Wednesday, May 06, 2009
Weather columnist Kevin Myatt: Floyd Co. twister punctuates weekend weather
Kevin Myatt is The Roanoke Times' weather columnist.
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Indian Valley in Floyd County has been the weather capital of Southwest Virginia lately.
A week ago today, it was a hailstorm that covered the hillsides like snow. Sunday, it was a small tornado.
Early Sunday evening, a cluster of heavy rain showers and thunderstorms moved through Southwest Virginia. Roanoke experienced the northern edge of the cluster.
Farther south, with more atmospheric shear aloft along a stationary front, the winds rotated enough for brief, small tornadoes to develop in Rockingham County, N.C., and near Indian Valley.
The tornado's path, located three miles south-southwest of Indian Valley, was about a mile in length, according to a storm survey Monday by meteorologists from the National Weather Service in Blacksburg.
Winds in the storm were estimated at 75 to 85 mph, placing it as a high-end EF-0, the lowest rung on the Fujita Scale. The tornado was 60 yards wide and lasted about a minute. Damage was confined to several trees and a few small structures, with one shed flattened, the weather service said.
The Floyd County tornado was very similar to the June 3 tornado that skipped through South Roanoke.
There will be a chance for more heavy rain and some severe storms the rest of this week as a series of low pressure systems move along a flip-flopping front just to our south.




