Tornadoes · United States · Tennessee · 2018
EF1 tornado, India to Nobles, Tennessee, February 24, 2018
From India to Nobles, this EF1 tornado ran 3.9 miles across Henry County on February 24, 2018, touching down at 8:02 PM CST and reaching 75 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.
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
- February 24, 2018
- Touchdown
- 8:02 PM CST (02:02 UTC)
- Lifted
- 8:07 PM CST (02:07 UTC)
- On the ground
- 5 minutes
- Path length
- 3.9 miles (6.2 km)
- Path width
- 75 yards (69 m)
- Deaths
- 0
- Injuries
- 0
- Property damage
- $50,000
- County
- Henry County
- Touchdown point
- 36.332, -88.271
- Lift-off point
- 36.355, -88.208
- Record number
- 1802242002-01
What the Weather Service recorded
A strong cold front interacted with a very unstable airmass across the Midsouth during the afternoon and evening hours of February 24h. All facets of severe weather occurred.
A weak tornado tracked northeast of Paris knocking down trees and a few power poles.
From NOAA NCEI's Storm Events Database, the narrative the local forecast office wrote for Storm Data.
The warnings
19 minutes of warning. NWS MEG issued a tornado warning for this county at 01:43 UTC, 19 minutes before the tornado touched down, in force until 02:30 UTC.
The county was under a tornado watch, issued at 21:18 UTC and running to 03:58 UTC.
| Issued (UTC) | Expired | Product | Office |
|---|---|---|---|
| 21:18 UTC | 03:58 UTC | Tornado Watch | MEG |
| 01:17 UTC | 07:15 UTC | Flash Flood Warning | MEG |
| 01:27 UTC | 02:15 UTC | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MEG |
| 01:30 UTC | 02:00 UTC | Tornado Warning | MEG |
| 01:43 UTC | 02:30 UTC | Tornado Warning | MEG |
| 02:09 UTC | 02:39 UTC | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MEG |
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 0.10 chance of a tornado within 25 miles, in the hatched area where significant tornadoes were expected. The outlook in force was issued at 00:42 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.
Nashville Metro, TN (KBNA), 00:00Z
2.0 hours before the tornado, 149 km from the path. February 25, 2018.
- Mixed-layer CAPE
- 78 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -34 J/kg
- Surface CAPE
- 771 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 1167 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 61 kt
- 0-1 km bulk shear
- 26 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 235 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 256 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 1.1
- 0-3 km lapse rate
- 6.4 K/km
Nashville Metro, TN (KBNA), 12:00Z
10.0 hours after it, 149 km from the path. February 25, 2018.
- Mixed-layer CAPE
- 87 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -1 J/kg
- Surface CAPE
- 125 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 507 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 69 kt
- 0-1 km bulk shear
- 21 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- -80 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- -17 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 0.0
- 0-3 km lapse rate
- 3.6 K/km
The surface observations
Paris (PHT), 13 km from the path, in the two hours either side.
| Time (UTC) | Temp (°F) | Dew point (°F) | Wind | Gust (kt) | Pressure (mb) | Weather |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 00:15 UTC | 68 | 64.4 | 170° 11 kt | 1007.1 | ||
| 00:35 UTC | 68 | 64.4 | 170° 14 kt | 1007.1 | ||
| 00:55 UTC | 68 | 64.4 | 180° 12 kt | 1007.1 | ||
| 01:15 UTC | 68 | 64.4 | 170° 12 kt | 1006.4 | ||
| 01:35 UTC | 68 | 64.4 | 170° 15 kt | 23 | 1006.1 | |
| 01:55 UTC | 68 | 64.4 | 230° 7 kt | 19 | 1006.8 | BR |
| 02:00 UTC | 68 | 64.4 | 300° 10 kt | 1008.1 | BR |
From the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of airport observations.
The radar
The Paducah radar (KPAH), 94 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 02:03 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) | Report | Where | County | Remark |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 01:00 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | 1 Ne Paris | Henry, TN | POWER POLES AND TREES DOWN ALONG INDIA AND MCINTOSH ROADS. |
| 01:42 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | 6 Nne Gleason | Weakley, TN | 4 FOOT DIAMETER TREE DOWN ACROSS HIGHWAY 190, BLOCKING BOTH LANES. TIME ESTIMATED BY RADAR. |
| 01:45 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | Dresden | Weakley, TN | SOME TREES AND POWER LINES DOWN ACROSS THE COUNTY. |
| 02:22 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | 10 E Big Sandy | Humphreys, TN | TREE DOWN AT 7600 GREENBRIER CREEK ROAD IN FAR NORTHWEST HUMPHREYS COUNTY |
| 02:29 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | Tennessee Ridge | Houston, TN | TREE DOWN ON HIGHWAY 147 |
| 02:30 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | Huntingdon | Carroll, TN | TREES AND POWER LINES DOWN ACROSS THE COUNTY. TREE DOWN ON HOUSE. |
| 02:30 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | N Camden | Benton, TN | SEVERAL TREES DOWN AND A FEW POWER POLES CAUSING POWER OUTAGES. |
| 02:30 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | N Camden | Benton, TN | SEVERAL TREES AND A FEW POWER POLES DOWN ACROSS THE COUNTY. |
| 02:30 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | Tennessee Ridge | Houston, TN | PORCH BLOWN OFF HOME |
| 02:36 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | 6 Nw Cumberland City | Stewart, TN | TREE DOWN ON HIGHWAY 233 |
| 02:47 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | 5 Nne Waverly | Humphreys, TN | TREE DOWN ON HIGHWAY 13 |
From the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service local storm reports.
This ground now
The live radar over the trackEvery 2018 tornado in TennesseeEvery tornado in Tennessee since 1950Warnings in force in Tennessee nowThe forecast where you are
The other tornadoes of February 24, 2018
29 more were confirmed in the United States that day.
| Date | Time | Rating | Where | Path (mi) | Width (yd) | Deaths | Injuries | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| February 24 | 3:53 PM CST | EF2 | Robertson, TN to KY | 12.9 | 350 | 1 | 1 | $850,000 |
| February 24 | 5:11 PM CST | EF0 | Jackson, AR | 0.2 | 50 | $20,000 | ||
| February 24 | 5:19 PM CST | EF1 | Barren, KY | 1.9 | 50 | $280,000 | ||
| February 24 | 5:20 PM CST | EF1 | Cross, AR | 3.2 | 75 | $500,000 | ||
| February 24 | 5:21 PM CST | EF2 | Clay, AR to MO | 41.9 | 150 | 1 | 5 | $2.5 million |
| February 24 | 6:06 PM CST | EF2 | Mississippi, AR | 9.9 | 100 | 1 | $1.0 million | |
| February 24 | 6:30 PM CST | EF2 | New Madrid, MO | 0.9 | 150 | 2 | $750,000 | |
| February 24 | 6:51 PM CST | EF0 | Obion, TN | 5.6 | 75 | $50,000 | ||
| February 24 | 7:07 PM CST | EF1 | Obion, TN | 3.2 | 450 | 3 | $2.0 million | |
| February 24 | 7:17 PM CST | EF0 | Gibson, TN | 4.3 | 75 | $25,000 | ||
| February 24 | 7:21 PM CST | EF0 | Weakley, TN | 5.2 | 75 | $50,000 | ||
| February 24 | 7:36 PM CST | EF0 | Weakley, TN | 7.4 | 75 | $25,000 | ||
| February 24 | 7:37 PM CST | EF1 | Calloway, KY | 8.3 | 125 | $450,000 | ||
| February 24 | 7:37 PM CST | EF1 | McCracken, KY | 1.9 | 100 | $85,000 | ||
| February 24 | 7:42 PM CST | EF1 | Graves, KY | 1.2 | 100 | $50,000 | ||
| February 24 | 7:50 PM CST | EF1 | Calloway, KY | 1.4 | 100 | $550,000 | ||
| February 24 | 8:44 PM CST | EF0 | Christian, KY | 5.3 | 75 | $20,000 | ||
| February 24 | 8:45 PM CST | EF2 | Christian, KY | 5.4 | 200 | 9 | $6.0 million | |
| February 24 | 8:50 PM CST | EF1 | Montgomery, TN | 5.3 | 150 | $1.0 million | ||
| February 24 | 8:55 PM CST | EF0 | Christian, KY | 0.5 | 50 | $6,000 | ||
| February 24 | 9:03 PM CST | EF2 | Montgomery, TN | 4.1 | 200 | 2 | $7.0 million | |
| February 24 | 9:15 PM CST | EF0 | Logan, KY | 2.9 | 300 | $30,000 | ||
| February 24 | 9:19 PM CST | EF1 | Robertson, TN | 3.6 | 150 | $50,000 | ||
| February 24 | 9:21 PM CST | EF1 | Butler, KY | 1.4 | 100 | $20,000 | ||
| February 24 | 9:50 PM CST | EF0 | Simpson, KY | 1.7 | 100 | $50,000 | ||
| February 24 | 10:33 PM CST | EF2 | Green, KY | 1.3 | 100 | $130,000 | ||
| February 24 | 12:03 AM EST | EF1 | Clermont, OH | 3.5 | 200 | $85,000 | ||
| February 24 | 12:13 AM EST | EF1 | Brown, OH | 4.9 | 300 | $65,000 | ||
| February 24 | 12:50 AM EST | EF1 | Garrard, KY | 0.1 | 100 | $50,000 |
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.