Tornadoes · United States · Tennessee

2001 tornadoes in Tennessee

14 tornadoes touched down in Tennessee in 2001, 27 percent below the average of the record for the state. They killed 3 people and injured 14.

2000 2002 The whole country in 2001

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 mph

    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.

Every tornado in Tennessee in 2001

February 25 4 tornadoes

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
February 2512:40 AM CSTF0Maury0.110
February 251:20 AM CSTF0Williamson0.110
February 251:20 AM CSTF0Rutherford0.110
February 251:30 AM CSTF0Wilson0.110

May 31 3 tornadoes

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
May 313:50 PM CDTF1McNairy5.0200$100,000
May 315:45 PM CDTF1Hickman0.750$20,000
May 318:05 PM CDTF2Cannon6.344012$80,000

June 2 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
June 29:45 PM EDTF0Blount1.550$200,000

June 27 2 tornadoes

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
June 2712:58 PM CDTF0Dyer0.3100
June 271:15 PM CDTF0Dyer0.3100

October 24 3 tornadoes

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
October 248:00 PM CDTF0Williamson0.210
October 248:20 PM CDTF0Rutherford0.16
October 249:28 PM CDTF2Coffee0.220$3.0 million

November 26 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
November 2611:25 PM CSTF3Henry5.0200212$1.5 million

Nearby

Every tornado in Tennessee since 1950Warnings in force in TennesseeThe live radar over Tennessee

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.