Damage and Radar Analysis of the Nashville, TN Tornado

On April 16, 1998, several tornadoes struck central Tennessee. One of the tornadoes went through downtown Nashville. Within days after the event, the authors conducted aerial and ground surveys at the request of NOAA. This paper will present several interesting findings with respect to our analysis of the tornado damage to include: 1) the damage path was quite large, reaching 1200 meters in width and extended 15 miles in length, 2) the tornado produced mostly F-0 and F-1 damage throughout the path, and 3) the few areas of F-2 and F-3 damage were attributed to inherent deficiencies in building construction. It was apparent the tornadic circulation remained broad and weak.

Radar analysis of the event also revealed several interesting features: 1) the supercell responsible for producing the Nashville tornado developed over one hundred miles west of the city, 2) radar reflectivity showed a "classic" supercell structure with well defined hook echo, and 3) there was strong gate-to-gate shear throughout the life of the tornado.