The 30-year anniversary of the devastating tornado outbreak of 1993

PETERSBURG, Va. (WWBT) - Aug. 6, 1993, is a summer day that brings back vivid memories for long-time residents of the Tri-Cities in central Virginia.

Four people tragically lost their lives, and 256 people were injured when 18 tornadoes struck our region. As of that time, it was the most tornadoes to ever occur in a single day in Virginia history.

It still ranks as the deadliest tornado outbreak in our part of the state.

The most devastating tornado touched down in the southwest corner of the town of Petersburg at 1:30 p.m. that Friday. It rapidly intensified, becoming a multi-vortex tornado as it moved northeast into Old Towne Petersburg.

A multi-vortex tornado typically has one parent vortex containing several vortices (called sub-vortices or suction vortices) revolving around, inside, and as part of the central vortex.

The main vortex that moved through Old Towne Petersburg reached F4 intensity with winds estimated near 210 mph. This caused multi-story brick buildings to collapse and destroyed the eastern freight wing of the South Side Railroad Depot.

No one was killed when the storm was at its peak intensity while moving through the historic district.

The tornadic storm then continued to the northeast at about 30 mph onto Pocahontas Island, destroying or heavily damaging 47 of the 57 buildings on the island.

A 200-year-old church was a total loss, but an open Bible on a podium within the church was untouched. In its path through Petersburg, approximately 40 people were injured, and around 100 buildings were heavily damaged or destroyed.

The storm then continued northeast, crossing a busy interstate highway, thankfully not harming anyone caught off guard in their vehicles. However, the storm turned deadly as it moved into Colonial Heights, heavily damaging a strip mall, a water bed store, a K-Mart and then the Walmart store taking on a direct hit with an F3 intensity tornado.

At that time, winds were estimated near 175 mph as it carved a 20-yard path through the cinder block wall and store roof. Three people were killed at the store’s front entrance, and 198 injuries occurred there.

Check out the areal view of the damage to the Walmart, note of how the cars were tossed around on top of each other in the parking lot!

From this point, the storm continued its deadly path into Prince George County and was slightly weaker at F2 intensity.

However, it struck a sand and gravel company, killing a 28-year-old man seeking shelter with co-workers when the second floor of the building collapsed.

The storm continued into the city of Hopewell ripping roofs off of the Riverside Apartment Complex and heavily damaging 49 other homes as an F1 tornado. The tornado continued on to the northeast, moving into Charles City County as an F0 and eventually dissipated.

It was on the ground for a total of about 15 to 20 minutes and had a path length of 12 miles. Damage estimates for this storm alone were around $47.5 million.

That Friday afternoon also produced a powerful F2 tornado in Dinwiddie County; however, there were thankfully no deaths or injuries in that particular storm.

There were more than a dozen more F0 and F1 tornadoes that touched down over our region, significantly damaging trees, travel trailers, trailer homes, barns and other smaller buildings.

Countless homes had trees blown into them, several bridges sustained damage from heavy winds, and several vehicles were overturned or heavily damaged. All in all, damage estimate totals were around $52.5 million.

August tornado outbreaks are not common in our part of the country. The weather conditions however, became ideal for severe thunderstorms capable of producing tornadoes.

While it started out as a cloudy day, a warm front lifted north through south central Virginia at the same time, an area of low pressure was developing over the southwestern part of the state.

As that front lifted north, the clouds broke as very hot and humid air pushed north. The fuel for the storms was there with a very warm (hot) and humid air mass in place, with the sunshine helping to create a great deal of instability.

With the nearby front and an approaching low-pressure system, there was a veering or twisting of the winds with height throughout the atmosphere that was conducive for storms to rotate once they began to develop. This is not a typical setup we see at this time of year, but the recipe was there for the violent tornado outbreak that occurred.

Technology has progressed by leaps and bounds since this fateful day.

According to the National Weather Service Office in Wakefield, the only radar available to them on Aug. 6 was the WSR-74C in Halifax County, Virginia.

This radar was incapable of determining tornadic signatures. The closest WSR-88D (the type of radar currently in use in 2023) was located in Sterling, VA and was too far away to detect the rotation in these storms.

The NWS did issue a Tornado Watch at 12:45 p.m. on the afternoon of Aug. 6. However, the warning for the Petersburg/Tri-City storm came out at 1:35 p.m.

This was about 5 minutes after the storm had already struck, and it was based on a spotter report.

At that time, due to the lack of radar coverage, spotters were essential tools for disseminating life-saving severe weather information.

Thankfully, just one year later, in 1994, the NWS Office Wakefield WSR-88D project was completed, and lead times for tornado warnings improved dramatically.

Those lead times have only continued to improve in the decades since with further technological advancements.

Since Aug. 1993, we have had other notable tornado outbreaks that turned deadly, one of which occurred on Feb. 24, 2016.

NBC12 was on air for more than 6 hours that day, covering numerous tornado warnings through the viewing area, with a total of 14 ultimately being confirmed.

Of note was an EF-1 tornado with winds of up to 110 mph that struck the town of Waverly.

Two men and a young boy were killed as the tornado hit their mobile home. Eight other people were injured.

A stronger EF-3 tornado with winds up to 140 miles per hour cut a 28-mile path from the Middle Peninsula to the Northern Neck. The tornado reached its peak intensity on Kino Road in Essex County near Tappahannock, destroying three modular homes.

At times, the tornado’s path was 400 to 500 yards wide. At least 25 people were injured, and at least 30 buildings were damaged, according to State Police.

Thankfully, no one was killed.

More recently, the tornado outbreak on the afternoon of Sept. 17, 2018, as the remnant low of what once was Hurricane Florence was tracking west up through the Appalachian mountains.

In the afternoon and early evening, a total of 8 tornadoes touched down around the Richmond metro area.

Of note was an EF-2 tornado with winds estimated near 125 mph that moved across Hull Street Road in Chesterfield County. It destroyed the Old Dominion Warehouse after crossing Hull Street, killing one person and injuring another.

Numerous trees, power poles and other structures were destroyed as these storms ravaged the area.

The deadliest tornado to hit Virginia happened on May 1, 1929, in southwest Virginia. It happened in the town of Rye Cove (Scott County). 13 people were killed in a school building when an EF-1 tornado struck during the school day.

The tornado outbreaks in Aug. 1993 and Feb. 2016 were uncommon occurrences.

We typically see the greatest frequency of tornadoes in our region during the Spring months from March through May due to the seasonal transition from winter to spring.

The second more common occurrence is in the fall due to decaying tropical systems that can sometimes move through our area.

This should serve as an important reminder that tornadoes can occur in any month of the year and at any time of day or night if the atmospheric conditions are favorable for severe storms to develop.

So what should you do if a tornado warning is issued for your particular community?

Ideally, you and your family have already discussed where you would go in the event of a tornado warning for your location. If not, make sure you have that talk and develop a plan right away!

The safest place in your home is going to be a below-ground basement. Many of us do not have a basement in this part of the country, so your next best option is going to be an interior room on the lowest floor of your home.

Think of an interior hallway, bathroom, or closet that is toward the center part of the house and farthest away from windows and the exterior walls of your home. You want to keep as many walls between you and the storm. You should protect your head with pillows, blankets or better yet, a bicycle or football helmet if you happen to have one.

If you live in a mobile home or you’re driving around in your car when a tornado warning has been issued, get to a sturdy, reinforced building as quickly as possible. Once there, get to that interior safe space on the lowest floor.

As always, we encourage you to download the NBC12 First Alert Weather app to access severe weather alerts at your fingertips the moment they are issued.

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