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EF2 tornado in Madison County, Tennessee

Tornado February 5, 2008 · Madison County, Tennessee

EF2
Rating
0.4 mi
Path length
150 yd
Path width
$200K
Damage as recorded
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 brief EF-2 tornado touchdown occurred in Spring Creek along Highway 152 about one quarter mile west of Highway 70. One home suffered total roof loss and a partial failure of the front exterior wall. Three additional homes received extensive roof damage. Large trees were snapped and uprooted. Maximum winds were estimated at 125 mph with a maximum width of 150 yards.

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 Spring Creek (35.7655, -88.6877).

Other tornadoes from the same storm system

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

EF4 Hardin County 3 deadEF4 Madison CountyEF3 Madison County 3 deadEF2 Shelby County 3 deadEF2 Shelby CountyEF1 Weakley CountyEF1 McNairy CountyEF1 Tipton CountyEF1 Tipton CountyEF0 Shelby CountyEF0 Tipton County

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event 83145. Narratives are written by the National Weather Service forecast office that issued the report.

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