High Wind in Montgomery, Tennessee

One of the strongest wind gusts of this event was recorded at the Clarksville ASOS site with a non-thunderstorm wind gust of 79 mph. This is the highest wind gust ever reported at the Clarksville ASOS where records go back to April 2001. Several hours of severe non-thunderstorm winds resulted in numerous damage reports, including downed and uprooted trees, downed powerlines, and roof and other property damage across all of Montgomery County. Some of the most significant damage was reported near Fredonia where H & S Farms reported that their greenhouse was destroyed and a roof was torn off their building. Damages are estimated.

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.