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EF4 tornado in Bradley County, Tennessee

Tornado April 27, 2011 · Bradley County, Tennessee

EF4
Rating
48.0 mi
Whole path
800 yd
Path width
20
Deaths
335
Injuries
$68.2M
Damage as recorded

NOAA records this tornado county by county. Its path ran through Catoosa County, Georgia → Hamilton County → Bradley County → Polk County → McMinn County; the totals above are for the whole tornado.

EF0EF1EF2EF3EF4EF5Unrated

The path drawn at its surveyed width of 800 yards (0.45 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

Ringgold-Apison Tornado. This tornado touched down in north Georgia and tracked northeast into Hamilton County, Tennessee, and then into Bradley County. In Bradley County, the max intensity still caused EF4 damage with the max wind extimated at 170 mph and did extensive damage to many homes and businesses. An additional 4 people were killed by the tornado in Bradley County in the Blue Springs Community. The fatalities included a 42 year old women from Wisconsin visiting her son in the Blue Springs community as well as the 3 month old boy in the same house she was trying to protect. In addition, a 40 year old women died in her home. Also, a 67 year old woman died in her home.

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 Pine Hill (35.0371, -84.9875).

Other tornadoes from the same storm system

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

EF4 Bledsoe County 4 deadEF4 Blount CountyEF4 Rhea CountyEF3 Greene County 6 deadEF3 Greene County 2 deadEF2 Bradley County 4 deadEF2 Johnson County 2 deadEF2 Hamilton CountyEF2 Monroe CountyEF2 Sequatchie CountyEF2 Marion CountyEF2 Monroe CountyEF2 Washington CountyEF2 Bradley CountyEF1 Bradley County 1 deadEF1 Hamilton CountyEF1 Cocke CountyEF1 Cocke CountyEF1 Hamilton CountyEF1 Hamilton CountyEF1 Hamilton CountyEF1 Knox CountyEF1 Marion CountyEF1 McMinn CountyEF1 Monroe CountyEF1 Monroe CountyEF1 Monroe CountyEF1 Rhea CountyEF1 Sequatchie CountyEF0 Bradley Countyand 20 more

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event 300457. Narratives are written by the National Weather Service forecast office that issued the report.

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