EF3 Tornado — Montgomery, Tennessee

2023-12-09 · near Woodlawn, Montgomery, Tennessee

Event narrative

This EF-3 tornado first touched down on Fort Campbell just north of the Sabre Airfield with mostly minor tree damage. It quickly intensified as it crossed Walnut Grove Road and destroyed a building next to a church. The tornado then continued northeast and damaged dozens of homes in a neighborhood along Garrettsburg Road near Purple Heart Highway. The tornado then went through a heavily wooded neighborhood south of Britton Springs Road where dozens of mobile and manufactured homes were destroyed. The tornado crossed into another neighborhood, causing heavy damage in and near Eva Drive with several houses shifted off their foundations that were only attached with straight nails (EF-2 damage). The tornado intensified to EF-3 with maximum winds of 140 mph as it crossed Highway 41 and struck several commercial businesses, including a vacant fast food restaurant and strip mall where only the interior remained. Just east of Highway 41 north of Ringgold Road, another neighborhood was struck with several homes sustaining significant damage. As the tornado continued northeast, it strengthened further to EF-3 with maximum winds of 150 mph, destroying four two-story brick and vinyl siding homes on Henry Place Boulevard. Debris was blown across the field towards West Creek Elementary School where the school sustained roof damage. As the tornado cross Preachers Mill Road, two dozen brand new two-story brick apartment homes were severely damaged with roofs missing on at least a dozen of these structures. Dozens more houses suffered significant roof damage along and near Needmore Road and Tiny Town Road with EF-2 damage. The tornado then crossed I-24 at Trenton Road where numerous cedar trees were uprooted. Continuing across Tylertown Road, the tornado caused EF-1 to EF-2 roof and siding damage to dozens of homes across three neighborhoods before moving into Kentucky. A total of nearly 1,000 homes were impacted by the tornado, including 114 homes destroyed and 268 homes with major damage. Unfortunately, four people were killed and 62 others were injured.

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 → (36.5746, -87.4718)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 1144360. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.