Tornado History Map

Charlottesville, Virginia tornado path, 30 September 1959

Rated F3 on the Fujita (F) scale. The recorded path is shown on the map and selected for you.

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Years1950 to 2025
Rating (F or EF scale)

Shows tornadoes that started in, or crossed, the chosen state. To see how many have passed near you, search a town or ZIP code, or tap the map.

Key
  • F0 / EF0 Light damage
  • F1 / EF1 Moderate damage
  • F2 / EF2 Considerable damage
  • F3 / EF3 Severe damage
  • F4 / EF4 Devastating damage
  • F5 / EF5 Incredible damage
  • Unknown Not rated (2007 onwards)

How to read the lines. Each line is one tornado, drawn from where it started to where it ended, coloured and sized by its rating. A dot means the record has no end point. Tap a line for its details, or tap anywhere else to see how many tornadoes have passed nearby. Weaker tornadoes appear as you zoom in. Ratings use the Fujita (F) scale before 1 February 2007 and the Enhanced Fujita (EF) scale from then on.

What the record says

On 30 September 1959, a tornado touched down near Charlottesville, Virginia. The Storm Prediction Center records its path as 0.8 miles long and up to 200 yards wide, rated F3 on the Fujita (F) scale. It killed 11 people and injured 4.

  • F3Fujita rating
  • 11deaths
  • 4injuries
  • 0.8 mipath length
  • 200 ydmaximum width

It has its own page because it killed three or more people and it was rated 3 and killed at least one person.

This page gives the official record's figures. Numbers of deaths and injuries are sometimes revised after a survey, and they cannot convey what the day was like for the people who lived through it.

Counties it crossed

The start point was at 38.05, -78.62. The record has no end point for this tornado, so it is drawn as a dot.

How to read this path

The Storm Prediction Center records most tornadoes as a straight line from the point where they touched down to the point where they lifted. The real path usually curved and was not the same width all the way along. The width given is the widest part. Older records are less precise, and the record starts in 1950.

Source: the NOAA Storm Prediction Center database, public domain.

Other notable tornadoes in Virginia

Other notable tornadoes of 1959

All tornadoes of 1959 · Virginia tornado history · All notable tornadoes

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