EF3 Tornado — Sumner, Tennessee

2008-02-05 · near Castalian Spgs, Sumner, Tennessee

Event narrative

The Castalian Springs Post Office was completely destroyed. There were 85 homes destroyed in Sumner County.

Also in Castalian Springs, a 180 year-old structure called Wynnewood, lost the top of its structure due to the tornado. The historic log structure served as a stagecoach stop. The structure had 3 chimneys and was 142 feet long, making it the longest log structure in Tennessee.

Officials say it would take 2 years and $6 million to restore Wynnewood. It is Sumner County's sole historic landmark.

Also, 102 trees were lost in the area by the tornado.

The 11-month-old son of Kerri Stowell survived the storm and was found miraculously unharmed in a field across the street from their home in Castalian Springs. Unfortunately, Kerri Stowell was killed in the tornado.

The tornado directly killed 7 people in Sumner County, and there was one indirect fatality when Mr. Lampkin, age 63, died of a heart attack while seeking shelter in his home. There were 14 people injured in Sumner County.

This tornado continued into Trousdale and Macon Counties, and also into Kentucky.

Wider weather episode

The Super Severe Weather Outbreak on Feb. 5, 2008 produced supercelluar thunderstorms, well in advance of a multicell line of thunderstorms. The whole episode lasted about 6 hours. This occurred ironically while many states, including Tennessee, were participating in the Super Tuesday Primary Election. Fortunately, polls had already closed in the mid state when these tornadoes struck.

View location on OpenStreetMap → (36.3822, -86.3358)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 79138. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.