Tornadoes · United States · Tennessee · 2017

EF0 tornado, Dyersburg to Ro Ellen, Tennessee, March 1, 2017

From Dyersburg to Ro Ellen, this EF0 tornado ran 3.7 miles across Dyer County on March 1, 2017, touching down at 4:51 AM CST and reaching 50 yards wide. It killed nobody, and did $50,000 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.

  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
March 1, 2017
Touchdown
4:51 AM CST (10:51 UTC)
Lifted
4:54 AM CST (10:54 UTC)
On the ground
3 minutes
Path length
3.7 miles (6.0 km)
Path width
50 yards (46 m)
Deaths
0
Injuries
0
Property damage
$50,000
County
Dyer County
Touchdown point
36.042, -89.357
Lift-off point
36.050, -89.291
Record number
1703010451-01

What the Weather Service recorded

A strong cold front generated severe storms with damaging winds across the region during the early morning hours of March 1st.

A weak tornado embedded within a line of severe thunderstorms touched down south of the Dyersburg Primary School and tracked east-northeast. The tornado struck a farm on Jones Road tearing the roof off one barn and causing significant damage to another. A house suffered shingle damage and some outbuildings were also damaged. Intermittent tree damage occurred along the path. The tornado lifted at Welch Road. Peak winds were estimated at 80 mph.

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

The warnings

27 minutes of warning. NWS MEG issued a tornado warning for this county at 10:24 UTC, 27 minutes before the tornado touched down, in force until 11:15 UTC.

The county was under a tornado watch, issued at 09:05 UTC and running to 13:00 UTC.

Issued (UTC)ExpiredProductOffice
02:30 UTC05:31 UTCTornado WatchMEG
09:05 UTC13:00 UTCTornado WatchMEG
10:24 UTC11:15 UTCTornado WarningMEG
10:43 UTC11:17 UTCTornado WarningMEG

Every warning and watch covering the touchdown point that day, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service products. Lead time is measured from the issue of the warning in force to the touchdown time in the database, both of which were recorded to the minute by different people.

The forecast that day

The Storm Prediction Center had this point in a Enhanced Risk, with a 0.05 chance of a tornado within 25 miles. The outlook in force was issued at 05:42 UTC.

SPC's Day 1 convective outlook as it stood when the tornado began, read at the touchdown point. The same archive is on the radar archive.

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.

Little Rock, AR (KBYH), 12:00Z

1.1 hours after it, 147 km from the path. March 1, 2017.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Little Rock, AR at 12:00Z on 2017-03-01Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel lifted from the surface. Mixed-layer CAPE 937 joules per kilogram, CIN -13, lifted condensation level 756 meters above ground. Wind barbs in knots down the right edge.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 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, Little Rock, AR at 12:00Z on 2017-03-01The 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 -11 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 75 knots.1939587897117136156Sfc1 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
937 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-13 J/kg
Surface CAPE
1679 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
756 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
75 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
31 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
-11 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
108 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
-0.1
Supercell composite
-0.4
0-3 km lapse rate
6.2 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The radar

The Memphis radar (KNQA), 92 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 10:50 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.

What was reported nearby

Local storm reports within 60 km of the path, in the three hours either side.

Time (UTC)ReportWhereCountyRemark
10:45 UTCTSTM WND DMGRidgelyLake, TNSEVERAL LARGE TREE LIMBS DOWN. NICKEL SIZE HAIL.
10:48 UTCTSTM WND DMG1 Ne DyersburgDyer, TNMULTIPLE LARGE TREES BLOWN DOWN OR SNAPPED IN HALF. DAMAGE TO CITY BASKETBALL COURT DUE TO TREE. GAS STATION SUFFERED ROOF DAMAGE DUE TO WIND.
10:50 UTCTSTM WND DMGFinleyDyer, TNSOME POWER LINES WERE BLOWN DOWN AND ELECTRIC POLES WERE SNAPPED.
10:55 UTCTSTM WND DMGHallsLauderdale, TNCARPORT LIFTED OFF GROUND ONTO HOME AND BACKYARD PLAYGROUND EQUIPMENT BLOWN OVER.
10:56 UTCTSTM WND DMGTrimbleDyer, TNLARGE TREE DOWN ON VEHICLE NEAR INTERSECTION OF CHURCH AND MULBERRY STREETS. TIME IS RADAR ESTIMATED.
11:00 UTCTSTM WND DMGDyersburgDyer, TNLARGE TREE FELL ONTO HOUSE CAUSING MAJOR DAMAGE.
11:00 UTCTSTM WND DMGNw BrownsvilleHaywood, TNAN 80 FOOT RADIO MAST, SECURED INTO THE GROUND BY CEMENT, WAS BLOWN OVER AND BROKE IN HALF. LARGE METAL SHOP DOOR BLOWN DOWN.
11:07 UTCTSTM WND GST 664 Ssw DyersburgDyer, TNMEASURED AT RAWS SITE.
11:10 UTCHAIL 0.75RutherfordGibson, TN
11:12 UTCTSTM WND DMGMartinWeakley, TNREPORTS FROM EARLY MORNING STORMS. CITY PARK SCOREBOARD AND LIGHTS DOWNED, POWER POLES BROKEN AROUND THE CITY, MINOR ROOF DAMAGE, SEVERAL TREES DOWN. TWO AGRICULTURAL IRRIGATION SYSTEMS OVERTURNED. TIME ESTIMATED FROM RA
11:15 UTCTSTM WND DMG3 S BradfordGibson, TNLARGE TREES DOWN ALONG MULBERRY GROVE ROAD NEAR BRADFORD. SOME STRUCTURAL DAMAGE. SOME TREES ON HOUSES SHEDS, ETC.
11:20 UTCTSTM WND DMG4 Wnw SharonWeakley, TN3 INCH TREE LIMBS BROKEN AND UTILITY POLES DOWN. MPING REPORT.
11:20 UTCTSTM WND DMGMilanGibson, TNMETAL ROOF REMOVED FROM STRUCTURE AND BLOWN ONTO NEIGHBORS HOME.

From the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service local storm reports.

This ground now

The live radar over the trackEvery 2017 tornado in TennesseeEvery tornado in Tennessee since 1950Warnings in force in Tennessee nowThe forecast where you are

The other tornadoes of March 1, 2017

38 more were confirmed in the United States that day.

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
March 112:30 AM CSTEF0Dallas, MO1.0100$25,000
March 112:35 AM CSTEF1Butler, KY0.890$50,000
March 11:29 AM CSTEF1Johnson, AR0.1200$20,000
March 12:31 AM ESTEF0Highland, OH6.9250$30,000
March 12:40 AM ESTEF0Highland, OH4.5100$10,000
March 12:16 AM CSTEF1Conway, AR1.0250$30,000
March 12:18 AM CSTEF0Conway, AR1.150$40,000
March 12:33 AM CSTEF1Cleburne, AR3.9250$20,000
March 13:38 AM ESTEF1Clermont, OH6.4150$400,000
March 13:13 AM CSTEF1Jackson, AR4.2200$30,000
March 13:20 AM CSTEF1Jackson, AR1.6125$100,000
March 15:00 AM ESTEF2Daviess, IN0.130$40,000
March 15:05 AM ESTEF2Daviess, IN1.530$65,000
March 14:08 AM CSTEF0Jackson, IL4.125$2,000
March 15:10 AM ESTEF1Daviess, IN0.030$35,000
March 15:30 AM ESTEF1Lawrence, IN0.240$22,000
March 15:37 AM ESTEF2Lawrence, IN0.7251$175,000
March 14:40 AM CSTEF1Mississippi, MO15.2200$400,000
March 15:41 AM ESTEF1Washington, IN5.8100$150,000
March 15:45 AM ESTEF2Jackson, IN0.350$45,000
March 16:04 AM ESTEF1Clark, IN0.320$200,000
March 16:05 AM ESTEF1Scott, IN2.112510$250,000
March 15:25 AM CSTEF2Graves, KY1.6200$170,000
March 16:36 AM ESTEF1Henry, KY1.1200$100,000
March 17:03 AM ESTEF0Hamilton, OH1.1350$250,000
March 17:39 AM ESTEF1Highland, OH2.2150$50,000
March 16:57 AM CSTEF1Logan, KY1.675$100,000
March 17:00 AM CSTEF1Williamson, TN10.5250$7.3 million
March 18:16 AM ESTEF1Pike, OH0.6125$30,000
March 17:17 AM CSTEF0Davidson, TN3.1100$55,000
March 17:24 AM CSTEF1Warren, KY2.6125$250,000
March 17:37 AM CSTEF0Wilson, TN3.3100$15,000
March 17:40 AM CSTEF1Wilson, TN7.2200$110,000
March 17:51 AM CSTEF1Smith, TN3.9200$40,000
March 18:04 AM CSTEF1Putnam, TN7.6150$25,000
March 19:07 AM ESTEF1Meigs, OH0.1300$80,000
March 18:35 AM CSTEF1Putnam, TN0.190$10,000
March 14:27 PM ESTEF1Murray, GA2.9150$100,000

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.