Heavy rain, strong winds and potentially severe weather are sweeping across Tennessee today, and a front coming through just after noon prompted a series of tornado warnings. But there wasn’t immediate confirmation of any tornado touchdowns.
Those warnings included parts of six counties, including much of the western and northern portion of Davidson. The intense weather closed Metro’s COVID-19 testing centers for the day.
Faith Borden, with the National Weather Service, said people should stay “weather aware” while the remnants of Hurricane Laura pass through.
“If you live in a sturdy structure and don’t have to worry about flooding, per se, then it’s always a good idea to not make any unnecessary travel plans or trips right now,” Borden says. “But, obviously, if you live in a not a permanent structure or something that’s not going to withstand the possibility of a brief spin-up or strong winds, now is the time, when there’s a watch, to make your preparations.”
Borden says people with weather radios should also make sure they’re working and have fresh batteries.
NWS also issued a flash flood watch for most of the greater Nashville area through late tonight.
They’ve also issued a pair of tornado watches on Friday, initially for areas west of I-65 through 4 p.m.
A tornado watch has been issued for parts of Alabama, Mississippi and Tennessee until 4 PM CDT pic.twitter.com/y1kQWHR4f9
— NWS Nashville (@NWSNashville) August 28, 2020
The second watch includes much of Middle Tennessee to the east of Nashville — that watch spans from as far south as Shelbyville, as far east as Crossville, and north into Kentucky.
A tornado watch has been issued for parts of Kentucky and Tennessee until 7 PM CDT pic.twitter.com/Ee1jEJU4be
— NWS Nashville (@NWSNashville) August 28, 2020
At least 2 inches of rain is likely for much of the region, though localized pockets could get up to 4 inches. The strongest bands may bring damaging winds with a chance of some brief, spin-up tornadoes.
Warning System Causes Confusion
A tornado warning in Nashville expired shortly after 1 p.m. But, in some areas, sirens continued to sound on and off into the afternoon.
During a livestream around 1:40 p.m., Nashville Severe Weather addressed multiple concerns from residents who said they were still hearing alarms long after the threat had passed. At that point, it was still unclear why the sirens were still ringing.
There is no active Tornado Warning, there hasn't been an active Tornado Warning since 108 PM, it's 142 PM rn, and the sirens are still going off. https://t.co/SfE3ipZEyV pic.twitter.com/iT6L3J3yew
— NashSevereWx (@NashSevereWx) August 28, 2020
The Nashville Office of Emergency Management says the system is supposed to shut off automatically when the area is no longer under a warning. But a review found that the system failed to turn off three or four sirens, which sounded for three minutes, went silent for seven, and then sounded again. Once dispatchers learned of the issue, OEM says, they manually terminated the sirens.
The glitch raises questions about the recently upgraded warning system, which cost about $2.1 million from Metro’s budget. The investment made the siren alerts more targeted. It also expanded coverage to the county’s more rural areas.
OEM says it is working with the weather service and the private contractor that installed the upgrade to prevent a similar malfunction in the future.
This story has been updated at 4:45 p.m. to provide more information about Nashville’s tornado warning system.
On Air - 90.3 WPLN-FM