By Tabitha Evans Moore | EDITOR & PUBLISHER

It’s April 27, 2011 at 5:38 a.m. when an EF-2 tornado touches down near Taft heading east-northeast. It tracks through Lincoln County then into Moore County – uprooting trees, shifting mobile homes off their foundation, and damaging vehicles along the way,

Just 28 minutes later, it landed in Moore County and carved a wide path of destruction north of Lynchburg – leveling hundreds of trees. Near Motlow State, it threw two mobile homes off their foundation – one rolled with its occupants still inside.

I remember the day vividly. I bypassed my office that morning and headed straight to Pleasant Hill Road where then-Sheriff Mark Logan and his deputies were working hard to make sense of the chaos. There were downed trees everywhere.

He begrudgingly let me walk the road, camera in hand, but knowingly warned me to keep myself out of harms way.

“I’ve got enough on my plate without having to come save you,” he warned.

Moore County got off lucky that day by comparison. Trees were down. Property sat damaged, but no locals lost their lives. Others throughout the state couldn’t say the same. April 27’s Super Outbreak caused 316 fatalities – the most tornado-related deaths in the United States in a single day since 1925.

It also serves as anecdotal evidence that we exist in what the National Weather Service now calls Dixie Alley – the southeastern cousin of the Great Plains’ Tornado Alley, where tornadoes strike more often at night and with deadlier results.

Based on historical records, 13 recorded tornadoes have hit Moore County since the 1950s. To this point, most have been EF0 or EF1 tornados with that lone notable EF-2 hitting in 2011.

Thirteen recorded tornadoes may not sound like much, but with a population under 7,000 and rolling hills that hide the horizon, even one can feel personal.

A new tornado normal

There’s strong scientific evidence that America’s tornado alley shifted east over the past several years and places like Lynchburg sit squarely in the crosshairs of the new meteorological normal.

In May 2023, Scientific American published an article titled, “Watch Out: Tornado Alley is Migrating Eastward.” In it, authors Mark Fischetti, Matthew Twobly, and Daniel P. Huffman talk about the nearly uniquely American phenomenon of tornadoes.

On average, roughly 1,200 tornadoes strike the U.S. each year – many more than anywhere else in the world. Traditionally, the bulk of those storms struck Tornado Alley – an egg-shaped area centered through northeastern Texas and south-central Oklahoma. But around 1990, it started shifting – moving toward Missouri, Arkansas, Kentucky, Alabama, northern Mississippi, and western Tennessee – earning the area the new moniker.

Dixie Alley tornadoes are built different. They happen more often in the fall and winter and sustain longer tracks. Many happen after dark while people sleep. Less notice plus sustained paths make them more deadly, and often more destructive.

One need look any further than the December 9, 2023 Middle Tennessee outbreak that touched down in Clarksville as an EF-3 tornado and tracked east through parts of Madison, Hendersonville, Gallatin before crossing into Kentucky for real world proof of the Scientific American authors’ thesis.

It left over 1,000 homes damaged in Tennessee alone and damage estimates hovered at $62.375 million. Four people also died and another 62 were injured.

Why is it happening?

Tornadoes form from a supercell or strong thunderstorm with a rotating updraft of air. Basically, warm, humid low-level air meets cool, dry upper-level air with often disastrous results. As Earth’s climate continues to evolve, the atmosphere produces warmer, moister air. The result is more tornado activity.

The Scientific American authors posit that the so-called dry line – an imaginary line that  runs north from the U.S.-Mexico border up to Canada, dividing the wetter eastern U.S. from the drier western U.S. – is shifting eastward.

“The line, which for centuries has fallen roughly along the 100th meridian, has moved east by about 140 miles since the late 1800s,” the article states.

What is means for Moore County

The shift comes with some serious trickle-down effects that could affect folks here in Moore County.

The Southeast is much more densely populated that the Great Plains, which means more people sit in harm’s way – even in rural communities like Moore County. This is especially significant as people flood into the state – often relocating to densely-built subdivisions. More people in the Southeast live in mobile homes and RV, which leave them like sitting ducks if a twister hits the ground.

Because increased tornado activity is new, there are fewer personal and community tornado shelters available.

Southeast tornadoes also tend to occur at night more often while people sleep – resulting in a higher fatality rates. Many smaller communities lack tornado warning systems and sirens. In Lynchburg, sirens exist at all three the Jack Daniel Distillery locations – the main campus, south bottling plant, and tract three. There’s an additional siren at Motlow College but it’s controlled by Coffee County EMA. There are no sirens in rural communities.

Sheriff Hatfield says when the forecast says our area is at moderate or high risk for tornadic activity, local emergency management official make plans to open up the County Building as a designated shelter. However, he reminds locals that once a tornado watch has been issued, it’s best to stay put.

“Once something is on the ground, the worst place to be is in a moving car,” he says. “With our topography, you’d never see it coming – especially at night.”

Another way locals can protect themselves is by having multiple ways to receive notifications. Battery -operated NOAA weather radios can be purchased online.

You can also download the Metro Moore County Public Safety app (MMCPSA). It is available for free download for both Apple and Android phones. Just search for Metro Moore PSA TN in either the Apple App Store or Google Play. Launched in 2021, the app links into the National Weather Service office in Huntsville and provides instant information to all Moore County specific severe weather watches and warnings.

There are also two local meteorologist who maintain local weather pages that monitor Moore County and the surrounding areas specifically. Christopher King operated the Christopher King WX page on Facebook. There’s also the Southern TN Weather page produced by Elijah Kirby.

For those without smart phones, local public safety officials also maintain the Hyper-Reach site, which also gives emergency alerts narrowed down to your street address.  

“What we are seeing is not about fear. It is about awareness,” Kings says. “The science shows that tornado activity has gradually shifted east into places like Southern Middle Tennessee. That means communities like Lynchburg are now more likely to experience severe storms that form and track at night. Our responsibility is to stay weather-aware, have multiple ways to receive alerts, and look out for one another. Preparedness is the strongest tool we have.” •

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