EF1 tornado, Brush Creek to Lancaster Hill, Tennessee, March 1, 2017

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 mphthis tornado

   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.

Rating

EF1

Date

March 1, 2017

Touchdown

7:51 AM CST (13:51 UTC)

Lifted

7:56 AM CST (13:56 UTC)

On the ground

5 minutes

Path length

3.9 miles (6.3 km)

Path width

200 yards (183 m)

Deaths

0

Injuries

0

Property damage

$40,000

County

Smith County

Touchdown point

36.117, -85.981

Lift-off point

36.127, -85.912

Record number

1703010751-01

50 damage points were recorded along this path by NWS OHX, in the Damage Assessment Toolkit the survey teams carry. The strongest indicator was rated EF1. The highest wind the damage implies is 110 mph.

• Trees snapped and laying in the same general direction except for a few trees.
• Carport destroyed and roof missing shingles
• All trees in same direction.
• Debris all in the same direction. ENE

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

The most damaging severe weather outbreak in Middle Tennessee since the December 23, 2015 Tornado Outbreak struck during the morning hours on March 1, 2017. A line of strong to severe thunderstorms with embedded circulations, known as a Quasi-Linear Convective System (or QLCS), moved rapidly across Middle Tennessee at 60-70 mph from west to east between 6 AM and 10 AM CST. Additional severe thunderstorms developed later in the morning and affected areas of southern Middle Tennessee from the late morning into the early afternoon hours. Widespread damaging winds were reported in nearly every county along and north of I-40 across Middle Tennessee, with winds estimated up to 90 mph in some areas. These intense downburst winds caused 3 injuries - two in Clarksville when a tree fell on a mobile home, and one in Lavergne when a tractor trailer flipped over. In addition to the damaging winds, 7 confirmed tornadoes also touched down from the Nashville metro area eastward to the Upper Cumberland, damaging hundreds of homes and businesses. Several reports of large hail were also received in parts of southern Middle Tennessee.

An NWS Storm Survey along with Google Earth high resolution satellite data and radar data determined a high end EF-1 tornado touched down in Wilson County just north of Highway 70 (Sparta Pike) in far western Watertown, then curved northeast and east across the northern fringes of the town. One home suffered considerable roof damage at 7077 Sparta Pike and a carport was destroyed at a neighboring home. Another mobile home had most of its metal roof blown off on Linwood Road and several trees were blown down on both sides of the roadway. The tornado intensified as it crossed New Town Road where 2 homes suffered roof damage and dozens of trees were snapped or uprooted in all directions. Another home had roof damage on Parkenson Road where many more trees were snapped and uprooted. The most severe damage occurred along South Commerce Road, where one home suffered considerable roof and siding damage, and the attached garage was knocked off the slab foundation and collapsed. However, the garage was not properly attached to the foundation. An adjacent barn was completely destroyed with debris blown over 200 yards to the southeast. Another barn further south on South Commerce Road was heavily damaged, and the wastewater plant across the road received minor damage. East of South Commerce Road, two wooden TVA high transmission power poles were snapped. A home sustained minor roof damage and a greenhouse was destroyed on the west side of Holmes Gap Road, while another home suffered heavy roof damage and an outbuilding was destroyed on the east side of the roadway. The tornado then weakened as it continued eastward, but still continued to blow down dozens of trees. An outbuilding suffered minor damage south of Hudson Road, and a large outbuilding was destroyed farther east at 850 Haley Road. Numerous more trees continued to be blown down across rural forests and fields to the east before the tornado crossed into Smith County.||In Smith County, the tornado caused EF-0 damage as it crossed Holmes Gap Road around 2 miles southwest of Brush Creek. Two old barns sustained damage on the west side of the roadway, while another barn on the east side was destroyed. Numerous tree were also blown down in the area. The tornado continued to blow down trees in forests to the north of Switchboard Road before dissipating into a large downburst that affected areas south of Brush Creek.

A NWS storm survey along with high resolution Google Earth satellite imagery confirmed an EF1 tornado touched down in far southern Smith County southwest of the town of Hickman just north of Potter Road. The tornado completely destroyed a 1930s-era home being used as a storage building to the west of Kyle Hollow Lane, with contents blown up to 150 yards away. Numerous trees were also snapped and uprooted around the building and a nearby mobile home sustained minor exterior damage. Three homes on Jenkins Hill Road just west of Hill Road suffered minor to moderate roof damage and two nearby outbuildings were destroyed. A nearby barn was destroyed and another barn suffered roof damage. On Highway 264 at Jenkins Hall Road, a large barn was completely destroyed with debris blown over 200 yards away to the north, and another barn suffered minor roof damage. TDOT also reported Highway 264 was blocked by trees blown down across the roadways. Farther to the east, dozens of trees were snapped and uprooted in the hills and valleys around Nabors Hollow Lane, and one home received considerable roof damage before the tornado lifted. Special thanks to Smith County Emergency Management and @SmithCountyWx for their assistance with this storm survey.

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

23 minutes of warning. NWS OHX issued a tornado warning for this county at 13:28 UTC, 23 minutes before the tornado touched down, in force until 14:00 UTC.

The county was under a tornado watch, issued at 10:57 UTC and running to 15:17 UTC.

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 Storm Prediction Center had this point in a Moderate Risk, with a 0.05 chance of a tornado within 25 miles. The outlook in force was issued at 12:51 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 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.

The Nashville radar (KOHX), 57 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 13:52 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.

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

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

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

38 more were confirmed in the United States that day.

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.

NOAA Storm Prediction Center tornado database, 1950-2025, the official record kept by NOAA's Storm Prediction Center.