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EF1 tornado in Rhea County, Tennessee

Tornado April 27, 2011 · Rhea County, Tennessee

EF1

Rating

1.5 mi

Path length

75 yd

Path width

$10K

Damage as recorded

EF0EF1EF2EF3EF4EF5Unrated

The path drawn at its surveyed width of 75 yards (0.04 mi) — zoom in and the swath grows to true scale. Other tornadoes recorded nearby that day are shown faint.

What EF1 means. On the Enhanced Fujita scale, EF1 is moderate damage: roofs badly stripped, mobile homes pushed off foundations or overturned, windows broken, consistent with estimated gusts of 86–110 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 EF1 tornado touched down near Spring City. It formed west of city and and tracked the northern portions of the city where it dissipated. It had a path width of 75 yards and a path length of 1.5 miles. The 90 mph wind downed a few trees.

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 Ideal Vly (35.6970, -84.8790).

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 300942. Narratives are written by the National Weather Service forecast office that issued the report.

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