Tornadoes · United States · Tennessee · 2016

EF1 tornado, Gismonda, Tennessee, March 27, 2016

Name: EF1 tornado, Gismonda, Tennessee, March 27, 2016
Start: 2016-03-27T22:24:00.000Z
End: 2016-03-27T22:29:00.000Z
Location: Gismonda, Tennessee

This EF1 tornado ran 2.0 miles across Benton County on March 27, 2016, touching down at 5:24 PM CDT and reaching 100 yards wide. It killed nobody, and did $25,000 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: March 27, 2016
Touchdown: 5:24 PM CDT (22:24 UTC)
Lifted: 5:29 PM CDT (22:29 UTC)
On the ground: 5 minutes
Path length: 2.0 miles (3.2 km)
Path width: 100 yards (91 m)
Deaths: 0
Injuries: 0
Property damage: $25,000
County: Benton County
Touchdown point: 35.965, -88.142
Lift-off point: 35.975, -88.108
Record number: 1603271624-01

The damage survey

13 damage points were recorded along this path by NWS MEG, in the Damage Assessment Toolkit the survey teams carry. The strongest indicator was rated EF1. The highest wind the damage implies is 92 mph.

Survey points are preliminary and are the raw material the published rating was built from. Source: NWS Damage Assessment Toolkit.

What the Weather Service recorded

A cold front moved across West Tennessee during the late afternoon on March 27, 2016. The front interacted with an increasingly moist and unstable airmass to produce scattered to numerous showers and thunderstorms. A few of these storm became sever with large hail. A tornado touched down in Benton County.

A tornado touched down several miles south of Camden in Benton County. The tornado track was intermittent, with two primary areas of damage. The first area was south of the Old Natchez Trace Trail, from Douglas Drive to Douglas Lane. Numerous trees were uprooted, with the tree fall pattern suggesting a circulation. The second area of damage was between Highway 641 and Old Highway 69. The tornado damaged the roof of a barn. Nearby, the tornado blew in the large door of a metal workshop and removed most of the workshop's door. Portions of the roof landed across old Highway 69. The estimated peak wind was 90 mph.

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 Memphis, TN wrote its last area forecast discussion before the tornado touched down at Mar 27, 2:35 PM CDT, 2 hours 49 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Mar 27, 2:35 PM CDT, 2 hours 49 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MEMPHIS TN
235 PM CDT SUN MAR 27 2016

.DISCUSSION...

CLOUDY TO MOSTLY CLOUDY SKIES ACROSS THE MIDSOUTH THIS AFTERNOON
WITH APPROACHING COLD FRONT NOW IN NORTHEAST ARKANSAS. OUT AHEAD
DEWPOINTS IN THE UPPER 50S TO MID 60S...WITH CU FIELD AND CAPE
VALUES NEAR 1500 J/KG. SHORT TERM MODELS SUGGESTING MID TO LATE
AFTERNOON FOR INITIATION ALONG THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER. ON RADAR
SHOWERS AND WEAK STORMS WERE EXPANDING NORTH OUT OF MISSISSIPPI.

FOR TONIGHT...BROKEN LINE OF CONVECTION WILL TRANSVERSE EAST
THROUGH THE EARLY EVENING HOURS...LIKELY REACHING THE TENNESSEE
RIVER VALLEY BY 9PM. ISOLATED DAMAGING GUSTS AND LARGE HAIL ARE
POSSIBLE. BEHIND THE FRONT A BRIEF PERIOD OF GUSTY WEST
WINDS...ESPECIALLY OVER THE BOOTHEEL OF MISSOURI AND NORTHWEST
TENNESSEE. DRY AIR WILL SURGE IN TONIGHT WITH LOWS IN THE 40S.

MONDAY AND TUESDAY...HIGH PRESSURE WILL BE IN CONTROL WITH LIGHT
NORTH WINDS BECOMING EAST. HIGHS WILL MAINLY BE IN THE 60S WITH
LOWS IN THE 30S TOMORROW...THEN A TAD WARMER TUESDAY.

WEDNESDAY AND THURSDAY...MODELS STILL IN GOOD AGREEMENT THAT A
DEVELOPING UPPER TROUGH IN THE ROCKIES WILL BRING ABUNDANT MOISTURE
NORTHWARD FROM THE WESTERN GULF. RAIN CHANCES WILL INCREASE
THROUGH THE DAY WEDNESDAY...WITH THE HEAVIEST ACTIVITY EXPECTED
THROUGH THE NIGHT. FOR NOW 36 HOUR QPF AMOUNTS OF 3 TO 4 INCHES
APPEAR CONFINED TO SOUTH OF INTERSTATE FORTY WITH MORE 1-3 INCH
AMOUNTS TO THE NORTH. BELIEVE THE POTENTIAL FOR FLASH FLOODING
WILL BE MORE LOCALIZED AND NOT AS WIDESPREAD AS WHAT WAS SEEN A
FEW WEEKS BACK. HIGHS WILL BE NEAR 70F WITH MILDER OVERNIGHT
LOWS. A FEW STRONG OR SEVERE STORMS MAY ALSO FORM ON THURSDAY
ALONG A COLD FRONT...THOUGH MORE DEPENDENT ON LOW LEVEL
INSTABILITY AS MIDLEVEL LAPSE RATES ARE NOT IMPRESSIVE.

FRIDAY THROUGH SUNDAY...A BIT COOL FOR EARLY APRIL...BUT DRY AND
PLEASANT. MODELS DUE DIFFER SLIGHTLY FOR FRIDAY...WITH THE EURO
LAGGING THE TROUGH AXIS BACK INTO THE SOUTHERN PLAINS WHICH WOULD
CONFINE MORE PRECIPITATION ALONG THE GULF COAST AND MORE CLOUDS
ACROSS NORTH MISSISSIPPI. THE GFS ON THE OTHER HAND PINCHES OFF
THIS ENERGY AND A STRONG NORTHWEST UPPER FLOW COMPLETELY DRIES
OUT THE REGION. EITHER WAY SUNSHINE WILL RETURN TO THE MIDSOUTH
THROUGHOUT THE WEEKEND. WINDS WILL BE LIGHT FROM THE NORTH
BECOMING MORE WESTERLY BY SUNDAY. COOL OVERNIGHT LOWS IN THE EAST
MAY DIP INTO THE MID 30S WITH PATCHY FROST.

JAB

&&

.AVIATION...

LOW CLOUDS COVER AREAS EAST OF THE MS RIVER THIS MORNING. IFR
CONDS PREVAIL AT KTUP WITH OCNL MVFR CONDS AT KMKL AND KMEM. LOW
CLOUDS WILL GRADUALLY IMPROVE OVER THE NEXT COUPLE OF HOURS WHILE A
COLD FRONT APPROACHES FROM THE WEST. THIS FRONT WILL KICK OFF
SCATTERED TO NUMEROUS SHRAS AND TSRAS THIS AFTERNOON INTO EARLY
THIS EVENING. BEST CHANCE FOR TSRAS ON STATION WILL OCCUR AT KMKL
AND KTUP. FRONT WILL SWEEP EAST THIS EVENING WITH SKIES CLEARING
FROM WEST TO EAST AND WINDS SHIFT FROM S/SSW AT 10-15 KTS TO NW
AND DIMINISHING. VFR CONDS WILL PREVAIL THROUGH THE END OF THE
PERIOD.

SJM

&&

.MEG WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
AR...NONE.
MO...NONE.
MS...NONE.
TN...NONE.
&&

Hazardous weather outlook, Mar 27, 2:33 PM CDT, 2 hours 51 minutes before

HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MEMPHIS TN
233 PM CDT SUN MAR 27 2016

ARZ008-009-017-018-026>028-035-036-048-049-058-MOZ113-115-
MSZ001>017-020>024-TNZ001>004-019>022-048>055-088>092-282145-
ALCORN-BENTON MS-BENTON TN-CALHOUN-CARROLL-CHESTER-CHICKASAW-CLAY-
COAHOMA-CRAIGHEAD-CRITTENDEN-CROCKETT-CROSS-DESOTO-DECATUR-
DUNKLIN-DYER-FAYETTE-GIBSON-GREENE-HARDEMAN-HARDIN-HAYWOOD-
HENDERSON-HENRY-ITAWAMBA-LAFAYETTE-LAKE-LAUDERDALE-LAWRENCE-
LEE AR-LEE MS-MADISON-MARSHALL-MCNAIRY-MISSISSIPPI-MONROE-OBION-
PANOLA-PEMISCOT-PHILLIPS-POINSETT-PONTOTOC-PRENTISS-QUITMAN-
RANDOLPH-SHELBY-ST. FRANCIS-TALLAHATCHIE-TATE-TIPPAH-TIPTON-
TISHOMINGO-TUNICA-UNION-WEAKLEY-YALOBUSHA-
233 PM CDT SUN MAR 27 2016

THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF EAST ARKANSAS...
THE MISSOURI BOOTHEEL...NORTH MISSISSIPPI...AND WEST TENNESSEE.

.DAY ONE...THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT

A FEW TO STRONG TO SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS ARE POSSIBLE ALONG AND
EAST OF THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER FROM LATE THIS AFTERNOON THROUGH
MID EVENING. THE BEST THREAT FOR A SEVERE STORM CAPABLE OF
DAMAGING WIND AND LARGE HAIL WILL BE ACROSS NORTHWEST TENNESSEE.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...MONDAY THROUGH SATURDAY

HEAVY RAIN AND THUNDERSTORMS MAY PRODUCE LOCALIZED FLASH FLOODING
WEDNESDAY AND THURSDAY...ESPECIALLY SOUTH OF INTERSTATE FORTY
WHERE RAINFALL TOTALS COULD REACH 5 INCHES.

.SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...

SPOTTER ACTIVATION MAY BE POSSIBLE LATE THIS AFTERNOON THROUGH MID
EVENING ACROSS PORTIONS OF WEST TENNESSEE.

JAB

In the hours before

Special weather statement, Mar 27, 3:48 PM CDT, 1 hour 36 minutes before

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MEMPHIS TN
348 PM CDT SUN MAR 27 2016

MSZ004-005-TNZ090-091-272130-
TIPPAH MS-ALCORN MS-HARDEMAN TN-MCNAIRY TN-
348 PM CDT SUN MAR 27 2016

...THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN MEMPHIS HAS ISSUED A SIGNIFICANT
WEATHER ADVISORY UNTIL 430 PM CDT FOR...

NORTHERN TIPPAH COUNTY IN NORTHEASTERN MISSISSIPPI...
NORTHWESTERN ALCORN COUNTY IN NORTHEASTERN MISSISSIPPI...
SOUTHEASTERN HARDEMAN COUNTY IN WEST TENNESSEE...
SOUTHERN MCNAIRY COUNTY IN WEST TENNESSEE...

AT 348 PM CDT...A STRONG THUNDERSTORM PRODUCING PEA SIZE HAIL OR
LARGER AND WINDS AT LEAST 40 MPH WAS LOCATED 10 MILES NORTH OF
RIPLEY...MOVING NORTHEAST AT 35 MPH.

DANGEROUS CLOUD TO GROUND LIGHTNING IS ALSO POSSIBLE WITH THIS
THUNDERSTORM.

PEOPLE IN NORTHERN TIPPAH...NORTHWESTERN ALCORN...SOUTHEASTERN
HARDEMAN AND SOUTHERN MCNAIRY COUNTIES SHOULD MONITOR THIS STORM
CLOSELY.

LAT...LON 3503 8838 3475 8888 3489 8902 3527 8854
      3510 8837
TIME...MOT...LOC 2048Z 230DEG 30KT 3488 8888

Local storm report, Mar 27, 4:49 PM CDT, 35 minutes before

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Local storm report, Mar 27, 4:55 PM CDT, 29 minutes before

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Local storm report, Mar 27, 5:09 PM CDT, 15 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), 12:00Z

10.4 hours before the tornado, 138 km from the path. March 27, 2016.

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: 301 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -92 J/kg
Surface CAPE: 53 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 800 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 42 kt
0-1 km bulk shear: 13 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 111 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 98 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.0
Supercell composite: 0.0
0-3 km lapse rate: 4.7 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

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

1.6 hours after it, 138 km from the path. March 28, 2016.

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: 328 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -41 J/kg
Surface CAPE: 810 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 718 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 45 kt
0-1 km bulk shear: 30 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 207 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 147 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.3
Supercell composite: 2.9
0-3 km lapse rate: 5.1 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The surface observations

Huntingdon (HZD), 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 Ft Campbell radar (KHPX), 114 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 22:26 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 2016 tornado in Tennessee Every tornado in Tennessee since 1950 Warnings in force in Tennessee now The forecast where you are

The other tornadoes of March 27, 2016

3 more were confirmed in the United States that day.

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Damage
March 27	7:00 PM CDT	EF2	Christian, KY	15.5	200	$1.0 million
March 27	7:11 PM CDT	EF0	Christian, KY	3.4	100	$6,000
March 27	7:35 PM CDT	EF0	Muhlenberg, KY	4.9	75	$4,000

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.