Thunderstorm Wind — Putnam, Tennessee

2017-05-27 · near Bloomington Spgs, Putnam, Tennessee

Event narrative

A NWS storm survey found a severe 15 mile long by 1 to 2 mile wide downburst caused major damage across Cookeville and surrounding areas of central Putnam County. Damage was first reported east of Bloomington Springs where trees and power lines were blown down. Scattered tree and power line damage contined to the southeast to near the Nashville Highway, including a tree falling and blocking Peach Orchard Road at Flatt Road, and a tree blown down onto a vehicle with the occupant trapped inside at County Farm Road and Gainesboro Grade. More significant and widespread damage occurred across the center of Cookeville, where the roof was blown off a business on Oak Avenue and the canopy was blown off another business on Whitney Street. Dozens of very large trees were also snapped and uprooted with several falling on homes and vehicles and the majority of roads in the city blocked. One tree fell through and destroyed much of a home on Briargate Way. Another tree fell onto a moving vehicle on East Spring Street crushing the car and narrowly missing the driver. Numerous power lines were also blown down with power poles snapped and power knocked out to up to 60 percent of the city of Cookeville and surrounding Putnam County. Farther to the east, numerous trees and power lines continued to be blown down on Mountain Top Lane on Buck Mountain with the roadway blocked, as well as in the Poplar Grove area and around City Lake. Wind speeds were estimated to range from 75 mph up to 95 mph. In June 2017, a Presidential Disaster Declaration was made for Putnam County due to the widespread wind damage.

Wider weather episode

A late Spring storm system brought several waves of strong to severe thunderstorms to Middle Tennessee during the afternoon and evening hours on May 27. One supercell thunderstorm developed during the afternoon across Wilson County, then moved east-southeast across Smith, Putnam, White, and Cumberland Counties, producing very photogenic and at times rotating wall clouds along with several reports of hail. Later in the day, two lines of severe thunderstorms called Mesoscale Convective Systems (MCS) moved southeast out of western Kentucky across the region, producing widespread wind damage and several reports of large hail. The worst damage occurred across Putnam, Jackson, Overton, Fentress, White, and Cumberland Counties, where straight-line winds up to 95 mph caused major wind damage. In fact, the Putnam County Emergency Manager and Cookeville Mayor both stated this was likely the worst severe thunderstorm damage ever in that area. The second line of severe thunderstorms caused less severe but still widespread wind damage across Humphreys, Hickman, Maury, and Perry Counties. The Storm Prediction Center in Norman, Oklahoma stated that each of these two damaging lines of thunderstorms meet their newly updated definition of derecho, or long lived, widespread damaging wind storms that travel hundreds of miles. Due to the widespread wind damage, a Presidential Disaster Declaration was made for Putnam, Cumberland, and Smith Counties in June 2017.

View location on OpenStreetMap → (36.2122, -85.6088)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 694193. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.