Tornadoes · United States · Tennessee

2011 tornadoes in Tennessee

98 tornadoes touched down in Tennessee in 2011, 408 percent above the average of the record for the state. They killed 20 people and injured 131. 2 were rated F4 or EF4 and above.

2010 2012 The whole country in 2011

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 mph

    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.

Every tornado in Tennessee in 2011

February 24 3 tornadoes

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
February 248:30 PM CSTEF2Decatur12.2400$1.5 million
February 2410:02 PM CSTEF2Davidson7.5100$550,000
February 2410:14 PM CSTEF2Wilson8.01502$500,000

February 28 4 tornadoes

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
February 2812:18 PM CSTEF2Franklin16.160014$40,000
February 281:00 PM CSTEF0Marion0.020$20,000
February 282:25 PM ESTEF1Hamilton2.290$1.3 million
February 282:30 PM ESTEF1Hamilton2.6150$5.0 million

March 23 4 tornadoes

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
March 236:19 PM CDTEF1Wilson5.7100$200,000
March 236:54 PM CDTEF2White9.0100$350,000
March 237:03 PM CDTEF0Rutherford1.050$25,000
March 239:50 PM EDTEF3Blount5.85002$2.5 million

April 4 5 tornadoes

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
April 41:19 PM CDTEF1Humphreys2.975$150,000
April 41:33 PM CDTEF1Dickson7.3150$110,000
April 41:52 PM CDTEF0Cheatham0.850$2,000
April 42:20 PM CDTEF1Davidson4.9100$500,000
April 46:36 PM EDTEF0McMinn0.125$10,000

April 9 4 tornadoes

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
April 94:35 PM EDTEF0Carter0.950$20,000
April 96:00 PM EDTEF1Washington3.0150$75,000
April 96:08 PM EDTEF1Washington0.6100$10,000
April 96:15 PM EDTEF0Unicoi1.050$15,000

April 25 2 tornadoes

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
April 2511:45 PM CDTEF1Weakley to KY15.4225$150,000
April 2511:47 PM CDTEF0Henderson17.0200$20,000

April 26 2 tornadoes

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
April 268:27 PM CDTEF0Hardeman1.5150$15,000
April 268:54 PM CDTEF0Chester8.225$75,000

April 27 69 tornadoes

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
April 275:38 AM CDTEF2Lincoln25.9400
April 275:40 AM CDTEF1Marshall2.9100$75,000
April 275:47 AM CDTEF0Rutherford2.150$8,000
April 275:50 AM CDTEF1Lawrence2.71501$11,000
April 275:52 AM CDTEF0Rutherford1.675$50,000
April 276:13 AM CDTEF2Moore2.075$25,000
April 276:24 AM CDTEF0Smith3.450$5,000
April 276:45 AM CDTEF0Coffee1.750$5,000
April 276:47 AM CDTEF1Jackson3.3100$10,000
April 276:49 AM CDTEF0Jackson2.050$20,000
April 276:50 AM CDTEF1Warren13.2100$100,000
April 278:45 AM EDTEF2Bradley2.01501$125,000
April 277:47 AM CDTEF0Cumberland5.6100$15,000
April 278:55 AM EDTEF1Hamilton0.780$100,000
April 278:55 AM EDTEF2Hamilton2.3500$750,000
April 278:56 AM EDTEF1Hamilton2.5250$150,000
April 279:03 AM EDTEF0Hamilton0.5100$25,000
April 279:04 AM EDTEF1Hamilton2.2200$25,000
April 279:37 AM EDTEF1Hamilton0.6100$25,000
April 273:02 PM EDTEF1Hamilton17.01201$125,000
April 273:15 PM EDTEF0Bradley1.850$15,000
April 272:26 PM CDTEF1Marion2.280$25,000
April 272:26 PM CDTEF1Sequatchie4.980$150,000
April 273:36 PM EDTEF0Bradley2.0150$50,000
April 274:04 PM EDTEF0Monroe2.3100$15,000
April 274:49 PM EDTEF1Monroe3.4100$25,000
April 276:03 PM EDTEF1Hamilton3.8125$90,000
April 275:11 PM CDTEF2Hardin3.82002$1.8 million
April 276:12 PM EDTEF0Hamilton0.170$10,000
April 276:13 PM EDTEF1Hamilton4.090$25,000
April 276:14 PM EDTEF1Hamilton3.6200$100,000
April 275:21 PM CDTEF2Marion10.0800$30,000
April 276:28 PM EDTEF2Bradley27.92504$650,000
April 276:00 PM CDTEF0Grundy1.250$9,000
April 277:00 PM EDTEF0McMinn2.350$10,000
April 277:07 PM EDTEF0Meigs0.8110$15,000
April 277:08 PM EDTEF2Monroe10.52001$500,000
April 277:10 PM EDTEF1Monroe11.4200$25,000
April 277:31 PM EDTEF4Blount14.41,320$1.1 million
April 277:35 PM EDTEF0McMinn0.720$5,000
April 277:35 PM EDTEF0Bradley1.050$20,000
April 278:00 PM EDTEF0Loudon1.050$10,000
April 278:09 PM EDTEF0Blount6.5200$10,000
April 278:46 PM EDTEF0Jefferson3.350$20,000
April 278:57 PM EDTEF1Knox1.050$20,000
April 279:06 PM EDTEF0Sevier0.550$5,000
April 278:06 PM CDTEF4Sequatchie40.2880412$17 million
April 279:07 PM EDTEF0Greene0.570$5,000
April 279:11 PM EDTEF0Jefferson0.350$20,000
April 279:18 PM EDTEF0Monroe0.950$5,000
April 279:20 PM EDTEF1Monroe11.0200$25,000
April 279:22 PM EDTEF0Monroe1.850$5,000
April 279:24 PM EDTEF0Jefferson0.850$5,000
April 279:25 PM EDTEF1McMinn12.52001$300,000
April 279:28 PM EDTEF1Rhea1.575$10,000
April 279:29 PM EDTEF2Washington8.8150$800,000
April 279:31 PM EDTEF0Jefferson1.1200$8,000
April 279:33 PM EDTEF1Cocke7.1150$100,000
April 279:35 PM EDTEF2Monroe16.9440$110,000
April 279:43 PM EDTEF0Blount3.8100$10,000
April 2710:28 PM EDTEF0Knox1.050$10,000
April 279:28 PM CDTEF2Sequatchie4.5250$200,000
April 2710:32 PM EDTEF0Cocke2.440$20,000
April 2710:37 PM EDTEF1Cocke1.2150$30,000
April 2710:47 PM EDTEF0Greene2.3300$15,000
April 2710:51 PM EDTEF3Greene15.81,500633$8.0 million
April 2711:18 PM EDTEF0Hamblen0.350$10,000
April 2711:45 PM EDTEF2Johnson12.02502$1.0 million
April 2712:40 AM EDTEF3Greene13.61,000270$8.0 million

May 23 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
May 236:52 PM CDTEF2Stewart13.31502$250,000

May 26 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
May 261:00 AM CDTEF0DeKalb1.950$100,000

June 22 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
June 226:40 PM EDTEF0Roane0.620$5,000

June 23 2 tornadoes

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
June 231:00 AM EDTEF1Anderson1.580$50,000
June 231:20 AM EDTEF0Knox1.0100$40,000

Crossed into Tennessee

Tornadoes that touched down in a neighboring state and ran into Tennessee. They are counted under the state they began in.

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
April 274:01 AM CDTEF1Lauderdale, AL to TN9.2200$1,000
April 273:05 PM CDTEF5Hackleburg–Phil Campbell tornado, AL132.02,20072145$1.3 billion
April 277:15 PM CDTEF4Ringgold–Apison tornado, Georgia and Tennessee48.080020335$68 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.