
The storm continued eastward over Nathaniel Mountain and progressed into the valley between Nathaniel Mountain and Short Mountain. Significant tree damage was observed throughout this valley over a several mile long swath in the north-south direction (storm motion and winds were to the east). The most impressive damage in this valley was observed just north of Kirby. Numerous trees were either snapped or uprooted, and a high level of defoliation was observed on any trees that remained due to wind driven hail. Two-inch diameter hail was observed near Kirby, and accumulating golf ball sized hail was observed near Hampshire Gas Company off of Grass Lick Road. Significant hail damage to cars occurred at Hampshire Gas Company. A personal weather station recorded a wind gust to 102 mph just to the north of Hampshire Gas Company, while a weather station on site at Hampshire Gas Company failed in the wind driven hail. The maximum level of defoliation was noted in the vicinity of where the 102 mph gust was recorded/where the accumulating golf ball sized hail was observed.
The storm then progressed up and over Short Mountain, then eastward toward Delray. Within the valley, sporadic tree damage was observed as far north as around 4 miles north of Delray, but much more significant tree damage was observed from Delray southward to Rio (5 mile distance). This damage was maximized in a community to the west of Route 29 about 1.5 miles south of Delray, with extensive damage noted along both Wild Dog Pass and Buck Run. Numerous healthy trees were snapped and uprooted within this neighborhood, some of which fell on structures and vehicles. Some roads in this neighborhood were inaccessible due to downed wires and snapped power poles. Most of the damage in this community was determined to be as a result of straight-line wind damage, but one residence on Buck Run had damage that was determined to be tornadic. Downed trees fell across each other in a few spots on this property, and a video recorded on the property showed a closed circulation that passed through which coincided with the maximum winds. This tornado was rated EF-1. Extensive damage was also noted at a residence just to the south of Wild Dog Pass along Route 29. A load bearing pillar of the house was blown out by the wind, and a large, enclosed trailer was blown up and over a vehicle, then about 100 yards down a hill. Around the time the storm was passing over these locations, a strong rear inflow jet had formed with a bookend vortex just to the north. KLWX radar sampled a large area of 90-100 mph winds at 5400 feet above ground level within the rear inflow jet region, with a few pixels of 100-117 mph in the vicinity of the book end vortex. In addition to the winds and the brief tornado, two-inch diameter hail was observed in Delray.
Finally, the storm progressed up and out of the North River Valley and crossed another range of mountains before progressing into the Cacapon River Valley. Here, numerous trees were snapped and uprooted in Yellow Spring, Capon Lake, and Capon Springs. The scope of this survey ended at the West Virginia/Virginia line in eastern Hampshire County, but the same bowing storm continued eastward in a less intense state, producing more sporadic damage nearly all the way to the Atlantic Ocean.
The National Weather Service would like to thank Hampshire County Security and Emergency Management for their assistance with this survey.
Radar Imagery
Tornado #1 (Glebe, WV) panel of storm at time of tornado - click/tap on image for full resolution (Clockwise from top left: Base Reflectivity 0.5 degree, Base Velocity 0.5 degree, NROT 0.5 degree, Correlation Coefficient 0.5 degree)
Tornado #2 (Delray, WV) panel of storm at time of tornado - click/tap on image for full resolution (Clockwise from top left: Base Reflectivity 0.5 degree, Base Velocity 0.5 degree, NROT 0.5 degree, Correlation Coefficient 0.5 degree)
Panel loop - click/tap on image for full resolution (Clockwise from top left: Base Reflectivity 0.5 degree, Base Velocity 0.5 degree, NROT 0.5 degree, Correlation Coefficient 0.5 degree):
Base Reflectivity Analyzed
The Glebe, WV tornado took place at approximately 3:35 p.m. and was the first tornado this supercell spawned. At this point in time, the supercell is not well organized, but several distinct features can already be made with the supercell, including its forward flank core, rear flank core, rear inflow notch, bounded weak echo region and the tornado itself, which was located about halfway between Old Fields and Romney.
Tornado #2 (Delray, WV)
By the time our second tornado is spawned near Delray, WV, the supercell is mature, with very easily discernable features. The supercell's rotation quickly weakened once east of Delray
Base Velocity Analyzed
Correlation Coefficient Analyzed
Tornado #1 (Glebe, WV)
Tornado #2 (Delray, WV)
Normalized Rotation Analyzed
Normalized Rotation Summation
Tornado #1 (Glebe, WV)
Tornado #2 (Delray, WV)
Spectrum Width Analyzed
Tornado #1 (Glebe, WV)
Tornado #2 (Delray, WV)
Spectrum Width is often an underutilized tool, but in both of these cases, comes in quite handy. The outflow of this supercell is quite evident, but so is the tornado, with particles being scattered about and showing up well both in the Glebe, WV tornado and the Delray, WV tornado, confirming the exact locations that each tornado took place.
