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EF0 tornado in Jefferson County, Tennessee

Tornado April 27, 2011 · Jefferson County, Tennessee

EF0

Rating

8.2 mi

Whole path

200 yd

Path width

$108K

Damage as recorded

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

EF0EF1EF2EF3EF4EF5Unrated

The path drawn at its surveyed width of 200 yards (0.11 mi) — zoom in and the swath grows to true scale. Other tornadoes recorded nearby that day are shown faint.

What EF0 means. On the Enhanced Fujita scale, EF0 is light damage: shingles and siding peeled, gutters torn, branches broken, consistent with estimated gusts of 65–85 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

McGaha Hollow Tornado. A NWS storm survey reported an EF0 touched down near McGaha Hollow in Sevier County. It quickly tracked into Jefferson County and dissipated just southeast of the Bush Beans Plant. The wind speed at 70 mph downed numerous trees along its path.

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 Chestnut Hill (35.9116, -83.3307).

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 302976. Narratives are written by the National Weather Service forecast office that issued the report.

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