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EF4 tornado in Hardeman County, Tennessee

Tornado December 23, 2015 · Hardeman County, Tennessee

EF4

Rating

75.1 mi

Whole path

1,300 yd

Path width

Deaths

Injuries

$10.9M

Damage as recorded

NOAA records this tornado county by county. Its path ran through Tate County, Mississippi → Marshall County, Mississippi → Benton County, Mississippi → Tippah County, Mississippi → Hardeman County → McNairy County; the totals above are for the whole tornado.

EF0EF1EF2EF3EF4EF5Unrated

The path drawn at its surveyed width of 1,300 yards (0.74 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

The tornado crossed from Tippah County into Hardeman County. As it crossed over the state line it destroyed a large metal agricultural building. A couple of houses and businesses were also damaged. The tornado then moved into McNairy County.

The wider storm

Strong surface low pressure tracked from the Plains into the Mississippi River Valley while a strong cold front pushed into the Mid-South on December 23, 2015. A very moist and unstable airmass moved into the area as a warm front lifted north through the region during the early morning hours. A potent upper level disturbance help to trigger thunderstorms along and in advance of the approaching cold front. The necessary ingredients were in place for storm to intensify to severe limits. There were several reports of large hail, damaging winds and flash flooding across West Tennessee during the late afternoon. A violent long track tornado moved from into parts of Hardeman and McNairy Counties from North Mississippi during the early evening.

Began near Poor (34.9958, -88.8952).

Other tornadoes from the same storm system

1 more tornado the National Weather Service filed under this storm episode.

EF1 Madison County

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event 610239. Narratives are written by the National Weather Service forecast office that issued the report.

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