EF2 Tornado — Cannon, Tennessee

2023-04-01 · near Readyville, Cannon, Tennessee

Event narrative

This narrative continues and concludes a tornado that began in Rutherford County. Near the Rutherford/Cannon county line, the tornado intensified even further to a strong EF2 and moved into the Readyville community on Murfreesboro Road, heavily damaging or destroying numerous homes and businesses. Several historic properties dating to the early 1800s such as the Readyville Mill and The Corners on Stones River were also heavily damaged. The tornado weakened as it continued northeast but still blew down numerous trees and caused minor damage to homes on Porterfield Road, Locke Creek Road, and Auburntown Road before the tornado lifted. Two people were injured. Damages are estimated for Cannon County.

Wider weather episode

A very strong low pressure system deepened over the central Great Plains beginning on March 31, 2023 and continuing into April 1st. As this storm system approached Middle Tennessee from the west, southerly flow at the surface resulted in plenty of moisture and warm temperatures for the area. This all helped to set up an early spring severe weather episode for the area. This system's accompanying cold front approached the Mississippi River late on March 31st. Thunderstorm activity across western Tennessee quickly turned severe, but this early activity tended to rapidly weaken as it crossed the Tennessee River where instability was not favorable. However, as the cold front approached Middle Tennessee and the low level jet strengthened, these thunderstorms were able to better sustain themselves. Numerous severe thunderstorms impacted Middle Tennessee through the early morning hours of April 1st. These thunderstorms produced large hail and damaging winds, while several thunderstorms also produced tornadoes. In total, four tornadoes were confirmed in National Weather Service Nashville's area. The most impacted area was Readyville along the Rutherford and Cannon county line were a strong EF2 tornado caused significant damage.

View location on OpenStreetMap → (35.8280, -86.1790)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 1079918. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.