1998 Nashville tornado outbreak

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1998 Nashville tornado outbreak

Tornado damage to trees near The Hermitage

Date of tornado outbreak:

April 15-16, 1998

Duration¹:

2 days ^[1]^[2]

Maximum rated tornado²:

F5 tornado

Tornadoes caused:

Damages:

>$133 million (1998 USD)^[3]

Fatalities:

12 ^[4]

Areas affected:

Tennessee, Arkansas, Alabama, Illinois, Kentucky

¹Time from first tornado to last tornado
²Most severe tornado damage; see Fujita Scale

The 1998 Nashville tornado outbreak was a two-day tornado outbreak which affected portions of the Midwestern United States, Mississippi and Tennessee Valleys on April 15 and April 16, 1998, with the worst of the outbreak taking place on the second day. On that day, at least ten tornadoes swept through Middle Tennessee—three of them touching down in Nashville, causing significant damage to the downtown and East Nashville areas. Nashville became the first major city in nearly 20 years to have an F2 or larger tornado make a direct hit in the downtown area.^[5]

In addition, the outbreak produced several other destructive tornadoes in Middle Tennessee. One of them, southwest of Nashville, was an F5 tornado—one of only two ever recorded in the state. That tornado remained mainly in rural areas of Wayne and Lawrence counties. Other tornadoes during the 2-day outbreak struck Arkansas, Alabama, Illinois and Kentucky.

12 people were killed by tornadoes during the outbreak including 2 in Arkansas, 3 in Kentucky and 7 in Tennessee including one in Nashville and three by the F5.

This tornado outbreak occurred at the end of the record-setting 1997-1998 El Niño event.

1 Meteorological synopsis
2 Confirmed tornadoes
3 Nashville tornadoes
4 Southwestern Tennessee F5 tornado
5 See also
6 References
7 External links

[edit] Meteorological synopsis

One week after the Birmingham Tornado Outbreak took place across Alabama and Georgia on April 8-9, 1998 and several other states on April 7, a similar pattern developed across the Midwest and southeastern United States starting on April 15, 1998. A very strong low pressure system developed across the central part of North America and was associated with a long cold front. Ahead of the storm, the warm moist air generated from the Gulf of Mexico increased the atmospheric condition riped for a significant weather event. On April 15, activity developed across the Mid-Mississippi Valley and southern Ohio Valley where several tornadoes touched down in Illinois starting in the late afternoon before moving in Arkansas during the overnight hours where the first fatalities were reported.

On April 16, as the main low pressure system was near the Great Lakes and its cold front crossing the Mississippi River, dewpoints reached the mid to upper 60s across the Tennessee Valley while later in the day, CAPE Values reached 1600 J/kg while dry air intrusion was also on the rise increasing the threat of severe weather across the area. As the bulk of the supercells moved out of Arkansas, the tornadic activity was slower during the morning hours before re-intensifying west of Nashville early in the afternoon.^[5] Major tornadoes struck from southern Tennessee to southern Kentucky with additional storms as far north as Michigan and several other storms in Alabama across Walker and Cullman Counties which was slightly north of the areas that were hardest hit by the previous outbreak.

[edit] Confirmed tornadoes

Main article: List of 1998 Nashville tornado outbreak tornadoes

Confirmed Total	Confirmed F0	Confirmed F1	Confirmed F2	Confirmed F3	Confirmed F4	Confirmed F5
61	25	15	12	7	1	1

[edit] Nashville tornadoes

**Outbreak death toll**
State	Total	County	County total
Arkansas	2	Mississippi	2
Kentucky	3	Barren	2
Kentucky	3	Metcalfe	1
Tennessee	7	Bradley	1
		Davidson	1
		Dyer	2
		Wayne	3
Totals	12
All deaths were tornado-related

The storm first crossed into Nashville at around 3:30 p.m. (CDT), moving from west to east across the city. Of the three tornadoes that hit Nashville, one was rated F3 on the Fujita scale, and the other two were rated F2.^[6]

The F3 tornado touched down near the intersection of Charlotte Pike and Forty-sixth Avenue and traveled directly through downtown. After crossing the Cumberland River, it passed through East Nashville, Donelson, and Hermitage before finally lifting near Hartsville in Trousdale County.^[7] At least 100 people were injured by the storm.^[8] Vanderbilt University student Kevin Longinotti was trapped under a fallen tree in Centennial Park and later died from his injuries.^[9] 300 homes were destroyed and 600 businesses were damaged or destroyed.^[10] The Tennessee State Capitol and Union Station were both damaged. More than 6,000 trees were felled by the storm, including nearly 1,200 at The Hermitage, the home of the late President Andrew Jackson.^[10] Several cranes at the construction site of the Tennessee Titans' new stadium (now known as LP Field) were damaged. Total property damage within Nashville was estimated at over $100 million.^[11]

The second tornado touched down less then an hour later between downtown Nashville and the Nashville International Airport. It damaged several homes and toppled numerous trees in both Davidson and Wilson Counties. Outbuildings and cars were also damaged or destroyed and 20 hogs were killed in the storm. There were no human casualties and damage was estimated at $3 million in Wilson County alone. The tornado was rated an F2.^[12]^[13] The third Nashville tornado struck 45 minutes after the second tornado and caused damage mainly to windows, trees, and power lines over a short path.^[14]

[edit] Southwestern Tennessee F5 tornado

At the same time the tornadic storms developed and moved across the Nashville area, severe storms also developed across southwestern Tennessee east of Memphis. One particular supercell quickly intensified due to an outflow boundary left by earlier storms and there were also significant pressure drops across the same area. It begin producing severe hail near Lawrence County before a tornado touched down in Wayne County near Clifton at around 3:50 PM CST. In that county, 3 people were killed by the tornado including those inside a modular home and another inside a wooden frame home.

Radar image of the Nashville and southwestern Tennessee supercells (Courtesy of NOAA)

No other fatalities were reported as it traveled through sparsely-populated areas and did not significantly affect any towns. However, many homes were completely leveled with some swept clean from their foundations. In Wayne County, 34 homes were destroyed and 36 others suffered minor to major damage while other structures were completely demolished including mobile homes.^[15] An undetermined number of structures including brick homes were demolished in neighboring Lawrence County and livestock were killed.^[16] In Giles County 5 homes and 8 mobile homes were destroyed while a gas tank ruptured.^[17] In Maury County, no homes were demolished as it weakened to an F3 but several structures, including homes and businesses, sustained significant damage in the Culleoka area.^[18] On many occasions, the tornado was at least one mile wide across Wayne and Lawrence Counties. A total of 36 people were injured along the 70-mile long path of the tornado which lifted northeast of Culleoka at around 5:30 PM CST.^[5]

It is the most recent Tennessee F5 and only official one as the March 11, 1923 Pinson tornado took place before the introduction of the old Fujita scale and before records were officially kept. The next and last F5 tornado before the switch to the Enhanced Fujita Scale in 2007 was the Moore, Oklahoma tornado on May 3, 1999.