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EF4 tornado in Monroe County, Tennessee

Tornado April 27, 2011 · Monroe 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

A massive EF-4 tornado quickly spun up just west of Chilhowee Lake in northern Monroe County that scoured the forest in the Cherokee National Forest. The tornado entered the Lake (at the Blount County line) and smashed a large steel transmission tower. The tornado then entered the Great Smoky Mountains National Park on the other side of the lake and again began to rip through heavy forest.

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 Citico Beach (35.5324, -84.0504).

Other tornadoes from the same storm system

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

EF4 Hamilton County 20 deadEF4 Bledsoe County 4 deadEF4 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 353666. Narratives are written by the National Weather Service forecast office that issued the report.

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