F5 tornado — Lawrence County, Tennessee

F5 tornado in Lawrence County, Tennessee

Tornado April 16, 1998 · Lawrence 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 F5 means. This tornado was rated on Fujita’s original scale, used until 2007. F5 meant incredible damage: strong frame houses swept off their foundations, concrete structures critically damaged; the scale paired it with winds of 261–318 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

Many fine homes, some even brick, were completely leveled. Trees were uprooted or blown down, power lines were down, 75 utility poles were blown down around the county. People who were at their homes went to the basement, or in a closet, or in a bathroom. The EMA report of a one ton Dodge flatbed truck, which weighs almost 5000 pounds, being hurled 20 miles, could not be confirmed. Therefore this account should be discounted. However, the EMA director verfied a sedan being carried 1/2 mile. A tree was debarked by the flying debris. A 200 yard wide path of pasture land had grass pulled out. Clumps of dirt was pulled up from the ground. Several livestock was killed.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event 5641117. Narratives are written by the National Weather Service forecast office that issued the report.

F5 tornado in Lawrence County, Tennessee

What the National Weather Service wrote

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