EF1 tornado in Wayne County, Tennessee

NWS Huntsville determined an EF2 tornado touched down initially near the intersection of County Road 14 and County Road 54 north of Waterloo, Alabama, in extreme Western Lauderdale County. Multiple trees were snapped and uprooted along the nearby creek and along CR 54. The next available damage was viewed along County Road 1 south of County Road 40. Many softwood and hardwood trees were snapped and uprooted along the hillside into the neighboring valley. The tornado damaged a single family home, removing large portions of the roofing material, and damaged the Williams Chapel Presbyterian church where nearby residents were taking shelter. The tornado crossed CR 1, leaving almost no tree untouched in a large stand of pine trees. The tornado continued over the hill to county road 40, where the most significant damage was observed. The tornado snapped numerous hardwood trees south of CR 40, caused minor damage to a single family residence, and pushed a mobile home off its foundation. Upon crossing CR 40, the tornado tore almost the entire roofing structure off a single family home, injuring one inhabitant, and tossing the debris into the trees behind it. The tornado continued over a small hill into a hollow, snapping and uprooting numerous trees along its path. The tornado was on the ground for 7.4 miles in Lauderdale County, Alabama.

NWS Nashville determined this tornado moved out of Lauderdale County, Alabama, and continued into Wayne County, Tennessee, where the tornado damage was rated EF1. One home was destroyed, and dozens of large trees were uprooted and snapped. Based on Landsat 8 satellite imagery from NASA Sport, the tornado continued blowing down trees for over 7 miles in Wayne County and crossed Highway 69 before lifting near David Patterson Road.

This is only the second tornado on record to occur in Wayne County in the month of December, with the first tornado being the EF3 tornado that struck central Wayne County earlier this same evening.

An unusually powerful upper level trough moved across the eastern United States on December 23, 2015, spawning widespread severe weather from the Gulf Coast to the Great Lakes. Several tornadic supercell thunderstorms developed across northern Mississippi and western Tennessee, which then moved rapidly east-northeastward at up to 70 mph across Middle Tennessee during the evening hours on December 23. These storms produced 4 long-track tornadoes that caused 2 deaths and 7 reported injuries. Only 7 tornadoes had been previously recorded across Middle Tennessee in the month of December from the 1800s through 2014, easily making this the largest and worst December tornado outbreak in Middle Tennessee history.

In addition to the tornadoes, several reports of wind damage, large hail, and flash flooding were received. Some of the worst flash flooding occurred in Maury County, where 3 teenagers drowned in a submerged vehicle on Carters Creek Pike.