Tornadoes · United States · Tennessee · 1974

F3 tornado, Rutherford and Wilson counties, Tennessee, April 3, 1974

This F3 tornado ran 15.9 miles across Rutherford and Wilson counties on April 3, 1974, touching down at 6:10 PM CDT and reaching 100 yards wide. It killed nobody, and did $500 to $5,000 of property damage.

The rating scale

Tracks are drawn in the color of the rating. The Fujita scale rates the damage rather than measuring the wind: the speeds are what that damage is taken to imply.

  1. F040 to 72 mph

    Light damage. Surface peeled off some roofs, gutters and siding damaged, branches broken, shallow-rooted trees pushed over.

  2. F173 to 112 mph

    Moderate damage. Roofs badly stripped, mobile homes overturned or badly damaged, exterior doors lost, windows broken.

  3. F2113 to 157 mph

    Considerable damage. Roofs torn off well-built houses, frame homes shifted on their foundations, mobile homes destroyed, large trees snapped or uprooted, cars lifted off the ground.

  4. F3158 to 206 mphthis tornado

    Severe damage. Whole stories of well-built houses destroyed, large buildings badly damaged, trains overturned, trees debarked, heavy cars lifted and thrown.

  5. F4207 to 260 mph

    Devastating damage. Well-built houses leveled, structures with weak foundations moved some distance, cars thrown and large missiles generated.

  6. F5261 to 318 mph

    Incredible damage. Strong frame houses swept off their foundations, car-sized missiles thrown more than 100 meters, steel-reinforced concrete badly damaged, high-rise buildings deformed.

  7. Unrated

    The survey recorded a tornado but could not put a number on it, most often because it crossed open country and damaged nothing a rating can be read from.

The record

Rating
F3
Date
April 3, 1974
Touchdown
6:10 PM CDT (23:10 UTC)
Path length
15.9 miles (25.6 km)
Path width
100 yards (91 m)
Deaths
0
Injuries
0
Property damage
$500 to $5,000
Counties
Rutherford and Wilson counties
Touchdown point
35.830, -86.430
Lift-off point
35.980, -86.220
Record number
167

The damage survey

10 damage points were recorded along this path by NWS OHX, in the Damage Assessment Toolkit the survey teams carry. The strongest indicator was rated EF3. The highest wind the damage implies is 150 mph.

  • Columns at front of Riverview Baptist Church were blown off causing the collapse of the front entrance area.
  • 30 trees blown down in yard of Dr. Kenneth Ezell home at 1707 Riverview Dr
  • Sheet metal from patio blown into trees at David Remaster home on 1702 Riverview Drive.
  • Minor damage occurred to buildings at the Stones River Country Club with dozens of trees blown down on the course.

Survey points are preliminary and are the raw material the published rating was built from. Source: NWS Damage Assessment Toolkit.

The air that afternoon

The radiosonde launches on either side of the tornado, from the nearest station that was launching then, drawn and analyzed the way Storm Lab does: the same diagram, the same parcel and shear definitions SPC's mesoanalysis uses.

Nashville Metro, TN (KBNA), 12:00Z

11.2 hours before the tornado, 35 km from the path. April 3, 1974.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Nashville Metro, TN at 12:00Z on 1974-04-03Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel lifted from the surface. Mixed-layer CAPE 1697 joules per kilogram, CIN -49, lifted condensation level 717 meters above ground. Wind barbs in knots down the right edge.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°0°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed. The warm shading is its CAPE, the cool shading the inhibition it has to break through.
HodographHodograph, Nashville Metro, TN at 12:00Z on 1974-04-03The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers as a curve, rings every 10 meters per second labeled in knots. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 87 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 22 knots.193958Sfc1 km3 km6 km9 kmRMLM
The wind turning with height, colored by layer: ground to 1 km, 1 to 3 km, 3 to 6 km, 6 to 10 km. RM and LM are the right and left moving storms Bunkers' method gives; the shaded area is the 0 to 1 km storm-relative helicity.
Mixed-layer CAPE
1697 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-49 J/kg
Surface CAPE
1239 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
717 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
22 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
16 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
87 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
120 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
2.3
0-3 km lapse rate
4.8 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

Nashville Metro, TN (KBNA), 00:00Z

0.8 hours after it, 35 km from the path. April 4, 1974.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Nashville Metro, TN at 00:00Z on 1974-04-04Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel lifted from the surface. Mixed-layer CAPE 1394 joules per kilogram, CIN -104, lifted condensation level 1250 meters above ground. Wind barbs in knots down the right edge.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°0°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed. The warm shading is its CAPE, the cool shading the inhibition it has to break through.
HodographHodograph, Nashville Metro, TN at 00:00Z on 1974-04-04The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers as a curve, rings every 10 meters per second labeled in knots. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 247 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 77 knots.1939587897Sfc1 km3 km6 km9 kmRMLM
The wind turning with height, colored by layer: ground to 1 km, 1 to 3 km, 3 to 6 km, 6 to 10 km. RM and LM are the right and left moving storms Bunkers' method gives; the shaded area is the 0 to 1 km storm-relative helicity.
Mixed-layer CAPE
1394 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-104 J/kg
Surface CAPE
1284 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1250 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
77 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
32 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
247 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
338 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
1.7
Supercell composite
8.6
0-3 km lapse rate
5.4 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

This ground now

The live radar over the trackEvery 1974 tornado in TennesseeEvery tornado in Tennessee since 1950Warnings in force in Tennessee nowThe forecast where you are

The other tornadoes of April 3, 1974

127 more were confirmed in the United States that day.

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
April 39:00 AM EDTF1Burke, NC6.910$5,000 to $50,000
April 39:30 AM ESTF2Boone, IN0.150
April 32:00 PM EDTF2Gilmer, GA15.62005$500,000 to $5 million
April 31:10 PM CDTF0Grundy, IL0.110
April 33:05 PM EDTF3Bradley, TN18.13501100$50,000 to $500,000
April 32:07 PM CDTF0McLean, IL0.110
April 32:08 PM CDTF1Logan, IL16.7177$500,000 to $5 million
April 32:15 PM ESTF1Orange, IN14.0177$50,000 to $500,000
April 32:20 PM ESTF5Depauw–Palmyra tornado, IN68.010686$50 million to $500 million
April 33:30 PM EDTF5Xenia tornado, OH31.3533361150$50 million to $500 million
April 32:30 PM ESTF3Lawrence, IN35.8177126$5 million to $50 million
April 32:30 PM CDTF3Macon, IL20.9350126$500,000 to $5 million
April 32:30 PM CDTF3McLean, IL7.4350$50,000 to $500,000
April 32:45 PM ESTF3Shelby, IN20.7440125$5 million to $50 million
April 32:45 PM CDTF1Christian, IL8.570$50,000 to $500,000
April 34:00 PM EDTF2Blount, TN0.5502$50,000 to $500,000
April 33:00 PM ESTF4Kennard tornado, IN18.91017$5 million to $50 million
April 33:01 PM ESTF4Bartholomew, IN35.61,200417$5 million to $50 million
April 33:10 PM CDTF1Piatt, IL10.920$500 to $5,000
April 33:19 PM CDTF4Hanover–Madison tornado, IN35.61,20011190$50 million to $500 million
April 33:20 PM CDTF5Brandenburg tornado, KY32.044031270$500,000 to $5 million
April 33:25 PM CDTF0Piatt, IL3.320$500 to $5,000
April 34:30 PM EDTF1McMinn, TN3.627132$500 to $5,000
April 33:35 PM ESTF4Henry, IN18.01,400112$5 million to $50 million
April 33:40 PM ESTF4Jefferson, IN27.11,133104$5 million to $50 million
April 33:48 PM CDTF3Champaign, IL5.9701$50,000 to $500,000
April 34:50 PM EDTF1Hamilton, TN5.9272$5,000 to $50,000
April 34:55 PM EDTF2Madison, OH15.7180$50,000 to $500,000
April 33:55 PM CDTF3Champaign, IL14.9350$50,000 to $500,000
April 35:00 PM EDTF1Transylvania, NC1.030$5,000 to $50,000
April 34:00 PM CDTF4Grayson, KY14.01502$50 to $500
April 34:00 PM CDTF1Robertson, TN4.327$5,000 to $50,000
April 34:20 PM CDTF5Sayler Park tornado, Ohio20.85333210
April 34:25 PM CDTF2Vermilion, IL7.817712$500,000 to $5 million
April 35:28 PM EDTF4Hamilton, OH19.8350239$50,000 to $500,000
April 34:30 PM CDTF2Jefferson, AL1.0800$5,000 to $50,000
April 34:30 PM ESTF3Warren, IN25.9700$50,000 to $500,000
April 34:30 PM CDTF1Coles, IL14.890$5,000 to $50,000
April 34:37 PM CDTF4Louisville tornado, KY18.5103225
April 34:45 PM ESTF4Monticello tornado, IN108.71,76018285$50 million to $500 million
April 35:45 PM EDTF4Elizabethtown tornado, KY37.910381$50,000 to $500,000
April 34:45 PM CDTF3Simpson, KY31.110357$500,000 to $5 million
April 36:00 PM EDTF1Cherokee, NC0.110
April 36:00 PM EDTF2Warren, OH9.81779$500,000 to $5 million
April 36:00 PM EDTF2Loudon, TN0.11002$50,000 to $500,000
April 36:00 PM EDTF2Monroe, TN1.0200$50,000 to $500,000
April 35:00 PM CDTF3Jones, MS12.01001$50,000 to $500,000
April 36:05 PM EDTF2Franklin, OH5.190$50,000 to $500,000
April 36:15 PM EDTF1Henry, KY31.71018$5,000 to $50,000
April 36:15 PM EDTF3Bradley, TN21.2500350$50,000 to $500,000
April 36:18 PM EDTF1Pickaway, OH1.0107$5,000 to $50,000
April 35:18 PM CDTF2Davidson, TN4.7400$500,000 to $5 million
April 35:21 PM CDTF1Calhoun, AL1.0800$500 to $5,000
April 35:30 PM CDTF1Maury, TN7.9100$5,000 to $50,000
April 36:40 PM EDTF4Resaca tornado, GA29.5200967$500,000 to $5 million
April 35:40 PM CDTF4Green, KY20.21056$500,000 to $5 million
April 36:50 PM EDTF4Anderson, KY79.4104122$50,000 to $500,000
April 35:50 PM CDTF2Cleburne, AL to GA65.9150120$500,000 to $5 million
April 36:00 PM CDTF2Trousdale, TN15.8300$500,000 to $5 million
April 36:00 PM CDTF1Marshall, TN12.92004$5,000 to $50,000

All 128 of them

What this means

Ratings are the survey's, read off the damage rather than measured; the rating scale is above. Tornado counts rise through the record as reporting improved, so a year in the 1950s is not comparable with one today except for the strongest tornadoes, which were always noticed.

Sources

NOAA Storm Prediction Center tornado database, 1950-2025, the official record kept by NOAA's Storm Prediction Center.