High Wind — Clay, Tennessee

2023-03-03 · Clay, Tennessee

Event narrative

Several hours of non-thunderstorm high winds led to numerous reports of damage across Clay County, including downed trees and limbs, downed powerlines, and roof damage. Damages are estimated.

Wider weather episode

A historic high wind event set up over all of Middle Tennessee on March 3, 2023. An incredibly strong surface low deepened to about 979mb over the Ohio River Valley. In fact, this system broke numerous all-time low pressure readings across the lower Ohio River Valley. At the official weather station at the Nashville International Airport, the barometric pressure dropped to 29.06 inches which was very close to the all time record of 29.02 inches. This intense low pressure system combined with a potent cold front resulted in a very strong pressure gradient across the area which resulted in several hours of high winds. The high winds were first felt along a line of thunderstorms that very quickly tracked east-northeast through Middle Tennessee. This line prompted several Several Thunderstorm Warnings with the primary hazard being wind. However, winds increased dramatically behind this line of thunderstorms with wind gusts of 60 to 80 mph common through the afternoon. The highest measured gust was 79 mph at the Clarksville ASOS which set a record the highest wind gust measured at this station. These high winds resulted in widespread damage with every county reporting snapped or uprooted trees, downed powerlines, power outages, roofs torn off buildings, and other property damage. Tragically, three people were killed during this event with all three killed due to falling trees.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 1073882. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.