Tornadoes and Damaging Wind in Tennessee, March 11, 1963

Name: Tornadoes and Damaging Wind in Tennessee, March 11, 1963
Start: 1963-03-11T15:10
End: 1963-03-11T21:00
Location: Tennessee

March 11, 1963 · 8 events in 7 counties and zones

7 tornado, 1 thunderstorm wind, as filed by the National Weather Service.

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it. Tap one for its entry below.

Tornadoes
Tropical storms and surge
Floods
Wind
Hail
Winter weather
Heat and drought
Cold
Fire, smoke and dust
Marine and coastal
Other

Open the live radar over this ground

The toll

Deaths: 1
Injuries: 13
Property damage: $1.3 million
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 8

Deaths and injuries are direct and indirect together, as the offices filed them. Damage is property and crops in the dollars of the year, not adjusted for inflation, and only where an office estimated it.

Event by event

7 tornado, 1 thunderstorm wind. Local standard time, as filed.

Tornado, Lawrence

When: March 11, 3:10 PM CST
Where: Lawrence County
Rating: F2
Path length: 10.3 mi
Path width: 300 yd
Injuries: 1 direct, 0 indirect
Property damage: $250,000
Coordinates: 35.250, -87.430

Tornado, Rutherford

When: March 11, 4:20 PM CST
Where: Rutherford County
Rating: F2
Path length: 2 mi
Path width: 100 yd
Property damage: $25,000
Coordinates: 35.730, -86.530

Tornado, Wayne

When: March 11, 5:00 PM CST
Where: Wayne County
Rating: F2
Path length: 7.7 mi
Path width: 100 yd
Injuries: 4 direct, 0 indirect
Property damage: $250,000
Coordinates: 35.100, -87.730

Tornado, Lawrence

When: March 11, 5:30 PM CST
Where: Lawrence County
Rating: F2
Path length: 21.4 mi
Path width: 100 yd
Injuries: 1 direct, 0 indirect
Coordinates: 35.120, -87.600

Tornado, Warren

When: March 11, 6:00 PM CST
Where: Warren County
Rating: F2
Path length: 5.2 mi
Path width: 100 yd
Property damage: $250,000
Coordinates: 35.680, -85.770

Tornado, Marion

When: March 11, 7:00 PM CST
Where: Marion County
Rating: F2
Path length: 14.7 mi
Path width: 200 yd
Injuries: 6 direct, 0 indirect
Property damage: $250,000
Coordinates: 35.000, -85.720

Thunderstorm Wind, Blount

When: March 11, 8:00 PM CST
Where: Blount County
Measured: 53 kt (61 mph)
Coordinates: 35.780, -84.000

Tornado, Cocke

When: March 11, 9:00 PM CST
Where: Cocke County
Rating: F2
Path length: 6.2 mi
Path width: 200 yd
Deaths: 1 direct, 0 indirect
Injuries: 1 direct, 0 indirect
Property damage: $250,000
Coordinates: 36.000, -83.120

The people who died

As the offices recorded each death: direct deaths were caused by the weather itself, indirect ones by something it set in motion.

Event	Date	Age	Sex	Where	Kind
Tornado, Cocke	1963-03-11				Direct

What these are

Tornado: A violently rotating column of air in contact with the ground and extending from a thunderstorm, filed with its path, width and Fujita or Enhanced Fujita rating from the damage survey.
Thunderstorm Wind: Winds from a thunderstorm of 50 knots (58 mph) or more, or lower winds that caused damage or casualties. Measured gusts are marked MG, estimated EG.

After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.

The same day elsewhere

Every storm in Tennessee in 1963 Every state in 1963 This day in weather history The tornado archive for Tennessee, 1963

Sources

NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database, compiled from the National Weather Service’s monthly Storm Data. Complete through 2026-06; NCEI adds each month about 75 days after it ends and revises past years a few times a year. Rebuilt 2026-09-24. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 10126356, 10126357, 10126358, 10126359, 10126360, 10126361, 10126362, 10126363.