EF1 Tornado — Stewart, Tennessee

2023-12-09 · near Bear Spg, Stewart, Tennessee

Event narrative

The tornado first touched down just east of the Cumberland River near Cross Creeks National Wildlife Refuge off of Commissary Hollow Road. Minor damage was observed to trees with a home sustaining significant roof damage. the tornado continued east-northeast where dozens more trees were snapped and uprooted along Lower Cross Creek Road. Once the tornado entered Indian Mound, more trees were either uprooted or snapped along Highway 46. The tornado then intensified on Red Top Road and Gillum Hollow Road where a church overhang awning and greenhouses were damaged. A few more barns and outbuildings were damaged along Gillum Hollow Road with several instances of uprooted and snapped trees along its path including a tree falling onto a residence. The tornado finally began to weaken as it entered into far western portions of Montgomery County where only a few trees and large branches were broken. The tornado then lifted southeast of the Indian Mound Road and Liverpool Road intersection.

Wider weather episode

A major tornado outbreak impacted Middle Tennessee during the afternoon and evening hours of December 9, 2023. With a surface low pressure system situated over the Great Lakes area, a cold front was oriented north-to-south from the Great Lakes southward into the southeastern United States. Ahead of this cold front, southerly flow advected plenty of moisture into Middle Tennessee as the atmosphere destabilized. Meanwhile, a potent low-level jet resulted in an abundant amount of wind shear. This helped to set the stage for organized thunderstorms with a tornado threat. Thunderstorms began to cross the Tennessee River into the mid-state during the early afternoon hours. The first tornado of the day touched down in Indian Mound in Stewart County. That same supercell spawned another, more significant, tornado in Montgomery County that impacted Clarksville. This was the strongest tornado of the event, causing EF-3 damage before it continued its path into Kentucky. In total, six tornadoes were confirmed from this event, including another long-track EF-2 tornado that impacted Davidson, Sumner, and Trousdale counties which was warned with a Tornado Emergency. Unfortunately, seven people were killed during this event.

View location on OpenStreetMap → (36.4931, -87.7453)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 1144347. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.