Tornadoes · United States · Tennessee · 2019
EF0 tornado, Tuckers Xrds, Tennessee, February 6, 2019
This EF0 tornado ran 1.0 miles across Wilson County on February 6, 2019, touching down at 9:49 PM CST and reaching 50 yards wide. It killed nobody, and did $10,000 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 mphthis tornado
Light damage. Surface peeled off some roofs, gutters and siding damaged, branches broken, shallow-rooted trees pushed over.
EF186 to 110 mph
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
- EF0
- Date
- February 6, 2019
- Touchdown
- 9:49 PM CST (03:49 UTC)
- Lifted
- 9:51 PM CST (03:51 UTC)
- On the ground
- 2 minutes
- Path length
- 1.0 miles (1.6 km)
- Path width
- 50 yards (46 m)
- Deaths
- 0
- Injuries
- 0
- Property damage
- $10,000
- County
- Wilson County
- Touchdown point
- 36.199, -86.187
- Lift-off point
- 36.208, -86.175
- Record number
- 1902062149-01
The damage survey
8 damage points were recorded along this path by NWS OHX, in the Damage Assessment Toolkit the survey teams carry. The strongest indicator was rated EF0. The highest wind the damage implies is 81 mph.
- Shutter blown off home and light fixtures knocked over
- Fence blown down, debris pierced into ground
- Debris from barn blown 1/4-1/2 mile away across these fields
- Debris from destroyed barn
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
Heavy rain and thunderstorms produced 2 tornadoes and widespread flash flooding across Middle Tennessee from the afternoon of February 6 through the early morning hours on February 7. A warm front that had moved northward into Kentucky early in the day on February 6 sank back southward to near the Interstate 40 corridor by the afternoon, sparking numerous showers and thunderstorms along and just north of the front. As the front effectively stalled in a west-to-east line along the Interstate 40 corridor, showers and storms continued to redevelop and move across the same areas. With rainfall rates approaching 1-2 per hour at times, this led to widespread flash flooding across Humphreys, Dickson, Cheatham, Davidson, Wilson, Smith, Jackson, Putnam, and Overton Counties. This flooding resulted in numerous closed roadways, dozens of water rescues, flooded homes and businesses, significant rises on area creeks and rivers, and unfortunately one fatality in Cheatham County. Total rainfall amounts ranged from 3 inches to nearly 7 inches across these counties. In addition to the flooding, thunderstorms produced two EF-0 tornadoes in Rutherford and Wilson Counties. Lightning also struck homes in Overton and Jackson counties, causing significant fire damage.
A small, weak tornado touched down along Trousdale Ferry Pike just west of Tuckers Crossroads and curved northeast before lifting near Big Springs Road. One barn at the beginning of the path was destroyed with debris blown up to one half mile away. One home and some trees across the street received minor damage. A few more trees were blown down in fields west of Big Springs Road before the tornado lifted.
From NOAA NCEI's Storm Events Database, the narrative the local forecast office wrote for Storm Data.
The warnings
No tornado warning for this county appears in the archive as in force at the moment the tornado touched down. One was issued for the county at another hour that day.
| Issued (UTC) | Expired | Product | Office |
|---|---|---|---|
| 20:38 UTC | 20:50 UTC | Tornado Warning | OHX |
| 21:37 UTC | 01:30 UTC | Flood Advisory | OHX |
| 21:45 UTC | 01:45 UTC | Flood Advisory | OHX |
| 23:41 UTC | 03:45 UTC | Flood Advisory | OHX |
| 00:14 UTC | 02:15 UTC | Flash Flood Warning | OHX |
| 00:37 UTC | 02:30 UTC | Flash Flood Warning | OHX |
| 02:04 UTC | 05:30 UTC | Flash Flood Warning | OHX |
| 03:31 UTC | 15:30 UTC | Flood Advisory | OHX |
| 03:52 UTC | 15:12 UTC | Flood Advisory | OHX |
| 04:55 UTC | 07:30 UTC | Flash Flood Warning | OHX |
| 05:27 UTC | 14:30 UTC | Flash Flood Warning | OHX |
| 16:00 UTC | 01:00 UTC | Wind Advisory | OHX |
| 21:00 UTC | 02:49 UTC | Flash Flood Watch | OHX |
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 Marginal Risk. The outlook in force was issued at 00:58 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
3.8 hours before the tornado, 38 km from the path. February 7, 2019.
- Mixed-layer CAPE
- 16 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -193 J/kg
- Surface CAPE
- 0 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 563 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 49 kt
- 0-1 km bulk shear
- 24 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 105 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 244 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 0.3
- 0-3 km lapse rate
- 3.7 K/km
Nashville Metro, TN (KBNA), 12:00Z
8.2 hours after it, 38 km from the path. February 7, 2019.
- Mixed-layer CAPE
- 206 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -62 J/kg
- Surface CAPE
- 213 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 689 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 67 kt
- 0-1 km bulk shear
- 34 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 352 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 351 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.4
- Supercell composite
- 3.6
- 0-3 km lapse rate
- 4.5 K/km
The radar
The Nashville radar (KOHX), 35 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 03:47 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 00:55 UTC | FLASH FLOOD | Mount Juliet | Wilson, TN | 7294 HICKORY RIDGE ROAD CLOSED DUE TO FLASH FLOODING. |
| 00:58 UTC | FLASH FLOOD | Mount Juliet | Wilson, TN | 2253 BECKWITH ROAD, 4-5 FEET OF WATER RUNNING OVER THE ROAD. ROAD CLOSED DUE TO FLASH FLOODING. |
| 01:02 UTC | FLASH FLOOD | Lebanon | Wilson, TN | PARK AVENUE AND HARDING DRIVE CLOSED DUE TO FLASH FLOODING. |
| 01:11 UTC | FLASH FLOOD | Lebanon | Wilson, TN | 3187 CEDAR GROVE ROAD CLOSED DUE TO FLASH FLOODING. |
| 01:18 UTC | FLASH FLOOD | Lebanon | Wilson, TN | 3945 OLD ROME PK VEHICLE STALLED DUE TO FLASH FLOODING. |
| 01:35 UTC | FLASH FLOOD | Lebanon | Wilson, TN | MARTHA LEEVILLE ROAD AND EASTGATE BLVD VEHICLE STUCK DUE TO FLASH FLOODING. |
| 01:52 UTC | LIGHTNING | 9 W Gainesboro | Jackson, TN | REPORT FROM 911 CENTER AND FACEBOOK OF LIGHTNING STRIKING A HOUSE AND STARTING A FIRE IN THE GLADDICE COMMUNITY...GLADDICE HWY AND SMITHS BEND RD. |
| 01:52 UTC | LIGHTNING | 9 W Gainesboro | Jackson, TN | REPORT OF LIGHTNING STRIKING A HOUSE IN THE GLADDICE COMMUNITY. |
| 02:08 UTC | FLASH FLOOD | Lebanon | Wilson, TN | 2100 BLOCK FO BEASLEY BEND ROAD CLOSED DUE TO FLASH FLOODING. |
| 02:17 UTC | FLASH FLOOD | Lebanon | Wilson, TN | 4200 BLOCK OF LEBANON ROAD, WATER IS APPRAOCHING A HOME. |
| 02:45 UTC | FLASH FLOOD | Cookeville | Putnam, TN | PUTNAM COUNTY EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT REPORTED NUMEROUS STREETS FLOODED ACROSS COOKEVILLE WITH SEVERAL VEHICLES STRANDED AND WATER RESCUES CONDUCTED. ROADS THAT WERE FLOODED INCLUDED SOUTH WALNUT ST BETWEEN BORDEN ST AND JA |
| 02:49 UTC | FLASH FLOOD | Woodbine | Davidson, TN | WESTBOUND I-440 BEFORE NOLENSVILLE PIKE EXIT, RIGHT TWO LANES FLOODED. |
| 03:06 UTC | FLASH FLOOD | Lebanon | Wilson, TN | JOHNSON ROAD HARTSVILLE PK RAOD CLOSED DUE TO FLASH FLOODING. |
| 03:49 UTC | TORNADO | 1 W Tuckers Crossroads | Wilson, TN | A BRIEF, WEAK EF-0 TORNADO TOUCHED DOWN ALONG TROUSDALE FERRY PIKE JUST WEST OF TUCKERS CROSSROADS AND CURVED NORTHEAST BEFORE LIFTING NEAR BIG SPRINGS ROAD. ONE BARN AT THE BEGINNING OF THE PATH WAS DESTROYED WITH DEBRI |
| 04:00 UTC | FLASH FLOOD | 2 Nne Green Hills | Davidson, TN | ST. BERNARD ACADEMY FLOODED WITH FOUR INCHES OF WATER. SEVERAL STREETS AROUND HILLSBORO VILLAGE AND NEAR THE VANDERBILT CAMPUS FLOODED. |
| 04:30 UTC | HEAVY RAIN 5.75 | Inglewood | Davidson, TN | NWS EMPLOYEE REPORTS HEAVY RAIN STILL FALLING. |
| 04:31 UTC | HEAVY RAIN 5.94 | West Nashville | Davidson, TN | AS OF 10:30 PM. STILL RAINING. |
| 05:00 UTC | FLASH FLOOD | 9 Ssw Red Boiling Sprin | Smith, TN | TSPOTTER REPORT OF HIGHWAY 70 BETWEEN HIWASSEE ROAD AND THE DOLLAR GENERAL IN THE ROME COMMUNITY BEING FLOODED. ANOTHER REPORT OF FLOODING COVERING PLEASANT SHADE HIGHWAY JUST SOUTH OF THE MACON COUNTY LINE. |
| 05:00 UTC | FLASH FLOOD | Gainesboro | Jackson, TN | FACEBOOK VIDEO SHOWED FLOODING IN AND AROUND GAINESBORO ELEMENTARY SCHOOL |
| 05:11 UTC | FLASH FLOOD | 1 Nne Berry Hill | Davidson, TN | EM REPORTS MULTIPLE WATER RESCUES ONGOING NEAR BROWNS CREEK. |
| 05:11 UTC | FLASH FLOOD | 1 Nne Berry Hill | Davidson, TN | NASHVILLE OEM AND LOCAL MEDIA REPORTED MAJOR FLASH FLOODING AROUND THE FAIRGROUNDS IN SOUTH NASHVILLE NEAR BROWNS CREEK. SEVERAL VEHICLES WERE STRANDED AT NOLENSVILLE ROAD AND WALSH ROAD WITH WATER RESCUES ONGOING. BUSIN |
| 05:22 UTC | FLASH FLOOD | 2 Ese Inglewood | Davidson, TN | VIDEO OF FLOOD WATER COMING UP INTO HOUSE THROUGH BATHROOM PLUMBING FIXTURE. |
| 05:25 UTC | FLASH FLOOD | 1 Ne Belle Meade | Davidson, TN | 4 TO 5 INCHES ON ROAD AT DARTMOUTH AND WOODMONT LN IN GREEN HILLS. |
| 05:48 UTC | FLASH FLOOD | 1 Wsw Inglewood | Davidson, TN | EAST NASHVILLE NEAR TRINITY LN AND ELLINGTON PKWY. PHOTOS OF BASEMENT PORTION OF HOME FLOODED. |
| 06:09 UTC | FLASH FLOOD | Mount Juliet | Wilson, TN | A LIST OF ROADS CLOSED DUE TO FLASH FLOODING. WOODRIDGE PLACE NEAR GOLDEN BEAR GATEWAY. W. DIVISION STREET NEAR MT. JULIET ELEMENTARY. OLD LEBANON DIRT ROAD NEAR PAGE DRIVE. CEDAR DRIVE BEHIND VALLEY CENTER. YOR ROAD NEA |
From the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service local storm reports.
This ground now
The live radar over the trackEvery 2019 tornado in TennesseeEvery tornado in Tennessee since 1950Warnings in force in Tennessee nowThe forecast where you are
The other tornadoes of February 6, 2019
2 more were confirmed in the United States that day.
| Date | Time | Rating | Where | Path (mi) | Width (yd) | Deaths | Injuries | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| February 6 | 2:35 PM CST | EF0 | Rutherford, TN | 1.2 | 75 | $25,000 | ||
| February 6 | 8:02 PM CST | EF0 | Dickson, TN | 1.4 | 50 | $20,000 |
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.