NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN) – On the night of March 2 and 3, 2020, one supercell thunderstorm produced ten tornadoes across Tennessee, seven of which occurred in Middle Tennessee. A total of 25 people were killed by this storm. One in Benton County, two in Davidson County, three in Wilson County and nineteen in Putnam County.
See a radar animation here.
The two strongest and most damaging tornadoes were an EF-3 that tracked over 60 miles across the Nashville Metro Area and Wilson County eastward to Smith County, as well as an even stronger EF-4 that caused severe damage in central Putnam County between Baxter and Cookeville.
Krissy Hurley, the National Weather Service’s Meteorologist in Charge explained how complex the situation was.
“This event was one of those low probability type of happenings, but if it did materialize it was going to be high impact. And that’s exactly what we saw,” Hurley said.
Hurley said they realized the gravity of the situation as the storm approached Nashville.
“This is going into the Metro area, very heavily populated,” Hurley said. “It was of those events where your heart kind of sinks because you have a significant large tornado in the middle of the night striking where people are sleeping.”
And as the storms moved into Putnam County, things only got worse.
“It went from EF-0 tornado, about 70 mph to an EF-4, 75 mph in three minutes,” Hurley said. “And when we have tornadoes like this, it is so imperative that you get that warning and you take action. Because these tornadoes can intensify very quickly”.
Hurley pointed out that many people had their phones silenced that night and did not hear the warnings. She says to keep your phones on and have a backup like a NOAA Weather Radio in case cell phone towers are damaged, or the internet fails.
With 25 fatalities, this tornado outbreak was the worst in Middle Tennessee since the February 5, 2008 Super Tuesday outbreak when 22 people died. It reminds us that we have to be prepared and have a plan in place as we head into our spring severe weather season.
