Home / Tennessee / Blount

EF4 tornado in Blount County, Tennessee

Tornado April 27, 2011 · Blount County, Tennessee

EF4

Rating

14.4 mi

Whole path

1,320 yd

Path width

$1.1M

Damage as recorded

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

EF0EF1EF2EF3EF4EF5Unrated

The path drawn at its surveyed width of 1,320 yards (0.75 mi) — zoom in and the swath grows to true scale. Other tornadoes recorded nearby that day are shown faint.

What EF4 means. On the Enhanced Fujita scale, EF4 is devastating damage: well-built houses levelled, consistent with estimated gusts of 166–200 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

Chilhowee EF4 Tornado. An NWS survey team reported an EF4 tornado touched down west of Chilhowee Lake in northern Monroe County. The max wind of 170 mph smashed a TVA transmission tower in the Lake, and ground up miles of forest in both Cherokee National Forest, then in Great Smoky Mountains National Park.

This tornado started in northern Monroe County in the Cherokee National Forest, then crossed Chilhowee Lake where it smash the tower, entering into Blount County. On the far shore of the lake (now in Blount County and also entering the Great Smoky Mountains National Park), it took a right turn at 33.5574/84.0061, traveled ENE deeper into the park, towards Cades Cove. Before getting to Cades Cove it took a left turn near 35.5794/83.9878 and headed to the NE. It finally dissipated about 4 miles north of Cades Cove, still in the Park. Its total path was 14.5 miles long.

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 Chilhowee (35.5459, -84.0274).

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 300456. Narratives are written by the National Weather Service forecast office that issued the report.

Tornadoes near your address

See every tornado that passed near a place you know, measured to its path.