The 2022 Greene County, Virginia Tornado was a violent EF-4 tornado. It started at 9:26 PM on July 17, 2022, and ended at 10:14 PM.
Previous Forecast[]
The previous day, on July 16, 2022, the news station in Charlottesville forecasted some strong storms in the area the next day. Then, a Severe Thunderstorm Watch was issued for much of Central and Western Virginia. At 3:52 PM on July 17, 2021, a Flash Flood Watch was issued for parts of Central Virginia. At 8:44 PM, a Severe Thunderstorm Warning was issued for Northern Albemarle and Southern Greene counties.
The Tornado[]
At 9:19 PM, a funnel was spotted above Earlysville. So, the NWS issued a tornado warning for the area. Then at 9:26 PM, the funnel touched down. Starting Northwest of Earlysville, it knocked some branches off of trees. It moved northwest into Greene, turning into an EF-1. It knocked down some power lines east of Dyke, and west of Amicus, it damaged a home. There, it was becoming an EF-2. It knocked a tree onto a car, injuring 2 and killing 1. The tornado then crosses Route 624 and grows to an EF-3. The tornado crosses US-33, killing 7 and injuring 10. The tornado enters Stanardsville, killing 84 and injuring 419. The town was destroyed. the tornado gained EF-4 status when that happened. The EF-4 went towards the Conway River, entering Madison County. There, it injured 5 people and weakened to an EF-2. It crossed the river back into Greene, where it injured 24 people in the mountains. The tornado then weakened to an EF-0, and dissipated in the mountains of Madison County.
Aftermath[]
Greene's county seat had to be relocated to Ruckersville, since Stanardsville was destroyed. The tornado costed $1.2B in damages. Those who survived the tornado were left homeless. President Biden went to the area on July 19, 2022. On October 1, 2022, re-construction of Stanardsville began. On July 17, 2023, Stanardsville was doing a little better. By 2042, the town had fully recovered. In total, 92 people lost their lives, while 457 were injured. Lots of farmland was destroyed, and lots of land was de-forested. This would be the worst tornado the county has ever experienced, and one of the worst the State of Virginia has ever seen.