Tennessee, 2002Tornadoes and Hail in Tennessee, April 28, 2002
April 28, 2002 · NWS MEG · 7 events in 7 counties and zones
4 thunderstorm wind, 2 tornado, 1 hail, as filed by the National Weather Service.
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
- Deaths
- 0
- Injuries
- 0
- Property damage
- $830,000
- 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.
What forecasters said that day
The local office's own words before the first event, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.
NWS Memphis, TN wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Apr 27, 8:22 PM CST, 5 hours 18 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Apr 27, 8:22 PM CST, 5 hours 18 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MEMPHIS TN
922 PM CDT SAT APR 27 2002
AN INTENSE STORM SYSTEM OVER WRN IA WILL TRACK EWD TO THE GREAT
LAKES THROUGH 12Z SUN. A WARM AND MOIST S-SWRLY BREEZE WILL CONT
TNT...SO DO NOT EXPECT TEMPS TO FALL MUCH BELOW 70 DEG F.
A 500MB SHORTWAVE OVER AR WILL PUSH THROUGH THE CWFA TNT AND
POTENTIALLY TRIGGER SOME TSTM ACTIVITY. THE ENVIRONMENT IS MOIST AND
UNSTABLE AND SHEAR VALUES ARE HIGH...SO CANNOT RULE OUT A SVR TSTM
TNT.
PLAN ON UPDATING ZONES TO INCLUDE SVR WORDING AND MAKE OTHER
ADJUSTMENTS.
.MEG...NONE.
SWC
Event by event
4 thunderstorm wind, 2 tornado, 1 hail. Local standard time, as filed.
Tornado, Lake
- When
- April 28, 1:40 AM CST to 1:47 AM CST
- Where
- Lake County, 1 mi W of Tiptonville
- Rating
- F1
- Path length
- 3.5 mi
- Path width
- 75 yd
- Property damage
- $750,000
- Reported by
- NWS STORM SURVEY
- Coordinates
- 36.383, -89.500
The tornado touched down just west of Tiptonville and tracked northeast just north of Tiptonville. Eleven mobile homes were destroyed and another twelve were damaged. A shed was demolished. Five homes were also damaged. Numerous trees were blown down.
Hail, Obion
- When
- April 28, 2:14 AM CST to 2:20 AM CST
- Where
- Obion County, Union City
- Measured
- 0.75 in hail
- Property damage
- $10
- Reported by
- TRAINED SPOTTER
- Coordinates
- 36.417, -89.050
Thunderstorm Wind, Weakley
- When
- April 28, 2:45 AM CST to 2:50 AM CST
- Where
- Weakley County, Gleason
- Property damage
- $10,000
- Reported by
- AMATEUR RADIO
- Coordinates
- 36.217, -88.617
Some trees and power lines were knocked down.
Thunderstorm Wind, Dyer
- When
- April 28, 2:45 AM CST to 2:50 AM CST
- Where
- Dyer County, Bradleytown
- Property damage
- $5,000
- Reported by
- EMERGENCY MANAGER
- Coordinates
- 36.033, -89.417
A shed was blown away. Some trees were knocked down.
Tornado, Henry
- When
- April 28, 3:00 AM CST to 3:10 AM CST
- Where
- Henry County, Whitlock
- Rating
- F0
- Path length
- 5 mi
- Path width
- 50 yd
- Property damage
- $50,000
- Reported by
- EMERGENCY MANAGER
- Coordinates
- 36.367, -88.350
The tornado touched down near the town of Whitlock and move southeast. Three tall transmission towers were destroyed. Twenty homes were damaged. Several trees and power lines were blown down.
Thunderstorm Wind, Gibson
- When
- April 28, 3:15 AM CST to 3:25 AM CST
- Where
- Gibson County, 3 mi W of Trenton
- Property damage
- $10,000
- Reported by
- EMERGENCY MANAGER
- Coordinates
- 35.983, -88.983
One home was damaged. Several trees were blown down.
Thunderstorm Wind, Carroll
- When
- April 28, 3:30 AM CST to 3:35 AM CST
- Where
- Carroll County, Huntingdon
- Property damage
- $5,000
- Reported by
- NEWSPAPER
- Coordinates
- 36.000, -88.417
Several trees were blown down.
- 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.
- Tornadoes and Hail in Maryland, April 28, 20023 deaths · 122 injured · $125 million · F4 · 16 events
- Tornadoes in Illinois, April 28, 20021 death · 10 injured · $8.0 million · F3 · 2 events
- Tornadoes in Kentucky, April 28, 200226 injured · $17 million · F3 · 3 events
- Tornadoes in Tennessee, April 28, 200231 injured · $2.3 million · F3 · 3 events
- Tornadoes and Hail in Kentucky, April 28, 20021 death · 8 injured · $3.2 million · F2 · 31 events
- Tornadoes and Hail in Virginia, April 28, 200212 injured · $7.4 million · F2 · 39 events
- Tornado in Illinois, April 28, 20021 injured · $400,000 · F3 · 1 event
- Tornado in Ohio, April 28, 20022 injured · $46 million · F2 · 1 event
- Tornado and Damaging Winds in Indiana, April 28, 200212 injured · $805,000 · F2 · 3 events
- Tornadoes and Hail in Maryland, April 28, 2002$164,000 · F3 · 7 events
- Tornado in Illinois, April 28, 20023 injured · $3.5 million · F2 · 1 event
- Tornado and Hail in Virginia, April 28, 20022 injured · $1.6 million · F2 · 11 events
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: 5293437, 5293438, 5293439, 5293442, 5293440, 5293441, 5293489.