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EF4 tornado in Rhea County, Tennessee

Tornado April 27, 2011 · Rhea County, Tennessee

EF4

Rating

16.0 mi

Path length

880 yd

Path width

Injuries

$2.0M

Damage as recorded

EF0EF1EF2EF3EF4EF5Unrated

The path drawn at its surveyed width of 880 yards (0.50 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

New Harmony Tornado. This tornado continued its destuctive path into Rhea County. The 190 mph wind destroyed 19 roofs and 21 homes had damage. Trees and powerlines were also downed. Two people were injured.

This tornado had a total path length of 40.2 miles and was responsible for four deaths in Bledsoe County.

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 Morgan Spgs (35.5535, -85.1077).

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 300461. Narratives are written by the National Weather Service forecast office that issued the report.

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