NWS reports Tennessee tornado in Lawrence County, bringing May total to 13 so far

The National Weather Service has determined that an EF-0 tornado touched down in Lawrence County Tuesday, bring the number of confirmed tornadoes for Middle Tennessee to 13 so far in May.

Twelve tornadoes were previously counted by the service, originating from severe storms that rolled through on May 6 and again May 8-9.

Five reports in Lincoln County from the May-8-9 outbreak are continuing to be evaluated, officials said. Meteorologist Huntir Cramer didn’t rule out the possibility that some of the Lincoln County reports could be combined, though as of Wednesday, they were considered separate incidents.

Extensive flooding and straight line wind damage were also reported in several communities.

As of May 15, the confirmed tornadoes and the available information about their wind speeds and paths from the National Weather Service offices in Nashville, Memphis and Huntsville are:

May 6

Wilson County : An EF-0 touched down about eight miles northeast of Lebanon along Big Springs Road, just north of Old Rome Pike. The only known damage was to trees. The tornado had winds estimated at up to 70 miles per hour with a length of a half-mile and width of about 50 yards. Wilson County also had areas with straight line wind damage from a storm on May 8.

DeKalb County: An EF1 tornado had top winds estimated at 100 miles per hour with a track that was 3.3 miles in length and 150 yards wide. Damages were reported on the north side of Smithville in DeKalb County.

May 8-9

Robertson County: An EF-1 touched down about a mile northeast of the I-24 and Stroudsville Road intersection in far southwest Robertson County. Numerous trees and several homes and barns suffered damage. Top winds were estimated at 90 miles per hour with a path length of 2.31 miles and width of about 200 yards.

Maury and Marshall counties: A powerful EF-3 with winds estimated at up to 140 miles an hour had a 12.51-mile track touching down along the Duck River east of Columbia and eventually lifting in western Marshall County. Multiple homes received substantial damage along Cothran and Cranford Hollow Roads before the tornado crossed Highway 412 and caused more substantial damage on Old Highway 99 and Blackburn Lane. The tornado reached its maximum strength along Blackburn Road and Lasea Road, where a large transmission power truss collapsed, a house was destroyed with only a small interior room left standing, and a doublewide mobile home was swept away. The tornado continued northeast damaging additional homes and blowing down trees before crossing I-65 near mile marker 47. The tornado crossed Highway 431 near Kedron Road and continued to blow down trees as it took a sharp southeastward jog before lifting in a forest east of Moses Road in far western Marshall County.

Rutherford County: An EF-0 with top winds estimated at 80 miles per hour touched down in Christiana. A number of trees were damaged at several points in the approximate three mile path that included trees being uprooted in all directions near Midland and Jones roads.

Giles County: An EF-2 with high winds estimated at 115 mph had a track of nearly six miles and a width of 700 yards. The tornado touched down along Case Road and continued east causing significant tree and structural damage.

Benton County: An EF-0 with top winds at 85 mph touched down about two miles north of Interstate 40 in the New Johnsonville area with a track of 1.3 miles and width of 100 yards, according to the National Weather Service office in Memphis. Intermittent tree damage reported.

Lincoln County (Taft community): An EF-1 with top winds estimated at 105 mph.

Lincoln County (Corders Crossroads area): An EF-1 with top winds estimated at 105 mph.

Lincoln County (Hopper Road area): An EF-1 with high winds estimated at 95 mph.

Lincoln County Southwest Flintville area: An EF-1 with winds up to 100 mph estimate.

Lincoln County (Northeast Flintville and White Gap area): An EF-1 with top winds up to 105 mph.

May 14

Lawrence County: The tornado hit around 4:16 p.m., with top winds estimated at 85 mph. The path lasted about 3.86 miles and was about 100 yards wide. Numerous trees were snapped, uprooted, or lost significant branches, a few farm outbuildings and several homes had damage.

Reach Andy Humbles at ahumbles@tennessean.com or 615-726-5939 and on X, formerly known as Twitter @ AndyHumbles.

This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Tennessee tornadoes: Count from May storms rises to 13, NWS says