As we make our way through severe weather awareness week this week in Tennessee, I thought today’s anniversary of a February tornado could be a reminder that severe weather can occur in any month of the year. In fact, Feburary is no stranger to tornadoes, with 80 tornadoes being documented in Middle TN in this month since records began.
On this day in 1956, severe storms impacted the plateau with a tornado that carved a seven-mile path across Fentress County from Jamestown to Allardt along Highway 52. Two people were injured. The storm report was quite extensive and I’ll include it at the bottom of this write-up.
Interestingly, Fentress County was hit again just a week later by another tornado along Highway 127 in the Roanoke Community. Damage was confined to roofs with no injuries reported.
Even more interesting to me is that the February 17, 1956, tornado path would be very similar to the path the long-track F-4 tornado of April 3, 1974. It’s always intriguing when tornadoes tend to follow similar paths. There is no explanation for that with our current knowledge of tornadoes.
Fentress County was hit again just last year on February 6th as a tornado crossed the southern portions of the county. That EF-2 cut an eight mile long path and damaged several homes. One home belonged to a friend of mine, who just recently moved back into it after it was so heavily damaged by the storm. That same storm went into Morgan County and claimed two lives.
You may notice on the map below another short path for a tornado in Crossville. That was perhaps the earliest known tornado to hit Cumberland County, hitting on February 4, 1899. The path would have gone just south of Chuckles and Walmart today. The storm report said numerous trees were damaged or destroyed and that “Munroe Hyder’s barn had the roof blown off, but the stock in the barn was not injured.”
Some of you may recall that I experienced my first tornado on February 5, 2008, in West TN while storm chasing. That was an EF-4. That outbreak also produced Middle Tennessee’s only February EF-4 across several counties in southern Middle TN. (side note: I was just down the road from the EF-5 that hit Moore, Oklahoma, in 2013 while chasing with other meteorologist colleagues of mine from Mississippi State. That was the last documented EF-5 before last year’s EF-5 in North Dakota).
It was Leap Day (Feb 29) of 2012 that Cumberland County was struck by an EF-2. That twister actually hit less than a couple of miles from where I sit tonight typing this in Rinnie. That tornado claimed two lives in Rinnie where it crossed Highway 127.
Yet another tornado struck Cumberland County on February 21, 1993, along I-40 in the Crab Orchard Community. That tornado was part of a larger outbreak that hit East TN really hard, with devastating F-3 tornadoes hitting the Oak Ridge area, Lenoir City, and Tellico Plains. Earlier in the evening, that outbreak produced an F-3 in Putnam County that tracked for 11 miles and injured nine people as eight homes were destroyed. That winter was a mild one for the plateau, with our first snow of the season coming after this tornado outbreak! Then, in March of that year we had the Blizzard of ’93, with one to two feet of snow falling on the plateau. Roofs with blue tarps on them in East TN caved in with the snow, creating a second disaster after the tornado damage.
I’ve included a map below showing all the documented February tornadoes in Middle TN. As you can see, February can be quite the active month!
As part of severe weather awareness week, a different topic is addressed each day. Tomorrow the topic is tornadoes, which is perhaps the most feared of all the severe weather possibilities on the plateau. Remember, being prepared is key to staying safe. Know where you’ll go before the storm hits and have a plan for if one hits in the middle of the night. Practice your plan in the dark with the family and make sure you all know where to go. Make sure flashlights are near the bed and make sure your shoes are nearby. You want to have your shoes on just in case there’s broken glass. Remember to get in the lowest level of the home and as close to the middle as you can. If the bathroom is not in the middle of the home, then that’s not where you need to be. Your goal is to put walls between you and the storm. Put cats in crates (they tend to run off more often than dogs in storms) and make sure you remember to bring the dog with you to your safe place. They provide comfort and you can keep them safe. I have other tips at https://meteorologistmark.com/severe-weather-safety/
This year’s severe weather season is looking active. However, it is neither an El Nino or La Nina spring. That means it’s simply a “neutral” season. La Nina springs tend to bring us a bit higher risk for tornadoes, while neutral springs tend to focus more on the southern plains. More often than not, tornadoes tend to be more numerous either in the southern plains or the South in any given spring but rarely in both in the same season (kinda like hurricanes picking either the East Coast or the Gulf each year but rarely both). We know severe weather threats will come, no matter how active or inactive a spring severe weather season is.
Today’s topic in severe weather was flooding. Since my Masters Thesis in grad school was on flooding, I feel the need to remind you that water is never to be underestimated. Never drive across flooded roads and always take flash flood warnings seriously, even here on the plateau. More people die in flooding each year than from any other form of severe weather.
In any severe weather season, we need to be ready, just in case. I will, of course, be watching everything very closely and will let you know if there’s anything you need to know about. Surely the past eight years has taught you that’s true. 🙂
You all take care and thank you for trusting me with your weather, both on the sunny days and the stormy.
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As promised, here is that full storm report from the February 17, 1956, tornado in Fentress County. It’s quite the report!
FROM THE UPPER CUMBERLAND TIMES, FEBRUARY 23, 1956, PAGE 1, “Friday Night Twister Damage Runs Into Thousands – The worst storm in many years in this section struck about 10:00 o’clock last Friday night along Highway 52 between Jamestown and Allardt, and along the Stockton Road between Jamestown and Stockton. Heaviest damage from the twister was done at the farm of Fred Williams on Highway 52. Fred’s barn was almost completely destroyed, all the roofing was blown from the west side of his home and most windows were broken out. he had two or three thousand bales of hay in the barn which was mostly ruined by the torrential rains following. The damage to the Williams place will run into the thousands of dollars. It was partially covered by insurance. Also along Highway 52 the roof of Claude Campbell’s house was partly blown away. His barn was blown off its foundation and his chicken house was blown away. A large picture window in a new home being built by Chick Wright was broken. Down the road a few hundred feet from the Campbell and Wright houses, the carport at the home of Mr. and Mrs. C. V. Davidson was blown away, together with their porch and the porch of Mr. Davidson’s father next door. The Davidson barn was badly damaged. Across the field from the Williams place a new broiler house being built by Elmer Brannon was blown down. The building was nearing completion. Most of the material in it can be salvaged, it is said. Edgar Williams who lives south of the Fred Williams place said his damage would run to two or three hundred dollars. Herlan Hatfield’s garage was blown off its foundation about a quarter mile east of the highway. After passing Highway 52 the storm seemed to have lifted and did not swoop down again until it reached the Stockton Road. Over there the home of Earl Robbins was completely blown away together with all his furniture. The family was at the home of a neighbor. Nobody was hurt. Also on the Stockton Road, serious damage was done at the Granville Price place, the George Patton place and several other homes along the road. A great deal of timber was blown down in that section. Scattered damage was reported off the path of the main storm. A block wall was blown down at the furniture factory at Pine Haven, and damage was reported at the Elzie Wright place east of Pine Haven. Some pines were blown down at York Institute and some damage was done at Jordan Motel south of Jamestown. The Red Cross, the Jaycees, the VFW, and the American Legion are all cooperating in helping the victims of the storm. It is considered almost a miracle that in spite of the extensive damage wrought by the storm no one has been reported hurt.”