EF0 tornado, Dickson, Tennessee, April 5, 2025

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

April 5, 2025

Touchdown

4:15 PM CDT (21:15 UTC)

Lifted

4:16 PM CDT (21:16 UTC)

On the ground

1 minutes

Path length

0.3 miles (0.6 km)

Path width

50 yards (46 m)

Deaths

0

Injuries

0

Property damage

$250,000

County

Dickson County

Touchdown point

36.058, -87.383

Lift-off point

36.060, -87.378

Record number

2504051515-01

63 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 90 mph.

• Additional damage in this area, according to EM
• Pointed nearly due east; fell atop a vehicle
• Pointed nearly due east; large branch fell on house
• Several downed hardwoods pointing NNE

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

A major and historic multi-day severe weather event unfolded across Middle Tennessee during early April 2025. This event began during the afternoon hours of April 2nd and continued through April 6th. These first couple rounds of thunderstorms brought damaging winds and large hail along with a tornado risk. The corridor from southwest Middle Tennessee into the Nashville metro area was hit particularly hard with multiple supercells training for several hours. Large hail was reported, particularly with the early thunderstorms, with hail sizes nearing three inches. A couple of tornadoes were also confirmed with the strongest being an EF-1 tornado in Wilson County. A brief break was received on April 4th, but the event ended with a potent line of thunderstorms sweeping east through the area April 5th and into the early morning hours of April 6th. This final round of thunderstorms brought a wide swath of damaging winds to several Middle Tennessee counties, including Perry, Humphreys, Dickson, Cheatham, Davidson, Sumner, Wilson, Macon, and Trousdale counties. Widespread 60-70 mph winds were common, however, embedded microbursts likely produced winds up to 90 mph in some spots. Before this line exited the area, it was responsible for producing one last EF-1 tornado in Grundy County. ||These multiple rounds of thunderstorms were also responsible for widespread flooding and flash flooding. By the end of this event, highest rainfall totals were received across the northwest corner of Middle Tennessee and into the Nashville metro area where observations and radar estimates showed 6 to 12 inches of rain. Fortunately, the brief break in activity on April 4th likely prevented more significant flooding, but widespread reports of road closures and streams and creeks spilling out of banks were still received. River flooding was also a widespread issue with sixteen river gauges reaching minor flood stage and six river gauges reaching moderate flood stage. ||Fortunately, no reports of injuries or fatalities were received over this prolonged severe weather event.

A brief EF-0 tornado touched down in Dickson. The tornado caused siding and roof damage to several structures on Cowan Road, Remington Drive, and Archway Drive. Damages are a rough estimate.

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

9 minutes of warning. NWS OHX issued a tornado warning for this county at 21:06 UTC, 9 minutes before the tornado touched down, in force until 21:30 UTC.

The county was under a tornado watch, issued at 18:47 UTC and running to 23:27 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 Enhanced Risk, with a 0.05 chance of a tornado within 25 miles. The outlook in force was issued at 19:59 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 Ft Campbell radar (KHPX), 76 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 21:11 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 2025 tornado in TennesseeEvery tornado in Tennessee since 1950Warnings in force in Tennessee nowThe forecast where you are

26 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.