On this day, 59 years ago, Tennessee had it's deadliest tornado move
through 4 counties. It first touched down in Hardeman county, then moved
through Chester and Henderson counties, before finally lifting in
Decatur county. There were 41 deaths and 158 injuries with this tornado.
Because this was back in the 1950s, no real storm surveying was done by
the National Weather Service like there is now, but estimates put the
tornado at an F4 strength. It had a path length of 65 miles, and struck
at 10:45pm. The Fujita scale (which rated this tornado an F4) is no
longer the same scale that is used today. Now the Enhanced Scale is
used. A comparison of the 2 charts is below.
This tornado was one of many that day that crossed 6 states and
killed a total of around 200 people, and injured over 1,000. Points
where tornadoes were reported are shown on the map below with black
dots.
The image below is the photo of a home near Dyersburg that was
damaged by a separate tornado, but still from the same storm outbreak,
that struck on March 21, 1952.
The deadliest tornado to strike middle Tennessee specifically was May
10, 1933 when 35 people were killed. This tornado occurred around
midnight just north of Cookeville.
Credit: Dallas Morning News, NOAA, and NWS Nashville
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