After fanning out across Tennessee to survey damage, officials determined that five tornadoes touched down this week. The most intense was in Polk County — a level EF-3 — and two twisters in Coffee County cut a longer path than meteorologists first thought.
The National Weather Service spent a day chasing down social media accounts and traveling alongside emergency responders in Tullahoma and Manchester.
They determined two EF-1 tornadoes brought down
several hundred trees and even shifted one log cabin on its foundation.
The damage path from each was at least 200 yards wide, said meteorologist Faith Borden. The Tullahoma twister traversed the city from one end to the other.
“Eight miles is a hefty length tornado,” she said. “And then 300 yards wide, is three football fields wide, so that’s a pretty impressive length for an EF-1 tornado, for sure.”
The weather service combines radar data with on-the-ground surveys, and says residents can help after storms by sharing images on social media with location details and the hashtag
#tspotter.
Two EF1 tornadoes occurred November 29. One in Tullahoma and the other in Manchester. Winds w/ both estimated up to 105 mph.
pic.twitter.com/XQNTIEjRcx— NWS Nashville (@NWSNashville)
December 1, 2016
The weather service said the first tornado came down west of Tullahoma and crossed State Route 16 before causing damage in the Lakewood Golf, Country Club and Lake Tullahoma Estates neighborhoods.
In Manchester, a second tornado snapped trees, damaged outbuildings and shifted one log cabin home off of its foundation by about 8 feet. That storm traveled 3.5 miles and was 200 yards wide.
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