42
Recorded events
3
Direct deaths
103
Direct injuries
$22.8M
Property damage
Tornado in Lawrence County, Tennessee: 42 recorded events between 1955 and 2026. The strongest on record measured F5. That places the county #567 nationally and #7 statewide for this hazard.
Decade by decade
Tornado in Lawrence County, Tennessee: events per decade
Reporting practice changed over time — early decades are undercounted, not calmer.
The busiest decade for tornado in Lawrence County is the 1990s, when 10 of the county's 42 recorded events were logged. Comparing decades is useful for spotting active periods, but the earliest years are thin because systematic reporting for this hazard began later.
Within the Lawrence County archive, tornado makes up 5.7% of all recorded severe weather across 8 hazard types. Nationally the county sits at #567 for this hazard and #7 within Tennessee, putting it in the 80.4 percentile of all U.S. counties.
Seasonality
Events by month
Mar is the peak month for tornado in Lawrence County with 10 recorded events, while Jan is the quietest. Seasonality here is a property of the archive as much as the climate: reports cluster where population and spotter networks are densest.
Tornado tracks
Paths crossing this county
| Date | Scale | Path length | Max width | Origin |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1998-04-16 | EF5 | 69.4 mi | 1,760 yd | Crossed in |
| 1995-05-18 | EF4 | 29.0 mi | 1,000 yd | Crossed in |
| 2015-12-23 | EF3 | 48.4 mi | 800 yd | Crossed in |
| 2008-04-11 | EF3 | 10.3 mi | 100 yd | Touched down here |
| 1994-06-26 | EF3 | 38.0 mi | 880 yd | Crossed in |
| 1972-04-21 | EF3 | 32.3 mi | 200 yd | Touched down here |
| 1956-02-17 | EF3 | 10.4 mi | 1,760 yd | Touched down here |
| 2021-03-25 | EF2 | 22.1 mi | 350 yd | Crossed in |
| 2008-01-10 | EF2 | 1.3 mi | 40 yd | Crossed in |
| 1996-04-20 | EF2 | 1.0 mi | 440 yd | Touched down here |
Significant events
Deadliest on record
| Date | Location | Scale | Deaths | Injuries | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 18, 1995 | Piney to | F4 | 3 | 32 | $4.6M |
| Apr 16, 1998 | DEERFIELD | F5 | 0 | 21 | $4.0M |
| Jun 27, 1994 | Wayne and | F3 | 0 | 19 | $5.0M |
| Apr 20, 1996 | BARNESVILLE | F2 | 0 | 12 | $1.3M |
| Apr 22, 1972 | F3 | 0 | 6 | $250K | |
| Dec 24, 2015 | NEW HAVEN | EF2 | 0 | 3 | $2.0M |
| Mar 12, 1975 | F1 | 0 | 3 | $250K | |
| Mar 21, 1955 | F1 | 0 | 2 | $3K |
Most recent
Latest recorded events
| Date | Location | Magnitude | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mar 15, 2026 | BONNERTOWN | EF1 | $750K |
| Apr 3, 2025 | DEERFIELD | EF0 | $0 |
| May 14, 2024 | WEBBER CITY | EF0 | $250K |
| Feb 16, 2023 | WEBBER CITY | EF0 | $25K |
| Feb 16, 2023 | MT LEBANON | EF0 | $25K |
| Dec 6, 2021 | LODI | EF0 | $5K |
| Mar 26, 2021 | BARNESVILLE | EF0 | $10K |
| Feb 12, 2020 | UPPER MOCKESON | EF0 | $10K |
| Feb 5, 2020 | GAITHERVILLE | EF1 | $100K |
| Feb 5, 2020 | LORETTO | EF1 | $20K |
Other hazards here
More from Lawrence County
- Thunderstorm Wind 380
- Hail 146
- Flash Flood 118
From the record
What the reports say
Written by National Weather Service staff at the time of the event · public domain
The tornado touched down near the Lawrence/Wayne County line near Deerfield and lifted near Campbellsville in Giles County. Two people were killed while outside their trailer in the extreme western part of Lawrence County and a third person was killed while inside a house near Deerfield. Thirty-four houses, 16 mobile homes and one business were destroyed. Ninety-eight houses, three mobile homes and two other buildings were damaged. The tornado pulled corn stalks that were two feet tall out fo the ground and destroyed 6 TVA steel high-tension-wire towers. Three of these towers were never found. A cancelled check from Etheridge was found in Cannon County, some 90 miles away. Seventy-five to 100 people were evacuated in Ethridge because of downed power lines. (F48H,M65H,M67H)
The tornado first touched down near the town of Lutts in Wayne County and continued southeast into Lawrence. The tornado hit the towns of Iron City and St. Joseph before moving into Lauderdale County, Alabama. Several homes were damaged in Wayne County but the most significant damage occurred in Lawrence County. About 75% of the buildings in Iron City were damaged. Over 100 buildings were damaged in both St. Joseph and Iron City. Some cars were twisted and numerous trees were blown down. Nineteen persons were injured, most of them in Iron City.
Many fine homes, some even brick, were completely leveled. Trees were uprooted or blown down, power lines were down, 75 utility poles were blown down around the county. People who were at their homes went to the basement, or in a closet, or in a bathroom. The EMA report of a one ton Dodge flatbed truck, which weighs almost 5000 pounds, being hurled 20 miles, could not be confirmed. Therefore this account should be discounted. However, the EMA director verfied a sedan being carried 1/2 mile. A tree was debarked by the flying debris. A 200 yard wide path of pasture land had grass pulled out. Clumps of dirt was pulled up from the ground. Several livestock was killed.
Quick answers
Frequently asked
How many tornado events are on record in Lawrence County, Tennessee?
42 tornado events are recorded in Lawrence County between 1955 and 2026, causing 3 direct deaths.
What is the strongest tornado recorded in Lawrence County?
The strongest tornado on record in Lawrence County measured F5.
Where does the tornado data for Lawrence County come from?
All events come from the NOAA/NCEI Storm Events Database, the federal public-domain archive of severe weather reports. Dates are UTC, damage is as reported and not inflation-adjusted, and the most recent entries may still be revised.
Cite this page
“Tornado in Lawrence County, Tennessee.” Severe Weather History. severeweatherhistory.com/county/tennessee/lawrence-county/tornado/ · Data: NOAA/NCEI, FEMA, U.S. Census — public domain.