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EF2 tornado in Haywood County, Tennessee

Tornado February 5, 2008 · Haywood County, Tennessee

EF2
Rating
31.1 mi
Whole path
600 yd
Path width
3
Deaths
14
Injuries
$10.3M
Damage as recorded

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

EF0EF1EF2EF3EF4EF5Unrated

The path drawn at its surveyed width of 600 yards (0.34 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 crossed into Haywood County from Fayette County. The tornado produced EF-2 damage in Dancyville. One home was destroyed and another suffered severe damage. A church also had major damage and numerous large trees were uprooted. The tornado continued northeast and caused destruction in Hillville. Two mobile homes were totally destroyed and one house had major damage. A convenience store also suffered roof damage. In addition, an outbuilding was completely flattened and large trees were uprooted or snapped. Several other homes had minor damage along the path. The tornado continued northeast eventually crossing into Madison County. Cleanup costs incurred by Haywood County totaled $168,980.

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 Dancyville (35.3989, -89.3173).

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 82847. Narratives are written by the National Weather Service forecast office that issued the report.

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