EF3 Dresden–Pembroke tornado, Tennessee and Kentucky, December 10, 2021

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 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 mphthis tornado

   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

EF3

Date

December 10, 2021

Touchdown

10:32 PM CST (04:32 UTC)

Lifted

12:36 AM CST (06:36 UTC)

On the ground

124 minutes

Path length

122.6 miles (197.3 km)

Path width

2,000 yards (1829 m)

Deaths

0

Injuries

38

Property damage

$17 million

Counties

Dyer, Obion, Gibson, Calloway, Christian and Todd counties

Touchdown point

36.120, -89.260

Lift-off point

36.814, -87.233

Record number

2112102232-01

232 damage points were recorded along this path by NWS LMK and NWS MEG and NWS OHX and NWS PAH, in the Damage Assessment Toolkit the survey teams carry. The strongest indicator was rated EF3. The highest wind the damage implies is 160 mph.

• Several trees down and homes with roof damaged.
• Third story of home gone. Roof damage and trees snapped uprooted nearby
• Carport across the street from gas station
• Powerlines and trees snapped/uprooted in addition to roof damage

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

December 10, 2021, was unseasonably warm over the region. Temperatures broke several long-standing records. Memphis hit 80��F which broke a 103-year-old high-temperature record. ||A strong upper-level trough was approaching from the west, providing strong lift within the unseasonably warm and unstable air mass. MLCAPE reached the 1500-2000 J/kg range by 6 PM. The wind field was impressive with plenty of vertical wind shear needed for organized thunderstorms. Effective 0-1 km storm-relative helicity values ranged from 300-400 m2/s2 with effective bulk shear values of 70 knots - more than sufficient to support discrete supercells in the warm sector ahead of the cold front.||The first supercell developed in central Arkansas and tracked into northeast Arkansas producing a few weak tornadoes initially before intensifying across eastern Craighead and Mississippi Counties and killing two people. The tornado eventually strengthened into an EF-4 while moving through the Missouri Bootheel, resulting in 2 direct and one indirect fatality in Pemiscot County. The tornado then tracked across the Mississippi River into northwest Tennessee, producing an additional 4 fatalities near Reelfoot Lake. This tornado lifted for a brief time in Obion County, reorganized, and then moved into Kentucky. All told, the mesocyclone tracked for over 300 miles and was producing tornadoes for over 250 miles. This storm was responsible for at least 9 fatalities and many injuries in the NWS Memphis CWA along with millions of dollars of damage. ||As the initial supercell was crossing the state line into Kentucky, a string of supercells was moving into eastern Arkansas. A few brief tornadoes produced minor damage near Cash in western Craighead County and in the Fisher area of western Poinsett County. As the dominant supercell moved into eastern Poinsett County, the mesocyclone quickly intensified and the storm produced an EF-2 tornado in Trumann with several injuries and widespread damage. ||A new supercell developed in Mississippi County causing straight-line wind damage initially. This supercell intensified as it crossed the Mississippi River and produced another long-track tornado starting in Dyer County, Tennessee. This tornado tracked east-northeast across northwest Tennessee into Henry County, and eventually into Kentucky. This tornado was rated EF-3 and resulted in several injuries with Kenton and Dresden, Tennessee being the hardest hit. ||The convection eventually evolved into a QLCS as it moved east. A mesovortex developed south of I-40 near Jackson that resulted in 3 tornadoes across eastern Madison, Henderson, and Decatur Counties including an EF-2. Non-tornadic storms moved across the Memphis metropolitan area, producing straight-line wind damage as a mesovortex moved through the city. A fatality was reported in Shelby County after a large tree fell on a home in South Memphis. Later that night, an EF-1 tornado occurred in Prentiss County before the severe weather threat began to wind down around 6 AM on December 11, 2021. ||In total, there were 18 tornadoes across the NWS Memphis CWA. Along with tornadoes, several incidents of wind damage and minor flash flooding also occurred.

On the evening of Friday, December 10, 2021, a potent storm system moving across the central United States resulted in significant long-track tornadoes. A violent EF-4 tornado began in far northwest Tennessee, and moved across western Kentucky, resulting in dozens of lost lives and a swath of destruction. The tornado was on the ground for 128 miles within the NWS Paducah forecast area, and the total path length was about 165 miles from Obion County, TN to Breckinridge County, KY. Another long-track EF-3 tornado started in Dyer County, TN, and traveled about 125 miles through northwest Tennessee and into Christian and Todd Counties in western Kentucky. A strong upper-level trough over the western Plains induced a deepening surface low that tracked northeast across the Iowa/Illinois border. A very strong and deep southwest wind flow brought moist and unstable air into the Tennessee and lower Ohio Valleys. Record high temperatures were recorded, including a high of 73 at Paducah. The combination of very strong winds aloft, unseasonably warm conditions, and a strong low pressure system were ideal for this tornado outbreak.

The first observed damage was in Newbern, Tennesee near Washington Street. A convenience store was heavily damaged. Several outbuildings were damaged in Newbern. The elementary school and an auto shop suffered roof damage. The tornado moved northeast, uprooting and snapping numerous trees along its path, and then moved into Gibson County. Peak winds were estimated at 135 mph in Dyer County.

The tornado crossed from Dyer County into Gibson County and continued northeast, uprooting and snapping trees. Several homes had significant roof damage as the tornado moved across rural parts of the county. The tornado strengthened as it approached the city of Kenton causing significant damage to numerous homes. The tornado then crossed into Obion County. Peak winds were estimated at 140 mph in Gibson County.

The tornado moved from Gibson County into the southeast corner of Obion County. The tornado uprooted and snapped trees along its path and heavily damaged a couple of homes on Sidonia Kenton Road. The tornado then crossed back into Gibson County. Peak winds were estimated at 125 mph in Obion County.

This long-track EF-3 tornado began in western Tennessee near Dyersburg (see Storm Data, Tennessee, Western). It crossed from Stewart County, Tennessee into Christian County in the secured area of the Fort Campbell military reservation (see Storm Data, Tennessee, Central for the Stewart County portion of the track). The tornado passed only about half a mile southeast of the community of La Fayette on its way northeast across Interstate 24 and Fort Campbell Boulevard (U.S. Highway 41). Between La Fayette and I-24, several homes were destroyed (DI 2, DOD 6). The homes suffered complete destruction of the roof and/or attic. The walls were often damaged but remained standing. One house was moved from its foundation (DI 2, DOD 5). The occupants of the houses took shelter and generally escaped serious injury. A mobile home was destroyed (DI 3, DOD 9). A church sustained steeple damage. Significant damage occurred to the silos and irrigation system of a farm, where damage was estimated near 1 million dollars. A mile's worth of power poles were snapped on Fort Campbell Boulevard (U.S. 41) just one to two miles north of the I-24 interchange (DI 24, DOD 4). After crossing U.S. 41, the tornado struck Pembroke, where more significant structural damage occurred. A single-wide mobile home was destroyed (DI 3, DOD 9). The mobile home was not tied down. One person was injured at this site. At least one other mobile home was destroyed. Two barns were destroyed (DI 1, DOD 8). Roofs were completely removed from two houses. Elsewhere along the path east of Fort Campbell Boulevard, farm outbuildings and farm equipment were damaged or destroyed. The tornado was rated EF-2 in Christian County. Several damage sites were assigned a wind speed estimate of 125 mph, the highest in the county. The average path width in Christian County was about a mile, though it narrowed to about three-quarters of a mile toward the end of its life after crossing Highway 41. The tornado continued northeast of Pembroke before entering Todd County.

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

31 minutes of warning. NWS MEG issued a tornado warning for this county at 04:01 UTC, 31 minutes before the tornado touched down, in force until 04:45 UTC.

The county was under a tornado watch, issued at 21:08 UTC and running to 04:50 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 0.15 chance of a tornado within 25 miles, in the hatched area where significant tornadoes were expected. The outlook in force was issued at 00:47 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.

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 2021 tornado in TennesseeEvery tornado in Tennessee since 1950Warnings in force in Tennessee nowThe forecast where you are

32 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.