EF1 tornado, Hensleys Chapel to De Rossett, Tennessee, February 5, 2020

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

February 5, 2020

Touchdown

7:55 PM CST (01:55 UTC)

Lifted

7:59 PM CST (01:59 UTC)

On the ground

4 minutes

Path length

3.9 miles (6.2 km)

Path width

200 yards (183 m)

Deaths

0

Injuries

0

Property damage

$25,000

County

White County

Touchdown point

35.901, -85.541

Lift-off point

35.900, -85.474

Record number

2002051955-01

37 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 105 mph.

• Numerous trees down/uprooted
• At least a dozen large pine trees snapped midway up at the National Guard Armory
• Several trees uprooted and snapped
• Minor house exterior damage and tree snapped

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

After an unusually wet January, another strong storm system brought more heavy rainfall, flooding, and severe storms to parts of Middle Tennessee on February 5th. A line of strong to severe thunderstorms known as a QLCS (Quasi-linear Convective System) developed in northern Mississippi and moved across southern and eastern Middle Tennessee during the afternoon and evening hours. These storms spawned 6 weak tornadoes and widespread straight-line wind damage. In addition, heavy rainfall affected much of Middle Tennessee throughout the day, causing significant flooding in many areas.

This EF-1 tornado touched down on Gum Spring Mountain where a house completely lost its roof along with dozens of trees getting uprooted and snapped. An outbuilding and barn were also damaged. The tornado continued east bringing down trees and power lines before finally hitting the National Guard Armory on McMinnville Highway where numerous large pine trees were snapped. The tornado lifted just before reaching Highway 111.

This EF-1 tornado touched down just west of Blue Springs Road and snapped several trees along with destroying a barn. A covered porch was also destroyed at this location as well as the roof of a single story home. The tornado continued eastward across a holler/valley before causing extensive tree damage on James Lambert Road. Several outbuildings and barns were completely destroyed as well as extensive damage to a mobile home. The tornado went up a mountain and back down and then hit a barn/outbuilding on Cross Street. The tornado finally lifted near Viola Drive where further minor tree damage was observed.

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

No tornado warning for this county appears in the archive as in force at the moment the tornado touched down.

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, with a 0.02 chance of a tornado within 25 miles. The outlook in force was issued at 00:48 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.

Sparta (SRB), 17 km from the path, in the two hours either side.

From the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of airport observations.

The Nashville radar (KOHX), 102 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 01:53 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 2020 tornado in TennesseeEvery tornado in Tennessee since 1950Warnings in force in Tennessee nowThe forecast where you are

15 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.