EF1 Tornado — Williamson, Tennessee

2017-03-01 · near Berrys Chapel, Williamson, Tennessee

Event narrative

An EF-1 tornado touched down along Hillsboro Road just northwest of the city of Franklin, then moved rapidly east-northeast across the Cool Springs and Brentwood areas of northern Williamson County before lifting just west of the Davidson County line. The first evidence of damage was several trees blown down in the Monticello neighborhood on Poteat Place and Spencer Creek Road near Hillsboro Road. Two sheds were destroyed and more trees snapped and uprooted along South Berrys Chapel Road. Several more trees were blown down and an outbuilding damaged along Mallory Station Road and Jackson Lake Drive, and numerous homes suffered minor to moderate roof, siding, and chimney damage along Sunrise Circle and Brentwood Pointe. Several businesses suffered damage along Mallory Lane and Galleria Boulevard including blown out garage doors and roof damage, and a video of the tornado was taken from a car dashcam on Commerce Way. The tornado then weakened as it crossed Interstate 65, but still blew down seven interstate highway signs along the roadway. As the tornado moved through Brentwood, it continued to blow down trees and cause minor damage to homes and businesses on Westgate Circle, Gordon Petty Drive, Wilson Pike, Demery Court, Crockett Road, and in the Governor's Club neighborhood. The tornado then intensified as it traveled down Concord Road, with dozens of trees snapped and uprooted and numerous homes suffering roof and exterior damage. The tornado then lifted near Owl Creek Park along Chestnut Springs Road just before reaching the Davidson County line. Preliminary estimates from Williamson County Emergency Management indicated that 472 homes and businesses received minor damage, 49 sustained moderate damage, and one home on Sunrise Circle suffered major damage for a total of 522 damaged structures. Damage totals are estimated at 7.27 million dollars.

Wider weather episode

The most damaging severe weather outbreak in Middle Tennessee since the December 23, 2015 Tornado Outbreak struck during the morning hours on March 1, 2017. A line of strong to severe thunderstorms with embedded circulations, known as a Quasi-Linear Convective System (or QLCS), moved rapidly across Middle Tennessee at 60-70 mph from west to east between 6 AM and 10 AM CST. Additional severe thunderstorms developed later in the morning and affected areas of southern Middle Tennessee from the late morning into the early afternoon hours. Widespread damaging winds were reported in nearly every county along and north of I-40 across Middle Tennessee, with winds estimated up to 90 mph in some areas. These intense downburst winds caused 3 injuries - two in Clarksville when a tree fell on a mobile home, and one in Lavergne when a tractor trailer flipped over. In addition to the damaging winds, 7 confirmed tornadoes also touched down from the Nashville metro area eastward to the Upper Cumberland, damaging hundreds of homes and businesses. Several reports of large hail were also received in parts of southern Middle Tennessee.

View location on OpenStreetMap → (35.9545, -86.8830)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 683870. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.