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F4 tornado in Wayne County, Tennessee

Tornado April 16, 1998 · Wayne County, Tennessee

Rating

69.4 mi

Whole path

1,760 yd

Path width

Deaths

Injuries

$13.0M

Damage as recorded

NOAA records this tornado county by county. Its path ran through Wayne County → Lawrence County → Giles County → Maury County; the totals above are for the whole tornado.

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The path drawn at its surveyed width of 1,760 yards (1.00 mi) — zoom in and the swath grows to true scale. Other tornadoes recorded nearby that day are shown faint.

What F4 means. This tornado was rated on Fujita’s original scale, used until 2007. F4 meant devastating damage: well-built houses levelled; the scale paired it with winds of 207–260 mph, figures later judged too high, especially toward the top of the scale, and revised downward in the Enhanced Fujita scale. Ratings then, as now, came from the damage.

What the National Weather Service wrote

The tornado killed 3 people in Wayne county. 2 females, their ages 75 and 57, were killed in a modular home on Lay Creek Rd. Another female, age 69, was killed on Chalk Creek Road in a wooden frame home. The tornado left nothing but the foundation. A lumber yard was destroyed. Many trees were down in the path of the tornado. Many houses and mobile homes were destroyed. 34 homes were completely destroyed, 14 homes had major damage and 22 had minor damage. .

Began near Clifton (35.2200, -88.0200).

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event 5641116. Narratives are written by the National Weather Service forecast office that issued the report.

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