Tornadoes · United States · Tennessee · 2008

EF0 tornado, Lewisburg, Tennessee, April 11, 2008

This EF0 tornado ran 0.1 miles across Marshall County on April 11, 2008, touching down at 12:40 PM CDT and reaching 10 yards wide. It killed nobody, and did $1,000 of property damage.

The rating scale

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

  1. EF065 to 85 mphthis tornado

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

  2. EF186 to 110 mph

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

  3. EF2111 to 135 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. EF3136 to 165 mph

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

  5. EF4166 to 200 mph

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

  6. EF5over 200 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
EF0
Date
April 11, 2008
Touchdown
12:40 PM CDT (17:40 UTC)
Path length
0.1 miles (0.2 km)
Path width
10 yards (9 m)
Deaths
0
Injuries
0
Property damage
$1,000
County
Marshall County
Touchdown point
35.450, -86.889
Lift-off point
35.450, -86.889
Record number
0804111140-01

What the Weather Service recorded

There were six confirmed tornadoes on April 11, 2008. Large hail and straight line winds were also reported.

A helicopter crew reported a tornado at the intersection of Highway 343 and Interstate 65. A NWS employee reported just a few trees were down.

From NOAA NCEI's Storm Events Database, the narrative the local forecast office wrote for Storm Data.

The warnings

12 minutes of warning. NWS OHX issued a tornado warning for this county at 17:28 UTC, 12 minutes before the tornado touched down, in force until 18:00 UTC.

The county was under a tornado watch, issued at 15:16 UTC and running to 20:00 UTC.

Issued (UTC)ExpiredProductOffice
15:16 UTC20:00 UTCTornado WatchOHX
17:12 UTC21:15 UTCFlood AdvisoryOHX
17:28 UTC18:00 UTCTornado WarningOHX

Every warning and watch covering the touchdown point that day, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service products. Lead time is measured from the issue of the warning in force to the touchdown time in the database, both of which were recorded to the minute by different people.

The forecast that day

The Storm Prediction Center had this point in a Slight Risk, with a 0.05 chance of a tornado within 25 miles. The outlook in force was issued at 16:22 UTC.

SPC's Day 1 convective outlook as it stood when the tornado began, read at the touchdown point. The same archive is on the radar archive.

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

5.7 hours before the tornado, 80 km from the path. April 11, 2008.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Nashville Metro, TN at 12:00Z on 2008-04-11Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel lifted from the surface. Mixed-layer CAPE 0 joules per kilogram, CIN -82496, lifted condensation level 756 meters above ground. Wind barbs in knots down the right edge.LCL10008507005003002001001 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 2008-04-11The 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 -39 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 69 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
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-82496 J/kg
Surface CAPE
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
756 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
69 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
35 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
-39 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
119 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
1.0
0-3 km lapse rate
4.0 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

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

6.3 hours after it, 80 km from the path. April 12, 2008.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Nashville Metro, TN at 00:00Z on 2008-04-12Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel lifted from the surface. Mixed-layer CAPE 0 joules per kilogram, CIN -87818, lifted condensation level 1571 meters above ground. Wind barbs in knots down the right edge.LCL10008507005003002001001 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 2008-04-12The 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 23 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 86 knots.1939587897117136Sfc1 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
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-87818 J/kg
Surface CAPE
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1571 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
86 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
24 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
23 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
73 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.0
0-3 km lapse rate
5.7 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The surface observations

Columbia (MRC), 29 km from the path, in the two hours either side.

Time (UTC)Temp (°F)Dew point (°F)WindGust (kt)Pressure (mb)Weather
15:40 UTC69.864.4220° 14 kt291006.4+RA BR
15:44 UTC69.866.2210° 13 kt291006.8RA BR
15:53 UTC6866220° 10 kt181006.4+RA BR
15:59 UTC6866.2210° 6 kt171006.4+RA FG
16:04 UTC6866.2220° 7 kt151006.1+TSRA
16:09 UTC6866.2220° 15 kt241006.4+TSRA
16:12 UTC6866.2210° 11 kt241006.4RA BR
16:16 UTC69.866.2200° 11 kt241006.4
16:20 UTC69.866.2200° 11 kt191006.4TSRA
16:37 UTC69.866.2200° 12 kt201006.1
16:50 UTC71.664.4200° 11 kt231006.1
16:53 UTC7165200° 14 kt231006.1
17:02 UTC69.864.4200° 9 kt221005.4TSRA
17:08 UTC69.864.4280° 18 kt291006.4-TSRA
17:18 UTC66.262.6270° 15 kt251006.8+TSRA FG
17:23 UTC64.460.8270° 19 kt271006.8+TSRA BR
17:24 UTC62.660.8260° 17 kt271006.8+TSRA BR
17:50 UTC62.659260° 6 kt1006.8
17:53 UTC6359250° 4 kt1006.4
18:53 UTC7157210° 8 kt171005.8

From the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of airport observations.

The radar

The Northeast Alabama radar (KHTX), 93 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 17:40 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment, over the track

Reflectivity and velocity, decoded from the Level II archive in the browser. Volumes take a few seconds to open the first time.

What was reported nearby

Local storm reports within 60 km of the path, in the three hours either side.

Time (UTC)ReportWhereCountyRemark
17:00 UTCFUNNEL CLOUD7 W LawrenceburgLawrence, TN
17:05 UTCTORNADO2 N LawrenceburgLawrence, TNHOUSES DAMAGE/DESTROYED...TREES AND POWERS LINES DOWN...BUFFALO RD 2 MILES NORTH OF STATE RD 64.
17:05 UTCTORNADO4 Nw LawrenceburgLawrence, TN*** 1 INJ *** LOW END EF3 TORNADO STRUCK FROM 4.2 MILES NNW OF LAWRENCEBURG TO 7.8 MILES NE OF LAWRENCEBURG FROM 1205 PM TO 1215 PM CDT. MANY HOMES HAD ROOF DAMAGE, NUMEROUS TREES WERE SNAPPED AND UPROOTED. A TVA ELECTRI
17:20 UTCTORNADO12 Nw PulaskiGiles, TNA LOW END EF3 TORNADO HIT NORTHWEST GILES COUNTY NEAR LIBERTY HILL. THE PATH LENGTH OF THE TORNADO WAS 4.8 MILES, WITH A PATH WIDTH OF 100 YARDS. NUMEROUS TREES WERE SNAPPED AND UPROOTED, MANY HOMES HAD ROOF DAMAGE. ONE
17:35 UTCTORNADO3 Ne LawrenceburgLawrence, TNTVA POWER POLES DOWN ON GOOD HOPE ROAD EAST OF HWY43.
17:40 UTCTORNADO5 W LewisburgMarshall, TNTORNADO ON GROUND REPORTED BY HELICOPTER CREW
17:45 UTCFUNNEL CLOUD1 E LewisburgMarshall, TNFUNNEL CLOUD SIGHTED BY TRAINED SPOTTER
18:14 UTCHAIL 0.884 Nw Bell BuckleBedford, TN
18:15 UTCTORNADO4 Nne ShelbyvilleBedford, TNTHE LOW END EF2 TORNADO STRUCK 4.1 MILES NORTH NORTHEAST OF SHELBYVILLE TO 11.1 MILES NORTHEAST OF SHELBYVILLE FROM 115 PM CDT TO 125 PM CDT. THE PATH LENGTH WAS 7.6 MILES WITH A PATH WIDTH OF 200 YARDS. THE TORNADO LEVE

From the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service local storm reports.

This ground now

The live radar over the trackEvery 2008 tornado in TennesseeEvery tornado in Tennessee since 1950Warnings in force in Tennessee nowThe forecast where you are

The other tornadoes of April 11, 2008

22 more were confirmed in the United States that day.

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
April 1111:00 AM CDTEF1Dickson, TN1.620$75,000
April 1112:05 PM CDTEF3Lawrence, TN10.31001$3.0 million
April 1112:20 PM CDTEF3Giles, TN4.7100$1.0 million
April 1112:39 PM CDTEF1Clinton, KY0.4150$50,000
April 1112:41 PM CDTEF1Clinton, KY0.5150$2,000
April 1112:44 PM CDTEF2Clinton, KY3.1300$75,000
April 1112:46 PM CDTEF2Clinton, KY8.74001$1.2 million
April 111:15 PM CDTEF2Bedford, TN7.5200$100,000
April 111:30 PM CDTEF0Coffee, TN0.220$50,000
April 111:42 PM CDTEF1Warren, TN15.0250$1.1 million
April 111:46 PM CDTEF0Cullman, AL0.210$2.0 million
April 112:06 PM CDTEF0Morgan, AL1.220
April 112:07 PM CDTEF0Madison, AL3.8200$10,000
April 112:16 PM CDTEF0Marshall, AL1.630$2,000
April 112:20 PM CDTEF1White, TN1.8800$50,000
April 112:33 PM CDTEF0Marshall, AL2.1100$10,000
April 113:05 PM CDTEF0Cullman, AL0.140$5,000
April 113:27 PM CDTEF0Evangeline Parish, LA8.450$95,000
April 113:40 PM CDTEF0Saint Landry Parish, LA4.150$60,000
April 114:08 PM CDTEF0Jefferson, AL0.130$5,000
April 114:25 PM CDTEF0Jefferson, AL0.330$50,000
April 117:20 PM EDTEF1Lucas, OH5.335$200,000

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.