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EF2 tornado in Shelby County, Tennessee

Tornado February 5, 2008 · Shelby County, Tennessee

EF2
Rating
8.1 mi
Whole path
150 yd
Path width
1
Injury
$1.0M
Damage as recorded

NOAA records this tornado county by county. Its path ran through Shelby County → Tipton County; the totals above are for the whole tornado.

EF0EF1EF2EF3EF4EF5Unrated

The path drawn at its surveyed width of 150 yards (0.09 mi) — zoom in and the swath grows to true scale. Other tornadoes recorded nearby that day are shown faint.

What EF2 means. On the Enhanced Fujita scale, EF2 is considerable damage: roofs torn off well-built houses, mobile homes destroyed, large trees snapped or uprooted, consistent with estimated gusts of 111–135 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

A tornado touched down one quarter mile east of Brunswick Road interchange along Highway 385 in the Salem Estates Subdivision. The tornado tracked non-continuously northeast to the Tipton County line, near the Collierville-Arlington Road. Damage sustained in the Salem Estates subdivision was rated an EF-0. One roof of a home was partially removed along with several blown out windows. In addition, some minor tree damage occurred in this area. Further northeast, along Moose Road west of Beaver Creek, the tornado intensified and produced EF-2 damage. Significant tree damage occurred from the tornado in this area. In addition, two power line support towers were knocked down and one was twisted. Significant damage occurred further northeast along Osborntown Road as extensive tree damage was observed. Large trees were snapped and uprooted. In addition, two large well constructed new homes were heavily damaged. One home had more than half of its roof removed along with all windows blown out. Brick was also dislodged from portions of the structure. The second home received extensive damage with the entire second story being removed from the tornado. Inside walls were compromised and debris was deposited inside the home and in the front yard. One minor injury occurred from this segment of EF-2 rated damage. Additional damage occurred further northeast across Macedonia Road producing additional tree damage and minor damage to one home and one mobile home. Damage also occurred just south of where the tornado crossed into Tipton County where five homes sustained light to moderate damage along Collierville-Arlington Road. This damage has been rated EF-1. One of the homes sustained significant damage to portions of the roof and adjoining levels. The other four homes had damage to the roofs and windows. Large trees, some up to 3 feet in diameter were snapped and uprooted. The tornado then tracked into Tipton County.

The wider storm

A strong low pressure system tracked from Northern Arkansas into Southern Missouri during the evening hours of February 5th, 2008. Supercells developed out ahead of the system during the late afternoon into the early evening. The storms produced tornadoes, large hail and damaging winds. As the supercells moved east during the evening, a cold front moved into West Tennessee. A squall line developed along the front and produced another round of large hail and damaging winds. The front continued to push east into the overnight hours.

Began near Bolton (35.3097, -89.7592).

Other tornadoes from the same storm system

11 more tornadoes the National Weather Service filed under this storm episode.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event 82357. Narratives are written by the National Weather Service forecast office that issued the report.

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