Unsettled Weather Continuing over the Western and Eastern U.S. into Mid Week

Two storm systems, one over the Desert Southwest, and one over the Ohio Valley, will continue to bring unsettled weather and cooler temperatures into the middle of the week. Moderate to heavy rainfall, along with the potential for flash flooding, is forecast from the Ohio Valley to the East Coast. Moderate to locally heavy rainfall is expected over the Northern Rockies, Great Basin and Southwest. Read More >

Overview

On the morning of December 24th, a deep upper trough was oriented north-south just west of the Mississippi River Valley. At the surface, strong low pressure was centered north of the Great Lakes, with a strong trailing cold front extending south to the eastern Gulf coast. A secondary area of low pressure was developing along the front across the Deep South while the associated warm front bisected the Wakefield CWA during the morning of 12/24. By the afternoon on 12/24, the warm front had lifted north of the area and temperatures warmed into the upper 50s NW with 60s elsewhere. Additionally, dew points increased into the low to mid 60s by afternoon across southeast VA and NE NC with SSE flow originating in the Gulf Stream waters off the coast of NC. See images in “Environment” section for more details. A pre-frontal band of showers (with a few thunderstorms) crossed the area of west to east during the afternoon through mid evening. Despite strong low level wind fields, the atmosphere was largely capped when this line crossed the area.

By late evening (9-10 PM) the secondary area of low pressure had rapidly deepened while tracking NNE to just NW of the Wakefield CWA. At the same time, the strong cold front was rapidly approaching the Virginia Piedmont. Despite it being late evening, strong low-levels S-SSE flow allowed temperatures and dew points to rise into the mid to locally upper 60s across SE VA/NE NC (especially away from the immediate coast…where the airmass was modified by the cooler near-sfc marine layer). The mid-upper 60s temperatures/dew points were enough for 250-750 J/kg of surface based CAPE across interior SE VA/NE NC. Meanwhile, a 60-80 kt+ south-southwesterly 925-850 mb jet was in place across this same area. A thin line of convection accompanied the cold front as it crossed the area from 9 PM-2 AM. There were multiple reports of 60+ mph wind gusts across SE VA in addition to two brief, EF-1 tornadoes over Southampton County/the City of Suffolk. Elsewhere, the lack of appreciable surface-based instability was likely a limiting factor. Temperatures dropped sharply following the frontal passage Christmas morning.

Tornadoes
Photos
Radar
Storm Reports
Environment

Tornadoes:

Tornado - Cornith Chapel Road
CITY OF SUFFOLK

Date	12/24/2020
Time (Local)	11:21-11:22 PM
EF Rating	EF-1
Est. Peak Winds	90 MPH
Path Length	0.3 miles
Max Width	150 yards
Injuries/Deaths	0/0
Summary: A damage survey conducted by the NWS Wakefield office found a path of storm damage consistent with an EF1 tornado, with peak winds estimated to be around 90 mph. The damage began on the south side of Corinth Chapel Road in the far southwest portion of City of Suffolk VA and ended just west of the intersection of Corinth Chapel Road and Gates Road in Suffolk. The tornado caused significant damage to at least 1 home, uprooted and snapped off several large trees, and flipped over a large pickup truck. The circulation that produced this tornado lifted off the ground after its end location and later produced a 2nd tornado approximately 6 miles to the northeast in the vicinity of Dutch Road in Suffolk VA.

Track Map

Tornado - Dutch/Lummis Road
CITY OF SUFFOLK

Date	12/24/2020
Time (Local)	11:28-11:31 PM
EF Rating	EF-1
Est. Peak Winds	95-100 mph
Path Length	2.2 miles
Max Width	200 yards
Injuries/Deaths	0/0
Summary: A damage survey conducted by the NWS Wakefield office found a path of storm damage consistent with an EF1 tornado, with peak winds estimated to be 95 to 100 mph. The damage began on the south side of Dutch Road in the southwest portion of City of Suffolk VA and ended along Lummis Road just north of the intersection with Box Elder Road. This tornado caused significant damage to at least 6 homes along Dutch Road, with shingles torn off roofs, and also damaged a large trailer. Several large trees were uprooted along the damage path. This tornado was a part of the same circulation that dropped a tornado about 7 minutes earlier approximately 6 miles to the southwest in the vicinity of Corinth Chapel Road in the far southwest portion of the City of Suffolk VA.

Track Map

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

EF0 Weak 65-85 mph	EF1 Moderate 86-110 mph	EF2 Significant 111-135 mph	EF3 Severe 136-165 mph	EF4 Extreme 166-200 mph	EF5 Catastrophic 200+ mph

Photos

Tornado Damage Photos from NWS Storm Survey

Radar

Selected Radar Images

Loop of 0.5° Base Reflectivity (left) and Storm Relative Velocity (right) from 11:00 to 11:40 PM on December 24th

Storm Reports

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WAKEFIELD VA

..TIME...   ...EVENT...      ...CITY LOCATION...     ...LAT.LON...
..DATE...   ....MAG....      ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
            ..REMARKS..

0900 PM     FLASH FLOOD      1 SE EWELL              37.31N 76.73W
12/24/2020                   YORK               VA   COUNTY OFFICIAL  

            INTERSECTION OF AIRPORT AND MOOORESTOWN 
            CLOSED DUE TO HIGH WATER OVER ROADWAY.

1152 PM     TSTM WND GST     PATRICK HENRY FIEL      37.13N 76.50W
12/24/2020  M61 MPH          CITY OF NEWPORT NEWVA   ASOS             

            ASOS STATION KPHF NEWPORT NEWS.

1210 AM     TSTM WND GST     WARDS CORNER            36.92N 76.27W
12/25/2020  M61 MPH          CITY OF NORFOLK    VA   AWOS             

            AWOS STATION KNGU NORFOLK NAS CHAM.

1250 AM     TSTM WND DMG     4 WNW EXMORE            37.56N 75.88W
12/25/2020                   ACCOMACK           VA   UTILITY COMPANY  

            TREES DOWNED AT INDIAN TRAIL RD AND 
            SCARBOROUGHS NECK RD.

1101 PM     TSTM WND DMG     3 WSW COURTLAND         36.70N 77.11W
12/24/2020                   SOUTHAMPTON        VA   NWS STORM SURVEY 

            MULTIPLE TREES AND LARGE BRANCHES AS WELL AS 
            POWER LINES DOWN FROM JUST NORTH OF BARROW 
            RD TO NORTH OF RT 58 IN SOUTHAMPTON, VA. 
            WINDS ESTIMATED AROUND 70 MPH.

1127 PM     TSTM WND DMG     1 SW ISLE OF WIGHT      36.90N 76.72W
12/24/2020                   ISLE OF WIGHT      VA   PUBLIC           

            TREES DOWN NEAR CENTRAL HILL.

1210 AM     TSTM WND DMG     1 WSW PORTLOCK          36.77N 76.30W
12/25/2020                   CITY OF CHESAPEAKE VA   COAST GUARD      

            THE GILMERTON BRIDGE WAS DAMAGED DUE TO HIGH 
            WIND. THE BRIDGE WAS INOPERABLE FOR SEVERAL 
            DAYS FOLLOWING THE STORM.

1150 PM     TSTM WND DMG     2 E LUMMIS              36.69N 76.67W
12/24/2020                   CITY OF SUFFOLK    VA   NWS STORM SURVEY 

            TREES DOWN ALONG MANNING RD.

Environment

Synoptic summary.