Thunderstorm Wind — Van Buren, Tennessee

2023-08-07 · near Mooneyham, Van Buren, Tennessee

Event narrative

Satellite imagery along with damage photos indicate a large and very damaging 10 mile wide downburst struck eastern Van Buren County. Scattered trees were snapped and uprooted in this large downburst with winds estimated from 60 to 75 mph. Within the downburst area, a smaller but much more damaging 1.5 mile wide microburst blew down thousands of trees from western Fall Creek Falls State Park eastward to south of Saratoga Springs. Numerous roads were blocked by falling trees in this area, with some trees falling onto buildings. Winds in the microburst were estimated up to 95 mph. This resulted in numerous trees falling on cars in the park and trapping multiple people. Multiple campers were also damaged, and widespread power outages forced the park to close. Damages are a rough estimate.

Wider weather episode

A line of thunderstorms moved through Middle Tennessee during the late morning and early afternoon hours of August 7, 2023. Damaging straight-line winds were the primary threat with this line, especially for areas roughly along and south of Interstate 40. While this line of thunderstorms was severe as it crossed the Tennessee River, it significantly strengthened as it moved east of Interstate 65 with estimated winds of 70 to 95 mph across the Cumberland Plateau. Numerous reports of downed trees and powerlines were received with many of these also damaging homes and vehicles as well. The worst damage occurred across Cannon, Coffee, Warren, and Van Buren counties. Six separate microbursts and downbursts were identified that caused most of the significant damage in this area.

View location on OpenStreetMap → (35.6800, -85.3400)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 1106631. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.