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F3 tornado in Cumberland County, Tennessee

Tornado May 18, 1995 · Cumberland County, Tennessee

Rating

9.0 mi

Path length

100 yd

Path width

Injuries

$2.0M

Damage as recorded

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The path drawn at its surveyed width of 100 yards (0.06 mi) — zoom in and the swath grows to true scale. Other tornadoes recorded nearby that day are shown faint.

What F3 means. This tornado was rated on Fujita’s original scale, used until 2007. F3 meant severe damage: whole stories of well-built houses destroyed, large buildings badly damaged, trains overturned; the scale paired it with winds of 158–206 mph, figures later judged too high, especially toward the top of the scale, and revised downward in the Enhanced Fujita scale. Ratings then, as now, came from the damage.

What the National Weather Service wrote

The tornado first touched down in the southwest part of Cumberland County and moved northeast. Two business were destroyed. Eleven homes and 14 mobiles homes were destroyed. Many other homes were damaged. One house had a gas leak in it prompting emergency management officials to evacuate a handful of nearby residents. Other homes had roof damage. Numerous trees and power lines were knocked down.

Began near Newton To (35.8000, -85.2000).

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event 10349917. Narratives are written by the National Weather Service forecast office that issued the report.

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