EF0 Tornado — Smith, Tennessee

2021-12-11 · near South Carthage, Smith, Tennessee

Event narrative

This EF-0 tornado touched down on Bright Avenue in South Carthage and moved northeast along the east side of Carthage uprooting several small trees and snapping large tree limbs on Upper Ferry Road, McGinness Avenue, Hillcrest Drive, Skyline Drive, Ridgeway Drive, and Cumberland Mine Road. The tornado then crossed the Horseshoe Bend of the Cumberland River blowing down several trees, then moved across McClures Bend of the Cumberland River and caused tree damage and moderate roof damage to a structure on McClures Bend Lane. The tornado continued east, crossing Sullivan Bend and the Cumberland River yet again before lifting on Waynick Road in Jackson County where it caused minor tree damage. Total path length of this tornado was 7.35 miles.

Wider weather episode

One of the worst tornado outbreaks ever recorded in the United States struck the Midwest, Ohio Valley, and Tennessee Valley from the evening hours on December 10 into the morning hours on December 11, 2021. Across Middle Tennessee, a total of 16 tornadoes were determined to have touched down, making this the 5th largest tornado outbreak on record in Middle Tennessee. These tornadoes injured 8 people across Middle Tennessee and caused millions of dollars in property and tree damage in many counties. These tornadoes, combined with the 5 tornadoes that occurred just a few days earlier across Middle Tennessee on December 6, 2021, set a new record for the number of tornadoes during the month of December. In addition, many counties that had tornadoes in December 2021 had never recorded a tornado in the month of December before, including Stewart, Humphreys, Cheatham, Wilson, Trousdale, Overton, Pickett, Coffee, and Grundy Counties.

View location on OpenStreetMap → (36.2416, -85.9548)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 999746. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.