Tornadoes and Hail in Tennessee, April 15, 1965

Name: Tornadoes and Hail in Tennessee, April 15, 1965
Start: 1965-04-15T13:50
End: 1965-04-15T17:57
Location: Tennessee

April 15, 1965 · 7 events in 7 counties and zones

4 tornado, 2 hail, 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: 56
Property damage: $5.3 million
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 7

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

4 tornado, 2 hail, 1 thunderstorm wind. Local standard time, as filed.

Tornado, Fentress

When: April 15, 1:50 PM CST
Where: Fentress County
Rating: F2
Path length: 5.9 mi
Path width: 327 yd
Property damage: $25,000
Coordinates: 36.350, -84.920

Hail, Rutherford

When: April 15, 2:24 PM CST
Where: Rutherford County
Measured: 1.25 in hail
Coordinates: 36.000, -86.500

Hail, Hamilton

When: April 15, 4:06 PM CST
Where: Hamilton County
Measured: 1 in hail
Coordinates: 35.080, -85.280

Tornado, Cumberland

When: April 15, 4:13 PM CST
Where: Cumberland County
Rating: F3
Path length: 6.5 mi
Path width: 200 yd
Deaths: 1 direct, 0 indirect
Property damage: $250,000
Coordinates: 35.870, -85.080

Tornado, Bradley

When: April 15, 4:25 PM CST
Where: Bradley County
Rating: F3
Path length: 10.4 mi
Path width: 600 yd
Injuries: 50 direct, 0 indirect
Property damage: $2.5 million
Coordinates: 35.180, -84.870

Tornado, Knox

When: April 15, 5:30 PM CST
Where: Knox County
Rating: F2
Path length: 7.4 mi
Path width: 200 yd
Injuries: 6 direct, 0 indirect
Property damage: $2.5 million
Coordinates: 35.870, -84.080

Thunderstorm Wind, Davidson

When: April 15, 5:57 PM CST
Where: Davidson County
Measured: 51 kt (59 mph)
Coordinates: 36.080, -86.680

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, Cumberland	1965-04-15				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.
Hail: Hail three-quarters of an inch or larger, or smaller hail that caused damage, filed with the largest stone measured.
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 1965 Every state in 1965 This day in weather history The tornado archive for Tennessee, 1965

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: 10126182, 10126183, 10126184, 10126185, 10126397, 10126398, 10126399.