Skip to main content
University of Wisconsin–Madison
  • Home
  • News
  • Weekly Weather Event -Week of March 2

Weekly Weather Event -Week of March 2

March 6, 2020

Early on Tuesday March 3rd, a series of tornadoes cut through central Tennessee, leaving a trail of destruction in its wake. The National Weather Service office in Nashville has released preliminary survey results of the four tornadoes that touched down. Two EF-0 tornadoes were recorded along the Smith/Putnam county line and southern Putnam county. The remaining two tornadoes were considerably more powerful; an EF-3 was recorded in the Nashville metro area, and the deadly EF-4 tornado was recorded in central Putnam county. 25 people died from this series of storms, 19 of which were in the especially hard-hit Putnam county.

Unlike large scale hurricanes or thunderstorms that can be predicted days in advance, tornadoes are local events that often only have minutes of warning. Because of this, the National Weather Service strongly recommends having several different methods of getting weather alerts, especially when storms are forecast for the middle of the night.

While cellphone alerts are the most popular form of obtaining weather alerts, cell service can be limited in severe weather. In addition, cellphones set to ‘do not disturb’ will not wake someone up if the alert comes in the middle of the night. The National Weather Service also recommends having a weather alert radio as it remains the fastest method of obtaining information during severe weather events. In addition, it is loud enough to wake someone up, providing vital time to get to a safer location.