EF1 Tornado — Shelby, Tennessee

2009-07-30 · near Shelby Center, Shelby, Tennessee

Event narrative

A tornado touched down just east of the intersection of Interstate 40 and Appling Road. The tornado damaged a couple of baseball fields and proceeded northeast. A Kohl's department store and a Toyota dealership sustained damage. Several vehicles had windows blown out. A tractor-trailer was also overturned in the Kohl's parking lot. The tornado then crossed Germantown Parkway and damaged a Shogun Japanese Restaurant, a gas station and several other businesses. The tornado then proceeded northeast into a residential neighborhood where 97 homes sustained minor damage. Four apartment complexes and a total of 25 businesses received at least minor damage. Trees were also uprooted and snapped in the area. The tornado then moved into a golf course where at least 50 trees, fences and one small building was damaged. The tornado lifted near the center of the golf course. An off-duty firefighter was killed a few days later cleaning up storm debris when a tree fell on him.

Wider weather episode

A cold front approached the Mid-South during the afternoon hours of July 30th, 2009. A low pressure center developed along the front as the front moved into the area. The low pressure helped to spawn several tornadoes across the Mid-South. In addition, other storms produced damaging winds, large hail and flash flooding into the evening hours.

View location on OpenStreetMap → (35.1864, -89.8086)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 190659. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.