EF3 Tornado — Madison, Tennessee

2008-02-05 · near Leighton, Madison, Tennessee

Event narrative

A tornado crossed into Madison County from Haywood County, Tennessee. The tornado struck the town of Huntersville and produced EF-3 damage. One home was totally destroyed on Huntersville-Denmark Road. One person was killed inside the home. Another home was destroyed in Huntersville. One person was killed in this home as well. Numerous homes were destroyed or damaged along the path in Huntersville area. The St. John No. 2 Baptist Church was severely damaged and the church bus was flipped upside down and tossed several hundred feet. The tornado lifted northeast of Huntersville near Interstate 40. A rest area along Interstate 40 was severely damaged. Thirteen tractor-trailers and several cars were also blown off of the Interstate due to the tornado. One car was tossed 75 yards from Interstate 40 into a farm field. Along the track of this tornado over 50 structures were destroyed and over 80 more were damaged.

Wider weather episode

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.

View location on OpenStreetMap → (35.5530, -89.0739)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 82850. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.