Tornado Facts
- Warm, rapidly-changing weather patterns in Nashville routinely create conditions that could result in severe and dangerous tornadoes.
- There have been 22 major tornadoes in the Nashville/Davidson County area since 1954; 18 tornadoes since 1974; and 16 tornadoes since 1994 (www.srh.noaa.gov).
- There have been nine (9) fatalities in the area due to tornadoes.
- In 1998, three tornadoes touched down in the Nashville/Davidson County area and caused approximately $100 million in damages, including to more than 300 homes and hundreds of downtown buildings, cars and trees. Thirty-five (35) buildings in the city were left structurally unsound and in need or repair or demolition.
Spring
is peak time for spawning tornadoes, so plan ahead...
During
the spring and summer, Nashville has warm rapidly-changing
weather patterns that routinely create conditions for what
many believe are nature's most violent storms - tornadoes.
A tornado is a violent rotating column of wind that extends
from a thunderstorm to the ground. No state is immune from
tornadoes, but they most frequently occur in a region commonly
called Tornado Alley, the parts of the country that extend
from central Texas to Nebraska and Iowa.
There
have been 16 tornadoes in Nashville since 1994, including three
tornadoes that caused major damage in several parts of the
city in 1998.
March through May is considered tornado season, so take steps now to be prepared, if a tornado strikes. During severe storms, you should recognize the following terms:
A Tornado Watch means conditions are favorable for the development of a tornado. So monitor weather reports and be prepared to move to a place of safety if threatening weather approaches.
A Tornado Warning means a tornado has been indicated by radar or sighted by storm spotters, so people in the affected area should seek shelter immediately. If the thunderstorm which is causing the tornado is also producing torrential rains, this warning may also be combined with a Flash Flood Warning, and that means flash flooding is in progress, imminent or very likely.
NEW Enhanced F Scale for Tornado Damage
An update to the the original F-scale by a team of meteorologists and wind engineers, was implemented in the U.S. on 1 February 2007.| FUJITA SCALE | DERIVED EF SCALE | OPERATIONAL EF SCALE | ||||
| F Number | Fastest 1/4-mile (mph) | 3 Second Gust (mph) | EF Number | 3 Second Gust (mph) | EF Number | 3 Second Gust (mph) |
| 0 | 40-72 | 45-78 | 0 | 65-85 | 0 | 65-85 |
| 1 | 73-112 | 79-117 | 1 | 86-109 | 1 | 86-110 |
| 2 | 113-157 | 118-161 | 2 | 110-137 | 2 | 111-135 |
| 3 | 158-207 | 162-209 | 3 | 138-167 | 3 | 136-165 |
| 4 | 208-260 | 210-261 | 4 | 168-199 | 4 | 166-200 |
| 5 | 261-318 | 262-317 | 5 | 200-234 | 5 | Over 200 |