EF1 Tornado — Dekalb, Tennessee

2012-02-29 · near Smithville, Dekalb, Tennessee

Event narrative

An EF1 tornado with maximum wind speeds around 95 mph touched down about 1 mile northwest of Smithville along Highway 83, then tracked rapidly east-northeast across Center Hill Lake before ending in western White County about 7 miles northwest of Sparta. A barn was damaged near the beginning of the path, with sheet metal blown across fields and into power lines. Scattered trees were snapped or uprooted and some minor damage to homes occurred on the north side of Smithville as the tornado traveled generally along and just south of Highway 83 and Smithville Highway. A small warehouse-type building was destroyed at Smithville Highway and Pine Grove Road with debris thrown northward into fields. The roof of a barn was blown off and a few homes suffered minor roof damage at Holiday Haven Road and Scott Acres Road. The tornado increased in intensity as it moved along Alpine Drive, with hundreds of trees snapped or uprooted. One home on stilts was knocked down a hillside and destroyed, resulting in one fatality.

The tornado then crossed Center Hill Lake, blowing down hundreds of more trees along the south shore of the lake on Allen Ferry Road, Timber Lane, Back Bone Lane, and Falling Water Road. Several trees fell on homes in this area, resulting in minor to moderate roof damage. Passing just north of the Johnson Chapel Recreation Area, the tornado then continued eastward into White County.

Wider weather episode

A strong storm system moving across the Ohio and Tennessee Valleys caused scattered strong to severe thunderstorms to develop across eastern portions of Middle Tennessee during the afternoon hours. Two supercell thunderstorms spawned four tornadoes resulting in a total of 3 fatalities and 7 injuries. Numerous other reports of wind damage and large hail were received.

View location on OpenStreetMap → (35.9724, -85.8529)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 362592. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.