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EF2 tornado in Johnson County, Tennessee

Tornado April 27, 2011 · Johnson County, Tennessee

EF2

Rating

12.0 mi

Path length

250 yd

Path width

Deaths

$1.0M

Damage as recorded

EF0EF1EF2EF3EF4EF5Unrated

The path drawn at its surveyed width of 250 yards (0.14 mi) — zoom in and the swath grows to true scale. Other tornadoes recorded nearby that day are shown faint.

What EF2 means. On the Enhanced Fujita scale, EF2 is considerable damage: roofs torn off well-built houses, mobile homes destroyed, large trees snapped or uprooted, consistent with estimated gusts of 111–135 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

A NWS storm survey reported an EF2 tornado touched down near Butler. It had a path length of 12 miles and a path width of 250 yards. The max wind of 120 mph destroyed homes and buildings and downed numerous trees. In addition, 2 women died. A 54 year old woman died in her home in the Doe Valley community and a 53 year old woman died in her home in Butler.

The wider storm

Favorable atmospheric conditions resulted in a deadly tornado outbreak across east Tennessee on the 27th. The thunderstorms produced more than 50 tornadoes across the east Tennessee area with 32 deaths and more than 200 injured. The tornadoes produced from light to heavy damage to hundreds of homes and businesses. Hail as large as baseballs was also reported.

Began near Doeville (36.3900, -81.9900).

Other tornadoes from the same storm system

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

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event 297650. Narratives are written by the National Weather Service forecast office that issued the report.

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