Online Encyclopedia
Nashville Tornado of 1998
The Nashville Tornado of 1998 is the tornado event that occurred on April 16, 1998. It is among a slew of rather strong tornadoes that hit large cities at the tail end of the 20th century. Nashville became the first major city (with a population of more than 100,000 people) in 20 years to have a tornado make a direct hit in the downtown area.
This tornado occurred at the end of the record-setting 1997/98 El Niņo event.
The tornado crossed Nashville, Tennessee at around 3:45 P.M. At least 100 people were injured and Vanderbilt University student Kevin Longinotti was trapped under a fallen tree in Centennial Park and later died from his injuries. A church collapsed and the state Capitol plus 300 other buildings around town were damaged. Several cranes at the construction site of the Tennessee Titans' new stadium (The Coliseum) were damaged. The tornado was rated F3 on the Fujita scale.
Twisters had been affecting the state of Tennessee all day. Before the Nashville tornado occurred as many as nine tornadoes hit the state killing five people. Three people died in a tornado that hit in Wayne County, Tennessee in the early evening hours. The cell spawned another tornado that critically injured five people and damaged 50 homes in Culleoka, Tennessee in Maury County.
F5 in Tennessee
A tornado hit in Lawrence County, Tennessee that caused massive damage. This tornado is considered forgotten. According to a report written in April 2000, the tornado is considered the only bona fide F5 to have ever occurred in Tennessee. The Storm Prediction Center have records of three F5's occurring in Tennessee between 1952 and 1974; however, according to the authors of the 2000 report, the three tornadoes rated F5 are considered erroneous and should be downgraded to F4 or lower.
The authors of that article sent a detailed letter to the SPC recommending the two tornadoes from 1974 and the tornado from 1952, be downgraded to F4. The SPC approved all changes. The changes are reflected in Fujita's Super Outbreak map, and the 1952 tornado writeup by Tom Grazulis .
The Lawrence County tornado was nearly a mile wide and ripped a 23-mile swath through the county. Well-constructed homes were completely wiped off their foundations. Fortunately, it could be considered the first F5 ever to hit America to not have killed anyone.
The three F5's listed by the Storm Prediction Center that hit Tennessee are as follows:
- March 21, 1952 - Marshall County, Mississippi and Fayette County, Tennessee (just west of Memphis, Tennessee. Considered the first F5 to have occurred within the last 50 or 55 years.
- April 3, 1974 (during The Super Outbreak) - Lincoln and Franklin County. According to Dr. Fujita, the highest rating of these tornadoes are F4. Newspapers also list these tornadoes as causing F3 and F4 damage.