Tornadoes · United States · Tennessee · 2010

EF1 tornado, Cedar Grove, Tennessee, May 2, 2010

Name: EF1 tornado, Cedar Grove, Tennessee, May 2, 2010
Start: 2010-05-02T11:45:00.000Z
End: 2010-05-02T11:47:00.000Z
Location: Cedar Grove, Tennessee

This EF1 tornado ran 2.7 miles across Hickman County on May 2, 2010, touching down at 6:45 AM CDT and reaching 50 yards wide. It killed nobody, and did $15,000 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.

EF065 to 85 mph
Light damage. Surface peeled off some roofs, gutters and siding damaged, branches broken, shallow-rooted trees pushed over.
EF186 to 110 mphthis tornado
Moderate damage. Roofs badly stripped, mobile homes overturned or badly damaged, exterior doors lost, windows broken.
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.
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.
EF4166 to 200 mph
Devastating damage. Well-built houses leveled, structures with weak foundations moved some distance, cars thrown and large missiles generated.
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.
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: EF1
Date: May 2, 2010
Touchdown: 6:45 AM CDT (11:45 UTC)
Lifted: 6:47 AM CDT (11:47 UTC)
On the ground: 2 minutes
Path length: 2.7 miles (4.4 km)
Path width: 50 yards (46 m)
Deaths: 0
Injuries: 0
Property damage: $15,000
County: Hickman County
Touchdown point: 35.837, -87.267
Lift-off point: 35.863, -87.230
Record number: 1005020545-01

What the Weather Service recorded

A frontal boundary setup across Western and Middle Tennessee late Friday night (April 30), and remained through the weekend. A persistent southerly flow fed moisture into the area and precipitable water values rose to almost 2 inches, based on data from KOHX upper air soundings. As a series of shortwaves moved through, a band of showers and thunderstorms developed and remained nearly stationary for much of the day on Saturday, May 1st and Sunday, May 2nd, resulting in widespread record flooding across much of Middle Tennessee. Some of these thunderstorms became severe also, resulting in thunderstorm wind damage and seven confirmed tornadoes across Middle Tennessee.

A short lived EF1 Tornado, with maximum winds of 100 MPH, touchdown in Hickman County three tenths of a mile north of the intersection of Ben Fly Road and Beech Valley Road. Path length was 2.73 miles, with a width of 50 yards. Numerous hard wood trees were uprooted and snapped.

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 2, 4:17 AM CDT, 2 hours 28 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, May 2, 4:17 AM CDT, 2 hours 28 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NASHVILLE TN
417 AM CDT SUN MAY 2 2010

.DISCUSSION...
ANALYSIS SHOWING SFC WAVE/LOW NOW IN THE MO BOOTHEEL...WITH WARM
FRONT OF SORTS JUST NORTH OF THE KY BORDER AND A COLD FRONT DOWN
INTO EAST TX. CWA REMAINS IN UNSTABLE WARM SECTOR... WITH STRONGER
JET STRUCTURE STILL WEST NEAR MS RIVER. STRONG/SEVERE STORMS CONTINUE
TO DEVELOP AHEAD OF BOUNDARY...BUT HAVE WEAKENED SLIGHTLY AS THEY
MOVE NEAR/OVER THE TN RIVER.

MIDDLE TN EXPECTED TO BE UNDER THE GUN ONCE AGAIN TODAY FOR SEVERE
TSTORMS AS WELL AS ADDITIONALLY FLOODING AS ACTIVITY IN WEST TN
TRANSLATES EAST. MORE FAVORABLE JET STRUCTURE/INSTABILITY WILL
MOVE OVER THE MID-STATE LATER THIS MORNING AND THROUGHOUT THE
DAY...INCREASING THREAT FOR ISOLATED STRONG SUPERCELLS/TORNADOES
AS WELL AS HEAVY RAINFALL. MAX RAINFALL TOTALS ARE NOT EXPECTED TO
BE QUITE AS LARGE AS YESTERDAY BUT MANY RIVERS/LOW LYING LOCATIONS
...ESPECIALLY WEST OF I-65...ARE ALREADY IN OR NEAR FLOOD. WILL
NOT NEED MUCH ADDITIONALLY HEAVY RAIN TO AGGRAVATE CURRENT SITUATION
THUS WILL CONTINUE AREAL FLOOD WARNING THROUGH MOST OF TODAY.

WIDESPREAD DEVELOPMENT WILL CONTINUE AS A COLD FRONT SWEEPS
IN THIS EVENING...BUT THIS FRONT WILL ALSO BEGIN THE PROCESS OF
BRINGING AN END TO THE PCPN. COLD FRONT SHOULD BE ON THE PLATEAU
BY 12Z MONDAY...WHICH WILL END THE THREAT OF MORE HEAVY RAIN/ISO
SEVERE STORMS OVERNIGHT.

A FEW SHOWERS MAY LINGER MONDAY MORNING...ESPECIALLY EAST...BUT THE
DRYING PROCESS WILL BEGIN LATER IN THE DAY. A DRY AND WARMING
TREND WILL THEN ENSUE AND REMAIN INTACT INTO FRIDAY...AT WHICH TIME
A COLD FRONT PASSES BRINGING SCT PCPN BACK THE AREA LATE IN THE
DAY INTO SATURDAY.

&&

.PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS...
NASHVILLE      78  63  81  55 / 100  80  40  10
CLARKSVILLE    77  57  80  53 / 100  50  10  10
CROSSVILLE     75  62  79  52 / 100 100  40  10
COLUMBIA       79  64  81  55 / 100  80  40  10
LAWRENCEBURG   78  63  81  54 / 100  90  40  10
WAVERLY        77  59  80  54 / 100  70  10  10

&&

.OHX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...NONE.

&&

07

Hazardous weather outlook, May 2, 5:43 AM CDT, 1 hour 2 minutes before

HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NASHVILLE TN
543 AM CDT SUN MAY 2 2010

TNZ005>011-022>034-056>066-075-077>080-093>095-031030-
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-DE KALB-WHITE-
CUMBERLAND-BEDFORD-COFFEE-WARREN-GRUNDY-VAN BUREN-WAYNE-LAWRENCE-
GILES-
543 AM CDT SUN MAY 2 2010

THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR MIDDLE TENNESSEE.

.DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT

THE THREAT OF MORE FLOODING AS WELL AS SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS
PRODUCING ISOLATED TORNADOES WILL CONTINUE AGAIN TODAY. THIS
THREAT WILL CARRY INTO TONIGHT BUT LESSEN GREATLY AFTER MIDNIGHT.
MODERATE TO MAJOR FLOODING WILL CONTINUE ALONG RIVERS AND STREAMS.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...MONDAY THROUGH SATURDAY

MODERATE TO MAJOR FLOODING WILL CONTINUE ALONG AREA RIVERS.

.SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...

A SIGNIFICANT SEVERE WEATHER EVENT IS EXPECTED. SPOTTER REPORTS
WILL BE NEEDED.

SPOTTER THUNDERSTORM REPORTING CRITERIA...
TORNADO
FUNNEL CLOUD
FLOODING
HAIL >= 1/2 INCH
WINDS > 50 MPH (MEASURED)
STRUCTURAL DAMAGE
TREES OR POWER LINES DOWN

07

In the hours before

Special weather statement, May 2, 2:54 AM CDT, 3 hours 51 minutes before

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NASHVILLE TN
254 AM CDT SUN MAY 2 2010

TNZ022>024-020845-
BENTON-HOUSTON-HUMPHREYS-
254 AM CDT SUN MAY 2 2010

...SIGNIFICANT WEATHER ADVISORY FOR BENTON...HOUSTON AND HUMPHREYS
COUNTIES...

AT 247 AM CDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR WAS TRACKING A
STRONG THUNDERSTORM 15 MILES WEST OF BUENA VISTA...OR 25 MILES
SOUTHWEST OF PARIS...MOVING NORTHEAST AT 40 MPH. A TORNADO WARNING IS
IN EFFECT FOR CARROLL COUNTY IN WEST TENNESSEE. IF YOU LIVE IN BENTON
COUNTY...STAY TUNED FOR A POSSIBLE WARNING.

BOYD

Special weather statement, May 2, 3:51 AM CDT, 2 hours 54 minutes before

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NASHVILLE TN
351 AM CDT SUN MAY 2 2010

TNZ056-021000-
PERRY-
351 AM CDT SUN MAY 2 2010

...SIGNIFICANT WEATHER ADVISORY FOR PERRY COUNTY...

AT 343 AM CDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR WAS TRACKING A
A POSSIBLE TORNADIC THUNDERSTORM 15 MILES SOUTHWEST OF SARDIS...OR
17 MILES WEST OF SAVANNAH...MOVING NORTHEAST AT 35 MPH. ALTHOUGH THIS
STORM IS STILL AN HOUR AWAY FROM PERRY COUNTY...THERE ARE INDICATIONS
THAT THIS STORM MAY CONTAIN A LONG TRACK TORNADO. IF YOU LIVE IN
PERRY COUNTY...NOW IS THE TIME TO THINK ABOUT WHERE YOU WILL TAKE COVER
SHOULD A TORNADO WARNING BE ISSUED.

BOYD

Local storm report, May 2, 6:04 AM CDT, 41 minutes before

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Local storm report, May 2, 6:23 AM CDT, 22 minutes before

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Local storm report, May 2, 6:36 AM CDT, 9 minutes before

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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), 00:00Z

11.8 hours before the tornado, 66 km from the path. May 2, 2010.

Skew-T log-p

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.

Hodograph

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: 1 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -200 J/kg
Surface CAPE: 19 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 562 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 77 kt
0-1 km bulk shear: 17 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: -5 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 62 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.0
Supercell composite: 0.6
0-3 km lapse rate: 4.5 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

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

0.2 hours after it, 66 km from the path. May 2, 2010.

Skew-T log-p

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.

Hodograph

Mixed-layer CAPE: 1271 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: 0 J/kg
Surface CAPE: 1870 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 546 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 69 kt
0-1 km bulk shear: 43 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 387 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 551 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 4.6
Supercell composite: 20.1
0-3 km lapse rate: 6.0 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The surface observations

Columbia (MRC), 33 km from the path, in the two hours either side.

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

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

The radar

The Nashville radar (KOHX), 76 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 11:45 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 track Every 2010 tornado in Tennessee Every tornado in Tennessee since 1950 Warnings in force in Tennessee now The forecast where you are

The other tornadoes of May 2, 2010

20 more were confirmed in the United States that day.

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
May 2	1:05 AM CDT	EF2	Fulton, KY	12.5	600			$335,000
May 2	1:10 AM CDT	EF0	DeSoto, MS	1.1	100			$10,000
May 2	1:42 AM CDT	EF1	Panola, MS	0.1	30			$50,000
May 2	1:47 AM CDT	EF0	Graves, KY	2.4	40			$15,000
May 2	2:14 AM CDT	EF0	Crockett, TN	0.0	25			$5,000
May 2	2:20 AM CDT	EF2	Gibson, TN	3.0	200			$500,000
May 2	2:48 AM CDT	EF3	Benton, MS to TN	29.6	880	3	9	$1.8 million
May 2	2:49 AM CDT	EF2	Christian, KY	9.5	300			$300,000
May 2	3:04 AM CDT	EF0	Hopkins, KY	0.5	75			$70,000
May 2	3:20 AM CDT	EF0	McNairy, TN	0.2	50			$15,000
May 2	3:24 AM CDT	EF2	McNairy, TN	25.7	880		12	$7.4 million
May 2	3:27 AM CDT	EF2	Lafayette, MS	1.4	75	1		$250,000
May 2	4:13 AM CDT	EF0	Decatur, TN	5.7	100			$110,000
May 2	4:45 AM CDT	EF1	Perry, TN	6.9	250			$150,000
May 2	5:00 AM CDT	EF2	Hickman, TN	9.2	600		1	$600,000
May 2	5:17 AM CDT	EF2	Hickman, TN	3.9	250			$200,000
May 2	6:07 AM CDT	EF1	Davidson, TN	3.6	300			$500,000
May 2	6:17 AM CDT	EF1	Sumner, TN	5.0	400			$450,000
May 2	8:35 AM CDT	EF0	Monroe, KY	5.7	50			$5,000
May 2	4:25 PM EDT	EF2	Wayne, KY	0.3	100			$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.