The May 18, 1995 tornado
F4Lawrence and Giles counties, Tennessee
An F4 tornado on a 29.0-mile path that killed 3 and injured 32. It was one of 79 tornadoes recorded in the U.S. that day, 3 of them rated F3/EF3 or stronger.
Watch how it happened Part of the outbreak of May 18, 1995: 79 tornadoes in 11 statesF4 tornado · May 18, 1995
How it happened
Follow the tornado’s path, minute by minute.
The tornado
- Rating
- F4
- Fujita scale
- Path length
- 29.0 mi
- Width up to 1,000 yards
- Killed
- 3
- Along the whole path
- Injured
- 32
- Along the whole path
- Date and time
- Thursday, May 18, 1995
- 3:52 PM CST
The National Weather Service account
Written by the local Weather Service office after its damage survey.
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)
NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database.
Counties on its path
Other notable tornadoes that day
- F4, Limestone County1 killed
Storm Prediction Center severe weather database. Path drawn as a straight line from the recorded start to end point.