Tornadoes · United States · Tennessee

2013 tornadoes in Tennessee

43 tornadoes touched down in Tennessee in 2013, 123 percent above the average of the record for the state. None of them killed anybody.

2012 2014 The whole country in 2013

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 2013

January 13 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
January 133:36 PM CSTEF0Rutherford1.6100$25,000

January 30 25 tornadoes

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
January 302:09 AM CSTEF1Humphreys5.2150$200,000
January 302:26 AM CSTEF2Hickman4.3300$500,000
January 302:32 AM CSTEF1Wayne9.1100$35,000
January 302:45 AM CSTEF0Dickson7.3100$100,000
January 302:46 AM CSTEF1Lewis3.7200$250,000
January 302:51 AM CSTEF1Cheatham3.21251$200,000
January 302:59 AM CSTEF2Robertson5.0200$750,000
January 303:00 AM CSTEF0Davidson5.550$10,000
January 303:01 AM CSTEF0Williamson0.975$60,000
January 303:05 AM CSTEF1Robertson5.8150$250,000
January 303:10 AM CSTEF0Davidson11.775$190,000
January 303:12 AM CSTEF0Davidson3.2751$150,000
January 303:12 AM CSTEF1Robertson6.01001$769,000
January 303:18 AM CSTEF0Williamson2.075$100,000
January 303:23 AM CSTEF0Sumner10.6125$225,000
January 303:25 AM CSTEF2Wilson4.5150$1.0 million
January 303:34 AM CSTEF0Sumner3.6100$65,000
January 303:37 AM CSTEF0Sumner5.850$45,000
January 303:40 AM CSTEF1Wilson10.0150$1.0 million
January 303:41 AM CSTEF1Williamson4.6150$530,000
January 303:47 AM CSTEF0Macon1.050$85,000
January 304:01 AM CSTEF0Macon1.575$175,000
January 304:29 AM CSTEF0Cannon6.7200$75,000
January 304:46 AM CSTEF1Lincoln5.3250
January 305:25 AM CSTEF0Coffee5.275$50,000

March 3 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
March 36:04 PM ESTEF1Claiborne1.435

March 18 4 tornadoes

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
March 187:40 AM CDTEF1Houston10.6150$325,000
March 1811:22 AM CDTEF0Maury3.750$50,000
March 1811:47 AM CDTEF0Bedford3.950$50,000
March 1812:12 PM CDTEF0Rutherford3.8100$50,000

April 19 2 tornadoes

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
April 192:03 AM CDTEF1Lincoln3.1400
April 192:09 AM CDTEF1Moore4.2400

April 27 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
April 279:13 PM CDTEF1Fayette1.12501$100,000

May 31 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
May 316:05 AM CDTEF1Tipton0.8250$180,000

June 9 2 tornadoes

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
June 96:09 PM CDTEF1Franklin2.9150
June 96:32 PM CDTEF0Franklin0.350

June 13 2 tornadoes

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
June 133:11 PM EDTEF1Jefferson2.0120$50,000
June 133:55 PM EDTEF1Sevier0.5150$50,000

October 5 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
October 56:52 PM CDTEF0Obion0.225

November 17 3 tornadoes

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
November 176:31 PM CSTEF1Robertson1.0100$200,000
November 176:42 PM CSTEF0Sumner0.350$200,000
November 179:37 PM CSTEF0Lincoln0.625

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.