EF0 Tornado — Loudon, Tennessee

2025-05-30 · near Luttrell, Loudon, Tennessee

Event narrative

An EF0 tornado touched down in southern Loudon County in the early morning hours with max winds of 85 mph. Tornado was in Loudon County for roughly 1 mile before exiting into northern Monroe County east of Holt Road. Several injuries occurred when either the tornado itself or the rear flank downdraft winds rolled a camper RV several times up and over a wooden service post. In addition to the RV on the south side of the damage swath, several trees suffered damage, there was roof damage to small structures and a barn, and the tornado left cycloidal markings in the field beyond the RV and houses. When the tornado reached the tree line at the edge of Loudon, several trees had large branches broken off.

Wider weather episode

A shortwave trough pushing a weak cold front through the area served as the forcing for this event. The only severe weather observed was a brief EF-0 tornado accompanied by severe rear-flank downdraft winds that injured several residents. This event was unusual: while effective shear was strong at 40 to 50 knots, CAPE was very limited at less than 500J total, and lapse rates were really weak below 6C from the surface upwards. The parent thunderstorm was only broadly and very weakly rotating at time of tornadogenesis.

View location on OpenStreetMap → (35.6534, -84.5287)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 1265406. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.