December 23, 2015 Tornado Outbreak

OHX radar loop from December 23, 2015

Damage:

An EF-2 tornado touched down in southern Perry County with estimated maximum sustained winds around 115 mph. Starting near the Buffalo River four miles south of Linden, the tornado traveled to the east-northeast for just short of fourteen miles. Along the path, on Hurricane Creek Road, damage to a brick home was concurrent with winds around 115 mph. Multiple other sheds and barns were destroyed in this same area along with scores of snapped and uprooted hardwood trees. The tornado continued east-northeast and crossed U.S. Highway 412 where a home was totally destroyed. Inside the home, 2 people were fatally injured. Multiple other outbuildings were destroyed along with numerous uprooted hardwood trees. Trees were uprooted along Cane Creek Road. The tornado lifted roughly six miles after entering Hickman County and destroyed a storage shed, damaging several homes, and uprooting and snapping hundreds of trees before lifting along Brushy Road west of Arnold Road. Based on newly available high resolution Google Earth satellite imagery in July 2019, the path of this tornado was adjusted and extended eastward an additional mile for a total path length of 16.1 miles.

This is the first tornado on record to occur in both Perry County and Hickman County in the month of December.

Damage:

This EF-3 tornado touched down just east of the Hardin County/Wayne County line about 3 miles southwest of the town of Lutts. At touchdown, hundreds of trees were snapped and uprooted before the tornado reached its peak strength about one half mile west-southwest of Lutts along Lutts Road where the tornado reached a width of 800 yards and EF-3 strength. A post office and church, both brick buildings, were destroyed along with multiple homes swept from their foundations. Four people were injured here In Lutts. As the tornado continued northeast, hundreds of trees were snapped and uprooted along its path to where a concentrated area of trees were destroyed about 5 miles north of Collinwood. The tornado continued snapping and uprooting trees until the Highway 64 and Natchez Trace Parkway intersection. At this location, an outbuilding was destroyed along with the roof of a mobile home. Further northeast into Lawrence County along Napier Road, a house was swept off its foundation where 3 people were injured. As the tornado traveled northeast, several homes with roofs completely removed or damaged heavily were found along Linville Road. The tornado weakened as it crossed into Maury County where a barn was destroyed and many trees were snapped and uprooted along Joy Road, 2 miles southwest of Mount Pleasant. This is the first tornado on record to occur in Wayne County, Lewis County, and Maury County in the month of December. Lawrence County previously had one tornado in the month of December, which occurred on December 7, 1951.

Based on newly available high resolution Google Earth satellite imagery in July 2019, this tornado path was adjusted to begin slightly further southwest and end slightly further northeast than previously indicated, giving a total path length of 50.01 miles. However, the high resolution Google Earth imagery also indicates this tornado path was likely made up of two separate tornadoes, with the first tornado (EF-3) occluding and lifting near the Natchez Trace Parkway north of Ovilla Lane in far eastern Wayne County, and the second tornado (EF-2) touching down south of Barrett Branch Road in far eastern Wayne County about 3/4 mile northwest of where the first tornado lifted.

This is the first tornado on record to occur in Wayne County, Lewis County, and Maury County in the month of December. Lawrence County previously had one tornado in the month of December, which occurred on December 7, 1951.

Damage:

An EF2 tornado touched down initially near the intersection of County Road 14 and County Road 54 north of Waterloo, Alabama, in extreme Western Lauderdale County. Multiple trees were snapped and uprooted along the nearby creek and along CR 54. The next available damage was viewed along County Road 1 south of County Road 40. Many softwood and hardwood trees were snapped and uprooted along the hillside into the neighboring valley. The tornado damaged a single family home, removing large portions of the roofing material, and damaged the Williams Chapel Presbyterian church where nearby residents were taking shelter. The tornado crossed CR 1, leaving almost no tree untouched in a large stand of pine trees. The tornado continued over the hill to county road 40, where the most significant damage was observed. The tornado snapped numerous hardwood trees south of CR 40, caused minor damage to a single family residence, and pushed a mobile home off its foundation. Upon crossing CR 40, the tornado tore almost the entire roofing structure off a single family home, injuring one inhabitant, and tossing the debris into the trees behind it. The tornado continued over a small hill into a hollow, snapping and uprooting numerous trees along its path. The tornado moved out of Lauderdale County, Alabama and crossed into Wayne County, Tennessee and was rated EF1 with one home destroyed and hundreds of large trees uprooted and snapped. Based on Landsat 8 satellite imagery from NASA Sport, the tornado continued blowing down trees for over 7 miles in Wayne County and crossed Highway 69 before lifting near David Patterson Road. Total path length of this tornado in Alabama and Tennessee was 14.94 miles.

This is only the second tornado on record to occur in Wayne County in the month of December, with the first tornado being the EF3 tornado listed above.

Damage:

This EF-2 tornado touched down south of Helton Creek and Lower Helton Road. At this location, the path width was narrow at 50-75 yards wide but snapped numerous trees and did some minor roof damage to a home. The tornado continued to the east-northeast snapping large trees and doing minor roof damage to a home on Corley Road. As the tornado crossed over TN Highway 264 and Smith Fork Creek it widened to 250 yards. It was here where it produced the greatest damage. A home on Smith Fork Road had its roof and two exterior walls removed, along with its carport and 2 covered porches. Based on the exterior walls only being toe-nailed in place, it was decided that the maximum wind speed would be reduced slightly to a maximum of 125 mph. The tornado continued east-northeast destroying a cinder block garage and causing moderate roof damage to a log cabin home on Maynard Hollow Lane. At the end of the path, the tornado snapped numerous trees in Lancaster along TN Highway 141 and Caney Fork where the path width had narrowed to 100 yards. The tornado path was adjusted and lengthened slightly by 1/2 mile in July 2019 due to newly available high resolution Google Earth satellite imagery, making for a total path length of 8.92 miles.

This is the first tornado on record to occur in both DeKalb County and Smith County in the month of December.