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EF3 tornado in Marshall County, Tennessee

Tornado May 8, 2024 · Marshall County, Tennessee

EF3
Rating
11.5 mi
Whole path
900 yd
Path width
1
Death
12
Injuries
$10.2M
Damage as recorded

NOAA records this tornado county by county. Its path ran through Maury County → Marshall County; the totals above are for the whole tornado.

EF0EF1EF2EF3EF4EF5Unrated

The path drawn at its surveyed width of 900 yards (0.51 mi) — zoom in and the swath grows to true scale. Other tornadoes recorded nearby that day are shown faint.

What EF3 means. On the Enhanced Fujita scale, EF3 is severe damage: whole stories of well-built houses destroyed, large buildings badly damaged, trains overturned, consistent with estimated gusts of 136–165 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

This EF-3 tornado touched down along the Duck River east of Columbia and moved northeast causing tree damage and minor structure damage on Mount Olivet Road. Multiple homes received damage along Cothran Road and Cranford Hollow Road before the tornado moved north of Highway 412. More intense damage began to occur on Old Highway 99 and Blackburn Lane where large sections of roofs were removed and hundreds of trees were snapped or uprooted. The tornado reached its maximum strength along Blackburn Road and Lasea Road where large transmission power trusses were collapsed, a house was destroyed with only small interior walls still standing, and a mobile home was swept away. The tornado continued northeast damaging additional homes before crossing Interstate 65 near mile marker 47. More homes were damaged along Rally Hill Cutoff Road and Kedron Road. The tornado crossed Highway 431 near Kedron Road before lifting in Marshall County. Damages are a rough estimate.

The wider storm

A widespread severe weather event impacted Middle Tennessee beginning in the early morning hours of May 8, 2024, and continued through the early morning hours of May 9th. During this time frame, numerous rounds of severe weather moved through the area, causing widespread wind damage in nearly every county in Middle Tennessee, hail up to 3 inches in diameter, and four tornadoes. One of these tornadoes in Columbia prompted a Tornado Emergency to be issued. In addition, major flash flooding also occurred with the worst flooding reported across Robertson and Sumner counties. With nearly nine inches of rain, Flash Flood Emergencies were issued for these counties. This is the first time National Weather Service Nashville issued both a Tornado Emergency and a Flash Flood Emergency in the same event. Unfortunately, this event claimed the lives of five individuals.

Began near Lunns Store (35.6620, -86.8170).

Other tornadoes from the same storm system

3 more tornadoes the National Weather Service filed under this storm episode.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event 1167433. Narratives are written by the National Weather Service forecast office that issued the report.

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