Tennessee, 1997

Tornado in Tennessee, January 24, 1997

January 24, 1997 · NWS OHX · 1 event in 1 county or zone

Most of the damage from the tornado occurred in Wheel and just to the east of Wheel. 1 home was destroyed and 3 homes were damaged.

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
0
Injuries
3
Property damage
$250,000
Crop damage
None recorded
Events
1

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.

What happened

The episode as NWS OHX wrote it up.

Most of the damage from the tornado occurred in Wheel and just to the east of Wheel. 1 home was destroyed and 3 homes were damaged. Also a general store was damaged along with one mobile home. 2 mobile homes were destroyed. There were 3 minor injuries.Tornado path width and length are approximations.

The radar

The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

1 tornado. Local standard time, as filed.

Tornado, Bedford

When
January 24, 4:53 PM CST to 5:00 PM CST
Where
Bedford County, Wheel
Rating
F2
Path length
2.8 mi
Path width
400 yd
Injuries
3 direct, 0 indirect
Property damage
$250,000
Coordinates
35.480, -86.630

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.

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

The same day elsewhere

More

Every storm in Tennessee in 1997Every state in 1997This day in weather historyThe tornado archive for Tennessee, 1997Warnings in Tennessee, January 1997

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: 5589731.