EF0 tornado, Coker Creek, Tennessee, March 17, 2018

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.

Rating

EF0

Date

March 17, 2018

Touchdown

7:49 PM EDT (23:49 UTC)

Lifted

7:56 PM EDT (23:56 UTC)

On the ground

7 minutes

Path length

1.2 miles (1.9 km)

Path width

200 yards (183 m)

Deaths

0

Injuries

0

County

Monroe County

Touchdown point

35.296, -84.305

Lift-off point

35.297, -84.284

Record number

1803171749-01

14 damage points were recorded along this path by NWS MRX, in the Damage Assessment Toolkit the survey teams carry. The strongest indicator was rated EF0. The highest wind the damage implies is 85 mph.

• Construction uncertain. Went with lower wind speeds because large garage doors in the same area were undamaged and expect that higher winds would have led to failure.
• Couldn't tell if unit was attached to foundation well, but large hardwood trees uprooted around the unit. Unit also had only a few broken windows which has a mean max wind speed of around 83 mph.
• Older building with some roof loss.
• Some trees down with others still standing.

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

Thunderstorms developed ahead of an upper level system and surface cold front during the evening hours. Several of these storms produced large hail and wind damage. Funnel clouds were reported as a discrete supercell thunderstorm developed over Southeast Tennessee and moved into Southwest North Carolina. As this supercell moved into Monroe County, Tennessee, a weak tornado developed downing several trees and producing minor structural damage.

The tornado developed as it moved eastward off of a ridge and down into the Hooper Branch Creek valley along Pond Ridge Road. Many trees were uprooted in this area. It continued eastward over a ridge where it damaged fences and destroyed a small barn. As the tornado approached and crossed Highway 68, additional trees were uprooted with some roof damage to a few structures. Before the tornado dissipated, it shifted a double wide on its foundation, broke several windows, and uprooted additional hardwood trees.

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

20 minutes of warning. NWS MRX issued a tornado warning for this county at 23:29 UTC, 20 minutes before the tornado touched down, in force until 00:00 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 Marginal Risk. The outlook in force was issued at 19:56 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.

NWS Morristown, TN wrote its last area forecast discussion before the tornado touched down at Mar 17, 7:14 PM EDT, 35 minutes earlier.

Area Forecast Discussion
National Weather Service Morristown TN
714 PM EDT Sat Mar 17 2018

.DISCUSSION...
Scattered strong to severe showers and thunderstorms have moved
into the southern plateau counties during the last hour so have
increased pops to chance in southern areas next few hours with
recent update.

&&

.AVIATION...
Cold front will arrive this evening with shra/tsra along and
ahead of the front now through next few hours. Looks like storms
will stay just north of CHA with tsra tempos highlighting
gusty/variable winds. Winds will remain swly in the 8-12kts range
with low end gusting favored through evening. Winds will veer
nwly/nly behind front and weaken amidst persistent low clouds the
remainder of the period. Included MVFR fog near daybreak Sunday at
TRI given expected precipitation and lighter winds by morning.

&&

.MRX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
NC...None.
TN...None.
VA...None.
&&

TD

Hazardous Weather Outlook
National Weather Service Morristown TN
307 PM EDT Sat Mar 17 2018

NCZ060-061-TNZ012>018-035>047-067>074-081>087-098>102-VAZ001-002-
005-006-008-181915-
Cherokee-Clay-Scott TN-Campbell-Claiborne-Hancock-Hawkins-
Sullivan-Johnson-Morgan-Anderson-Union-Grainger-Hamblen-
Northwest Cocke-Cocke Smoky Mountains-Northwest Greene-
Southeast Greene-Washington TN-Unicoi-Northwest Carter-
Southeast Carter-Roane-Loudon-Knox-Jefferson-NW Blount-
Blount Smoky Mountains-North Sevier-Sevier Smoky Mountains-
Sequatchie-Bledsoe-Rhea-Meigs-McMinn-Northwest Monroe-
Southeast Monroe-Marion-Hamilton-Bradley-West Polk-East Polk-Lee-
Wise-Scott-Russell-Washington-
307 PM EDT Sat Mar 17 2018 /207 PM CDT Sat Mar 17 2018/

This Hazardous Weather Outlook is for portions of Southwest North
Carolina...East Tennessee and Southwest Virginia.

.DAY ONE...This Afternoon and Tonight

...Strong to Severe Thunderstorms Possible this Afternoon and
Evening...

An upper level storm system and associated frontal boundary will
move across the Tennessee Valley and southern Appalachians
late this afternoon and evening. Southwesterly flow in the low
levels continues to provide increasing moisture ahead of this
system. Therefore scattered thunderstorms are possible late this
afternoon into the evening hours. Some of these storms could
become severe with the primary threats being large hail and
damaging winds, with an isolated tornado not to be ruled out. The
greatest potential for the strongest storms will be across
southwest Virginia and northeast Tennessee.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...Sunday through Friday

...Severe Thunderstorms Possible Again Monday Evening...

Another storm system will move across the Southern Appalachian
Region on Monday with strong southerly winds pulling warm, moist
and unstable air into the Tennessee Valley. A line of
thunderstorms will develop and move into southeast Tennessee.
Some of these storms could become strong to severe with the main
threat being tornadoes, damaging winds, and hail. There is a
potential of a significant outbreak of severe storms late Monday.

.SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...

Spotter activation may be needed this evening and Monday late
afternoon and evening.

In the hours before

Special Weather Statement
National Weather Service Morristown TN
646 PM EDT SAT MAR 17 2018

TNZ036-067>069-071-172330-
Anderson TN-Roane TN-Loudon TN-Knox TN-NW Blount TN-
646 PM EDT SAT MAR 17 2018

...SIGNIFICANT WEATHER ADVISORY FOR NORTHEASTERN LOUDON...SOUTH
CENTRAL ANDERSON...SOUTHWESTERN KNOX...NORTHWESTERN BLOUNT AND ROANE
COUNTIES UNTIL 730 PM EDT...

At 646 PM EDT, Doppler radar was tracking a strong thunderstorm near
Rockwood, moving east at 55 mph.

Half inch hail and winds in excess of 40 mph will be possible with
this storm.

Locations impacted include...
Knoxville, Oak Ridge, Lenoir City, Alcoa, Kingston, Rockwood, Loudon,
Farragut, Fairview, Louisville, Rockford, Eagleton Village, Midtown,
Harriman, Friendsville, Bradbury, Eagle Furnace, Karns, Wildwood and
Lake Forest.

PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...

This storm may intensify, so be certain to monitor local radio
stations and available television stations for additional information
and possible warnings from the National Weather Service.

&&

A severe thunderstorm watch remains in effect until midnight EDT for
east Tennessee.

LAT...LON 3574 8470 3576 8476 3579 8474 3582 8479
      3586 8473 3590 8471 3594 8462 3605 8388
      3579 8384 3573 8470
TIME...MOT...LOC 2246Z 262DEG 48KT 3584 8470

DH

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 Knoxville radar (KMRX), 126 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 23:48 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 2018 tornado in TennesseeEvery tornado in Tennessee since 1950Warnings in force in Tennessee nowThe forecast where you are

4 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.