WAKEFIELD, Va. — As of Friday evening, the remnants of Debby were moving through New York state and expected to track into eastern Canada overnight and Saturday.
But in the previous 24 hours, Debby made her presence known in Virginia and North Carolina.
Thunderstorms in the outer rain bands of Debby prompted the National Weather Service in Wakefield to issue 23 tornado warnings Thursday afternoon and Friday morning.
So far, survey crews have confirmed an EF-1 tornado touched down in Caroline County on Thursday. It happened minutes before 7 p.m. near Cedar Fork Road and U.S. Route 1. Surveyors say the short-lived tornado traveled northeast and into the Lake Caroline Subdivision. Many trees were snapped or uprooted, downing power lines and causing damage to more than 30 homes there.
The NWS Wakefield survey team also went out locally to survey southern Suffolk along the state line, where there was a prominent debris signature on radar Thursday. The survey team was unable to find debris or any damage to support a tornado had touched down in the area.
NWS crews will continue to survey damage in across region.
It's not unusual to see clusters of tornado-warned cells on the eastern and northeast sides of decaying tropical systems moving over land. The enhanced upper-level spin paired with the frictional component of land interaction makes it easier for usually weak, brief spin-up tornadoes to develop.
Here is a list of all the areas that NWS Wakefield issued a tornado warning bulletin for on Thursday and Friday:
In Virginia: The City of Suffolk, Isle of Wight County, Caroline County, King and Queen County, Henrico County, King William County, Hanover County, Essex County, Chesterfield County, Powhatan County, Mecklenburg County, Prince George County, Sussex County, Surry County, James City County, Southampton County, Dinwiddie County, Amelia County, Greensville County.
In North Carolina: Bertie County, Northampton County, Camden County, Gates County, Perquimans County, Chowan County.
