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EF1 tornado in White County, Tennessee

Tornado February 5, 2020 · White County, Tennessee

EF1
Rating
3.9 mi
Path length
200 yd
Path width
$25K
Damage as recorded
EF0EF1EF2EF3EF4EF5Unrated

The path drawn at its surveyed width of 200 yards (0.11 mi) — zoom in and the swath grows to true scale. Other tornadoes recorded nearby that day are shown faint.

What EF1 means. On the Enhanced Fujita scale, EF1 is moderate damage: roofs badly stripped, mobile homes pushed off foundations or overturned, windows broken, consistent with estimated gusts of 86–110 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

This EF-1 tornado touched down on Gum Spring Mountain where a house completely lost its roof along with dozens of trees getting uprooted and snapped. An outbuilding and barn were also damaged. The tornado continued east bringing down trees and power lines before finally hitting the National Guard Armory on McMinnville Highway where numerous large pine trees were snapped. The tornado lifted just before reaching Highway 111.

The wider storm

After an unusually wet January, another strong storm system brought more heavy rainfall, flooding, and severe storms to parts of Middle Tennessee on February 5th. A line of strong to severe thunderstorms known as a QLCS (Quasi-linear Convective System) developed in northern Mississippi and moved across southern and eastern Middle Tennessee during the afternoon and evening hours. These storms spawned 6 weak tornadoes and widespread straight-line wind damage. In addition, heavy rainfall affected much of Middle Tennessee throughout the day, causing significant flooding in many areas.

Began near Hensleys Chapel (35.9009, -85.5413).

Other tornadoes from the same storm system

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

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event 879102. Narratives are written by the National Weather Service forecast office that issued the report.

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