• Welcome to TalkWeather!
    We see you lurking around TalkWeather! Take the extra step and join us today to view attachments, see less ads and maybe even join the discussion.
    CLICK TO JOIN TALKWEATHER

Severe WX March 3-4, 2020 Severe Weather (Central Tennessee)

GA Stormchaser said:
Don't think this has been posted. A really good write up on the setup early this morning from Jon Davies.

davieswx.blogspot.com

March 3, 2020: Double-digit death toll from nighttime tornadoes in Tennessee

The first truly major tornado episode of 2020 took place last night in Tennessee where at least 24 people were killed by a tornadic su...
davieswx.blogspot.com davieswx.blogspot.com
Click to expand...
Great article. Based on pictures out of Cookeville unfortunately I’m not sure if this tornado hitting at 2:30am or 2:30 pm would have made a difference. Complete destruction like this leads me to think the only safe place would have been either underground or somewhere else.
 
I debated putting this here or the political forum... since it deals with a question of meteorological fact, I'll leave it here... for now. Trying to leave politics out of the equation but this deserves a fact check.

 
Considering surveys aren’t complete, that’s a bold claim. But I think he’s wrong either way. We very well could have had a violent tornado go through Cookeville. While those are rare, I don’t see anything that would indicate unprecedented.
 
Some of the damage definitely looks like low-end to mid-range EF4 and is probably comparable to or a bit more intense than the Dayton, OH tornado on May 27. I don't know if he meant record-breaking for Tennessee, nation-wide, worldwide, or what, but in any case I agree that's probably not true.

There were definitely a couple of intense tornadoes in there, but nothing that I would call record-breaking. Even at the state level in recent years I would say the damage from the 4/27/11 Pikeville tornado was visibly more intense.
 
Whether OHX rates Cookeville violent or not is hard to say but it's absolutely one of the best candidates in recent years. Tree damage alone is right up there with some of the recent higher end tornadoes and if any home here was well attached (unlikely) dare I say high end EF4 isn't out of the question

IMG_20200304_094843.jpg
IMG_20200304_095759.jpg
 
Let’s turn the attention to OHX being slow to warn this going into Putnam County after it dropping a major tornado through a metro area and holding a debris signature over tens of miles.

5 minute lead time for a tornado at 2am? Who can jump up in time from a deep sleep and gather their family and get them to the shelter with a 5 minute lead time? In this case, it appears the case of “little warning” is actually the case. And the death toll of this is a case of a failure by the system that is supposed to prevent this.
 
SilentShadow87 said:
Some of the damage definitely looks like low-end to mid-range EF4 and is probably comparable to or a bit more intense than the Dayton, OH tornado on May 27. I don't know if he meant record-breaking for Tennessee, nation-wide, worldwide, or what, but in any case I agree that's probably not true.

There were definitely a couple of intense tornadoes in there, but nothing that I would call record-breaking. Even at the state level in recent years I would say the damage from the 4/27/11 Pikeville tornado was visibly more intense.
Click to expand...
SilentShadow87 said:
Some of the damage definitely looks like low-end to mid-range EF4 and is probably comparable to or a bit more intense than the Dayton, OH tornado on May 27. I don't know if he meant record-breaking for Tennessee, nation-wide, worldwide, or what, but in any case I agree that's probably not true.

There were definitely a couple of intense tornadoes in there, but nothing that I would call record-breaking. Even at the state level in recent years I would say the damage from the 4/27/11 Pikeville tornado was visibly more intense.
Click to expand...
bad as those tornados were here in Tennessee . There not record breaking tornados for our state
 
Two fatalities here, apparently a slabbed house that may have been bolted (check the sill plate near the garage) aaand car tossed around. Tragic violent hallmarks

 
I still never got to see photos of structural damage at Dayton higher than about EF2-3, though am told there was extreme tree damage along the river. The fatality ratio is on up there with Beauregard, Vilonia, etc. Beauregard I dont think had any clean slabs, just well anchored homes with only part of a wall standing, but vegetation and contextual damage looked a bit worse than Cookeville, so all in all I'd say it's definitely on par with those 170 EF4s
 
Dayton local here. The EF4 rating was very liberal for that tornado. I surveyed the EF4 path segment on my own time. There were no totally collapsed structures in typical EF4 fashion. The rating was mostly based on a massive swath of extreme debarking along the Stillwater River. Based on that, I’d say winds were over 170, but I still feel a little odd about the rating with the lack of real EF4 structural damage.

Cookeville on the other hand is looking like textbook EF4.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top