Fulks Run-Basye, VA EF2 Tornado- April 28, 2011

Stats

Path length: 33.51 miles

Width: 400 yards

Fatalities: 0

Injuries: 0

Rating: EF2

County: Rockingham, Shenandoah

Tornado Path

SPC coordinates: 38.654 / -78.962 End: 38.959 / -78.478

Corrected coordinates Based on Analysis of Aerial and Satellite Imagery:

Start: 38.651942 / -78.963116 End: 38.972761 / -78.417532

Note: Exact tornado path may not be straight and/or continuous.

Summary

During the early morning hours of April 28, 2011, five tornadoes ripped across the Shenandoah Valley. This summary looks at the strongest, an EF2, that snaked along a 37.6 mile path across Rockingham and Shenandoah Counties. It caused heavy damage near Basye and injured two people.

The tornado began 3.11 miles WSW of Fulks Run around 2:12 am EDT. The weak twister moved north-northeast, passing just east of Yankeetown, causing minor tree damage and destroying a cattle shed. It veered toward the northeast and ascended Church Mountain, 3.17 miles north of Fulks Run. The funnel crossed over the crest of the mountain at the height of 2,628 feet. The tornado reached a width of 880 yards (½ mile) as it crossed the Rockingham/Shenandoah County border. The damage along the 9.37 mile path in Rockingham County was mostly confined to sporadically snapped and uprooted trees (EF0).

The tornado strengthened to an EF2 SW of Orkney Springs in Shenandoah County. Along Hepner Road, a barn was destroyed, and a mobile home was leveled. The trailer was vaulted into the air and smashed into the ground 40 yards away, leaving an impact mark, then continued to tumble for 30 more yards into a woodline. There was significant tree damage in the wooded areas east of Orkney Springs.

The tornado crossed Route 263, two miles SE of Basye, and moved into the Ski and Hunt Subdivision. It reached peak intensity with estimated wind speeds at 130 mph. Sixteen homes sustained varying degrees of damage.

The Shamburg Poultry Farm, on Kelley Road, was hard hit. Several barns and chicken houses were destroyed, two of which were swept away. Thousands of chickens were killed. A piece of timber was impaled through the wall of a travel trailer. Buck Hirsh reported to WHSV-TV that they still find pieces of debris in the fields to this day, ten years after the tornado. A half-ton piece of industrial equipment was thrown 200 yards and a pickup truck was rolled over. The community came together to help clean up the farm, and the Shamburgs fully rebuilt.

A special thank you goes out to Aubrey Urbanowicz, Chief Meteorologist of WHSV-TV in Harrisonburg, VA. She compiled an excellent video detailing the damage at the Shamburg farm, which can be seen below.

The Polk Chicken Farm sustained minor damage. The ends of two chicken houses lost part of their roof panels. The tornado slowly weakened as it followed Kelly Road and moved across Dearhead Road toward Conicville. Homes and barns sustained minor roof damage, and pockets of trees were blown down.

The tornado weakened further to an EF0 as it approached Conicville. It produced sporadic tree damage for the next 19 miles as it passed by Columbia Furnace, St. Luke, and Alonzaville. The twister dissipated 3.41 miles SW of Strasburg.

Photos in Chronological Order

Discrepancies:

We gathered information for this event from the SPC and NCDC Databases, the April 2011 Storm Data Publication (SDP), the NWS Sterling Summary, and analysis of satellite and aerial imagery and found the following differences:

Path Length: