45
Recorded events
10
Direct deaths
254
Direct injuries
$6.0M
Property damage
Tornado in Lincoln County, Tennessee: 45 recorded events between 1952 and 2024. The strongest on record measured F4. That places the county #479 nationally and #4 statewide for this hazard.
Decade by decade
Tornado in Lincoln County, Tennessee: events per decade
Reporting practice changed over time — early decades are undercounted, not calmer.
The busiest decade for tornado in Lincoln County is the 2000s, when 10 of the county's 45 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 Lincoln County archive, tornado makes up 8.3% of all recorded severe weather across 8 hazard types. Nationally the county sits at #479 for this hazard and #4 within Tennessee, putting it in the 83.2 percentile of all U.S. counties.
Seasonality
Events by month
Apr is the peak month for tornado in Lincoln County with 15 recorded events, while Sep 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2011-04-27 | EF5 | 132.0 mi | 2,200 yd | Crossed in |
| 1974-04-03 | EF5 | 83.3 mi | 500 yd | Crossed in |
| 1974-04-03 | EF4 | 27.5 mi | 800 yd | Touched down here |
| 1952-02-29 | EF4 | 2.0 mi | 300 yd | Touched down here |
| 2014-04-28 | EF3 | 26.8 mi | 500 yd | Touched down here |
| 2023-04-01 | EF3 | 12.0 mi | 215 yd | Crossed in |
| 2003-05-05 | EF3 | 1.6 mi | 700 yd | Touched down here |
| 1952-02-13 | EF3 | 7.4 mi | 350 yd | Touched down here |
| 2023-03-24 | EF2 | 4.0 mi | 300 yd | Touched down here |
| 2014-04-28 | EF2 | 9.5 mi | 250 yd | Touched down here |
Significant events
Deadliest on record
| Date | Location | Scale | Deaths | Injuries | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apr 4, 1974 | F4 | 6 | 100 | $2.5M | |
| Feb 29, 1952 | F4 | 2 | 150 | $2.5M | |
| Apr 29, 2014 | LINCOLN | EF3 | 2 | 0 | $0 |
| May 5, 2003 | BELLEVILLE | F3 | 0 | 2 | $50K |
| Feb 14, 1952 | F3 | 0 | 2 | $250K |
Most recent
Latest recorded events
| Date | Location | Magnitude | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|
| May 9, 2024 | FLINTVILLE | EF1 | $0 |
| May 9, 2024 | VANNTOWN | EF1 | $0 |
| May 9, 2024 | LINCOLN | EF0 | $0 |
| May 9, 2024 | TAYLORTOWN | EF1 | $0 |
| May 9, 2024 | HOWELL HILL | EF1 | $0 |
| May 9, 2024 | BLANCHE | EF1 | $0 |
| Apr 1, 2023 | LINCOLN | EF3 | $0 |
| Mar 25, 2023 | FAYETTEVILLE | EF2 | $0 |
| Dec 16, 2019 | CASH PT | EF0 | $0 |
| May 9, 2019 | LINCOLN | EF0 | $0 |
Other hazards here
More from Lincoln County
- Thunderstorm Wind 354
- Hail 69
- Flash Flood 59
From the record
What the reports say
Written by National Weather Service staff at the time of the event · public domain
The Oak Hill Baptist Church on Wiley Hollow Road was heavily damaged. The church was established in 1883. The nearby residence of the pastor had major roof damage. One of the parishioners was going to take shelter at the church. The tornado carried his truck over the roof of the church and crashed it on top of a nearby tree and utility pole. Also, a frame home on U.S Highway 231 was completely leveled in Belleville and the debris was burned on the spot. There were 2 injuries. One was due to a tree falling on a truck.
NWS Storm Survey indicated touchdown of the tornado was near Cash Point where a small mobile home was extensively damaged. The roof of the mobile home was peeled off. Other roof damage was observed within 1/4 of a mile from the mobile home. A few trees were also uprooted near the mobile home. The tornado moved to the northeast and did some damage to the crowns of trees. At one mile from touchdown, a small outbuilding was destroyed. The tornado skipped over a school, but it tore off some shingles off a new house. About a tenth of a mile further from the school, the tornado picked up the roof of a cinder block garage and turned it approximately 90 degrees before setting it back down.
An EF-1 tornado with maximum winds of 100 mph struck the south side of Fayetteville, tracking east before lifting shortly beyond Timber Lake. The most extensive damage occurred in the Timber Lake community between Diemer Road and Timberlake Trail. Numerous large trees were uprooted, some snapped at their bases. Roof and minor structural damage occurred at a residence along Timberlake Drive where a male occupant was injured due to a fall while taking shelter. One person sustained a minor injury at their residence. Additional trees were uprooted and snapped along Eldad and Grisham Roads east of Timber Lake.
Quick answers
Frequently asked
How many tornado events are on record in Lincoln County, Tennessee?
45 tornado events are recorded in Lincoln County between 1952 and 2024, causing 10 direct deaths.
What is the strongest tornado recorded in Lincoln County?
The strongest tornado on record in Lincoln County measured F4.
Where does the tornado data for Lincoln 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 Lincoln County, Tennessee.” Severe Weather History. severeweatherhistory.com/county/tennessee/lincoln-county/tornado/ · Data: NOAA/NCEI, FEMA, U.S. Census — public domain.