Tornadoes · United States · Tennessee · 2008

EF0 tornado, Tarpley to Five Pts, Tennessee, May 8, 2008

From Tarpley to Five Pts, this EF0 tornado ran 0.8 miles across Giles County on May 8, 2008, touching down at 1:45 PM CDT and reaching 50 yards wide. It killed nobody.

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
May 8, 2008
Touchdown
1:45 PM CDT (18:45 UTC)
Lifted
1:47 PM CDT (18:47 UTC)
On the ground
2 minutes
Path length
0.8 miles (1.4 km)
Path width
50 yards (46 m)
Deaths
0
Injuries
0
County
Giles County
Touchdown point
35.142, -86.956
Lift-off point
35.146, -86.942
Record number
0805081245-01

What the Weather Service recorded

A tornado struck near the town of Loretto in Lawrence County. A microburst occurred at Neapolis in Maury County.

A tornado hit a forested area in Giles County. Trees were uprooted and snapped. Some trees were even twisted. There was no property damage.

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

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before the tornado touched down, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.

NWS Nashville, TN wrote its last area forecast discussion before the tornado touched down at May 8, 1:44 PM CDT, 1 minute earlier.

Area forecast discussion, May 8, 1:44 PM CDT, 1 minute before
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Hazardous weather outlook, May 8, 11:25 AM CDT, 2 hours 20 minutes before
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NASHVILLE TN
1125 AM CDT THU MAY 8 2008

TNZ005>011-022>034-056>066-075-077>080-093>095-091030-
STEWART-MONTGOMERY-ROBERTSON-SUMNER-MACON-CLAY-PICKETT-BENTON-
HOUSTON-HUMPHREYS-DICKSON-CHEATHAM-DAVIDSON-WILSON-TROUSDALE-
SMITH-JACKSON-PUTNAM-OVERTON-FENTRESS-PERRY-HICKMAN-LEWIS-
WILLIAMSON-MAURY-MARSHALL-RUTHERFORD-CANNON-DEKALB-WHITE-
CUMBERLAND-BEDFORD-COFFEE-WARREN-GRUNDY-VAN BUREN-WAYNE-LAWRENCE-
GILES-
1125 AM CDT THU MAY 8 2008

THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR MIDDLE TENNESSEE.

.DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT

A LOW PRESSURE SYSTEM AND COLD FRONT WILL MOVE ACROSS THE REGION.
AS DAYTIME HEATING DESTABILIZES THE ATMOSPHERE...A SLIGHT RISK
FOR SEVERE WEATHER WILL DEVELOP. DAMAGING WINDS WILL BE THE MAIN
THREAT BUT ISOLATED TORNADOES ARE POSSIBLE. THE SOUTH HALF OF THE
MID STATE WILL HAVE THE GREATEST POTENTIAL FOR SEVERE WEATHER...
LASTING THROUGH THE EARLY EVENING.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...FRIDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY

A WEAK FRONT AND LINGERING INSTABILITY WILL BRING A RISK FOR
ISOLATED SEVERE STORMS ON FRIDAY. LOCALIZED DAMAGING WINDS AND
LARGE HAIL WILL BE POSSIBLE.

ANOTHER LOW PRESSURE SYSTEM AND COLD FRONT WILL APPROACH THE REGION
SATURDAY NIGHT AND SUNDAY. SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WITH LARGE HAIL
AND DAMAGING WINDS WILL BE POSSIBLE.

.SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...

SPOTTER AND EMERGENCY MANAGER ACTIVATION MAY BE NEEDED TODAY AND
AGAIN SATURDAY NIGHT AND SUNDAY.

07

In the hours before

Special weather statement, May 8, 10:24 AM CDT, 3 hours 21 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NASHVILLE TN
1024 AM CDT THU MAY 8 2008

TNZ056>058-060-061-075-077-079-093>095-081700-
PERRY-HICKMAN-LEWIS-MAURY-MARSHALL-BEDFORD-COFFEE-GRUNDY-WAYNE-
LAWRENCE-GILES-
INCLUDING THE CITIES OF...LINDEN...LOBELVILLE...CENTERVILLE...
HOHENWALD...COLUMBIA...LEWISBURG...SHELBYVILLE...TULLAHOMA...
MANCHESTER...TRACY CITY...ALTAMONT...COALMONT...WAYNESBORO...
LAWRENCEBURG...PULASKI
1024 AM CDT THU MAY 8 2008

STRONG THUNDERSTORMS WILL MOVE ACROSS SOUTHERN MIDDLE TENNESSEE
INCLUDING THE CUMBERLAND PLATEAU THROUGH NOON. THESE STORMS MAY
PRODUCE PEA TO MARBLE SIZED HAIL AND WIND GUSTS TO 4O MPH. THERE
IS A SLIGHT RISK OF THUNDERSTORMS REACHING SEVERE LIMITS THUS
WARNINGS MAY NEED TO BE ISSUED.
Special weather statement, May 8, 11:45 AM CDT, 2 hours before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NASHVILLE TN
1145 AM CDT THU MAY 8 2008

TNZ093>095-081745-
GILES-LAWRENCE-WAYNE-
1145 AM CDT THU MAY 8 2008

...A STRONG THUNDERSTORM WAS AFFECTING GILES...LAWRENCE AND WAYNE
COUNTIES...

AT 1138 AM CDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR WAS TRACKING
A STRONG THUNDERSTORM NEAR COLLINWOOD...OR 13 MILES SOUTH OF
WAYNESBORO...MOVING EAST AT 35 MPH.

THIS STORM WILL BE NEAR...
  LAWRENCEBURG BY 1220 PM CDT.
  5 MILES NORTH OF PULASKI BY 1235 PM CDT.

SMALL HAIL...AND WINDS 30 TO 40 MPH ARE EXPECTED WITH THIS STORM.

07
Local storm report, May 8, 12:55 PM CDT, 50 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NASHVILLE TN
1255 PM CDT THU MAY 08 2008

..TIME...   ...EVENT...      ...CITY LOCATION...     ...LAT.LON...
..DATE...   ....MAG....      ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
            ..REMARKS..

1240 PM     TSTM WND DMG     1 NW LORETTO            35.09N 87.45W
05/08/2008                   LAWRENCE           TN   EMERGENCY MNGR

            STRUCTURAL DAMAGE

&&

ROSE
Local storm report, May 8, 1:06 PM CDT, 39 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NASHVILLE TN
106 PM CDT THU MAY 08 2008

..TIME...   ...EVENT...      ...CITY LOCATION...     ...LAT.LON...
..DATE...   ....MAG....      ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
            ..REMARKS..

1240 PM     TSTM WND DMG     1 NW LORETTO            35.09N 87.45W
05/08/2008                   LAWRENCE           TN   EMERGENCY MNGR

            NUMEROUS TREES DOWN

&&

ROSE

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

6.8 hours before the tornado, 114 km from the path. May 8, 2008.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Nashville Metro, TN at 12:00Z on 2008-05-08Temperature 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 -84244, lifted condensation level 1859 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 2008-05-08The 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 97 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 51 knots.19395878Sfc1 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
-84244 J/kg
Surface CAPE
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1859 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
51 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
30 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
97 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
170 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.0
0-3 km lapse rate
6.6 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The surface observations

Huntsville/Madison County Exec (MDQ), 47 km from the path, in the two hours either side.

Time (UTC)Temp (°F)Dew point (°F)WindGust (kt)Pressure (mb)Weather
00:00 UTC

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

The radar

The Northeast Alabama radar (KHTX), 82 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 18:44 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.

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 May 8, 2008

28 more were confirmed in the United States that day.

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
May 88:01 AM CDTEF3Lee, MS7.6200$1.5 million
May 88:42 AM CDTEF2Itawamba, MS1.4100$150,000
May 89:15 AM CDTEF0Lafayette, MS2.250$25,000
May 811:57 AM CDTEF1Lauderdale, AL8.02002$300,000
May 812:35 PM CDTEF1Lawrence, TN3.0440$50,000
May 812:39 PM CDTEF2Lauderdale, AL12.6250$555,000
May 81:06 PM CDTEF1Fayette, AL11.0100$45,000
May 81:49 PM CDTEF0Wichita, KS2.025
May 82:00 PM CDTEF1Walker, AL3.3600$120,000
May 82:15 PM CDTEF0Morgan, AL0.950$10,000
May 82:20 PM CDTEF1Cullman, AL3.3100$20,000
May 81:27 PM MDTEF0Greeley, KS5.0100
May 82:35 PM CDTEF1Limestone, AL4.0250$20,000
May 82:40 PM CDTEF1Cullman, AL6.6100$50,000
May 85:20 PM EDTEF0Clinton, OH0.420$5,000
May 85:25 PM EDTEF0Greene, OH0.110$1,000
May 86:13 PM EDTEF0Clark, OH0.210$1,000
May 88:00 PM EDTEF1Henry, VA0.975$165,000
May 89:00 PM EDTEF1Pittsylvania, VA0.860$116,000
May 810:15 PM EDTEF2Davie, NC3.2100$200,000
May 810:20 PM EDTEF0Nelson, VA0.250$50,000
May 810:23 PM EDTEF2Forsyth, NC0.350
May 810:25 PM EDTEF3Forsyth, NC2.93002$2.5 million
May 810:53 PM EDTEF2Stafford, VA3.4150$10 million
May 811:20 PM EDTEF1Appomattox, VA0.750$25,000
May 811:29 PM EDTEF2Guilford, NC3.920013$4.0 million
May 812:24 AM EDTEF0Prince George's, MD0.550$100,000
May 812:56 AM EDTEF0Prince George's, MD0.5100$50,000

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.