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EF2 tornado in Knox County, Tennessee

Tornado August 7, 2023 · Knox County, Tennessee

EF2
Rating
3.7 mi
Path length
200 yd
Path width
$3.7M
Damage as recorded
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 EF2 means. On the Enhanced Fujita scale, EF2 is considerable damage: roofs torn off well-built houses, mobile homes destroyed, large trees snapped or uprooted, consistent with estimated gusts of 111–135 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 started on Yarnell Road, then reached peak intensity and width as it passed the Lovell Crossing apartment complex. Significant roof damage was noted to several of the homes and apartments in Lovell Cove and Crossing, with partial roof loss and uplift of roof decking common to several apartments. In addition to roof damage, a complete collapse of a garage at Lovell Crossing was noted, along with wooden boards driven into the ground and a large gash in the side of apartment complex office from the impact of a large, but unknown object. Numerous trees in the apartment complex suffered damage from the tornado. The tornado then crossed Pellissippi Parkway, and continued along and north of Bob Gray Road. A driver on Pellissippi Parkway recorded a video of the tornado crossing the parkway. Significant tree damage was observed along Bob Gray Road, with a narrow path of snapped hardwood trees as the tornado progressed eastward. The tornado appears to have dissipated at the intersection of Bob Gray Road and Middlebrook Pike.

The wider storm

A highly anomalous pattern for August including an unseasonably intense low pressure system created several hours of severe thunderstorms including the final round of storms that grew upscale into a severe mesoscale convective system.

Began near Byrds Chapel (35.9308, -84.1580).

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event 1120634. Narratives are written by the National Weather Service forecast office that issued the report.

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