TornadoLookup

Home / Tennessee / Roane

EF1 tornado in Roane County, Tennessee

Tornado August 3, 2023 · Roane County, Tennessee

EF1
Rating
0.5 mi
Path length
200 yd
Path width
EF0EF1EF2EF3EF4EF5Unrated

The path drawn at its surveyed width of 200 yards (0.11 mi) — zoom in and the swath grows to true scale. Other tornadoes recorded nearby that day are shown faint.

What EF1 means. On the Enhanced Fujita scale, EF1 is moderate damage: roofs badly stripped, mobile homes pushed off foundations or overturned, windows broken, consistent with estimated gusts of 86–110 mph. The rating comes from a survey of the worst damage after the storm, not from a wind measurement, so it says as much about what the tornado hit as about how strong it was.

What the National Weather Service wrote

The tornado touched down in the community of Oral in eastern Roane County near the intersection of country lane and Highway 70. The tornado tracked eastward along Highway 70 for a half mile before dissipating near Oral Cemetery. The most significant damage occurred near the beginning of the track where a small detached garage was destroyed and debris strewn about 100 yards in different directions. A few trees were uprooted and homes and fences suffered minor damage. As the tornado continued east, damage was mainly limited to small branches broken from trees. Dissipation at Oral Cemetery was noted with a metal roof sheet laying in the cemetery and an end to minor vegetation damage.

The wider storm

A line of rain showers was moving eastward along a frontal boundary during the afternoon. A brief spin up tornado occurred with one of these stronger rain showers within an area of weak rotation across eastern Roane County near the Oral community. Severe downdraft winds occurred sporadically in association with this briefly tornadic thunderstorm.

Began near Cave Creek (35.8367, -84.3675).

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event 1112176. Narratives are written by the National Weather Service forecast office that issued the report.

Tornadoes near your address

See every tornado that passed near a place you know, measured to its path.