EF3 Tornado — Blount, Tennessee

2011-03-23 · near Kiser, Blount, Tennessee

Event narrative

An EF-3 tornado produced 140 mph winds along a 5.8 mile path with a maximum damage path width of 500 yards. Twenty six homes sustained damage ranging from fifty percent to entirely demolished as a result of the tornado.

Wider weather episode

Severe convection developed ahead of a cold front during the late afternoon through the late evening hours in an atmosphere characterized by high shear with a 40 to 50 knot low level jet and a 120 knot upper level jet but only weak to moderate instability. The result was the tornado which produced EF-3 damage at Greenback and in the southern portion of the Great Smoky Mountain National Park in Eastern Tennessee.

View location on OpenStreetMap → (35.6596, -84.2322)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 282100. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.