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Tornadoes vary from year to year, and by location. East Tennessee has fewer than Middle or West Tennessee; also, cities tend to have fewer than rural areas, although there was one that hit Nashville about ten years ago.
They can occur anytime but the two main "tornado seasons" are in spring (around April) and fall (around October). Some years there's several watches and warning, some years there are very few. We may have had a watch or two this spring, but I don't actually remember having a warning here in Middle Tennessee (but I won't swear we didn't). A "watch" mean conditions are favorable to a tornado forming, a "warning" means a tornado has been sighted in the general area. Watches and warnings are given ahead of time on radio, TV, and the Internet, and by special weather warning radios.
No, we don't sit around worrying about tornadoes. It is wise to take a few reasonable precautions, such as having a plan on where to go if a tornado occurs (this is especially important if you have kids), or having one of the weather warning radios I mentioned. Remember, it's all relative. Tornadoes are impressive and make the news . . . but I'm MUCH more likely to be injuried or killed driving on the highway. There also seem to come in cycle (like certain other weather phenomenon). From about 1995 to 2005 we seemed to have more than usual; in the past couple of years there has not been as many.
As for bugs, that depends too. Some of the worse ones here are ticks, chiggers, flies, mosquitoes (especially if you live here areas with standing water around), and possibly spiders. If you get out in the woods a lot, then it's not a bad idea to use Deet or something like that. For day-to-day living, bugs aren't that much of a problem--unless you're just terrified of the things. Of course, you don't want non-screened windows open in your house or "open invitations" for the little fellows to come for a visit such leaving the lid of a garbage can off or leaving food outside. They say we're having more bugs this year due to the unusual weather conditions we've had this year. To answer your question, no, we don't wear Off all the time. As a matter of fact, I don't even have any of the stuff or remember the last time I used it.
And, before you ask, we don't have a lot of poisonous snakes either. There are copperheads around, as well as rattlers (a few) and water moccasin (a few) in some areas. You almost have to go looking for them. I live in a suburban area of Nashville near a small river; I have seen snakes down by the river but in twenty years I've never actually seen a snake around the house. Possums, raccoons, squirrels, and fat rabbits I've seen, but not a snake. If there were one, it would probably be a harmless black snake or garter snake or something like that.
Well the tornados are still a worry to me partly because I have no experience with that weather. I know our monsoons scare people, but aren't that big a deal so I am thinking it's the same kinda thing. I have 3 kids and a grandma to care for and I don't want to be running them to the storm cellar all the time. lol
As for bugs, Arizona has a lot of poisonous ones so I was wondering if you did to. We have scorpions, black widows and as far as snakes go you can find rattlers under your sinks in some of the subarbs, plus not really poisonous but a the large freaky tranchula is a startler! We find these in our yards and homes, not the woods, we have no woods in Phoenix. That is probably why they come in to live with us.
Been in AZ since I was ten so I am curious about other areas. The info on TN makes tornados seem very common and a post on here about a insect called can't be seen,or no sees, says she has to wear deet or something all the time. She said you can get them from sitting on the sidewalks! With 3 kids you can see why I ask, they will be on sidewalks and everything else.
I'm not sure what insect you're referring to. Probably a chigger. They are very small (you can't hardly see them). They're not dangerous but they are a nuisance if you get "bite" by one (itchy, itchy, itchy) They're worse in some areas than other (overgrown areas, vines, the edge of wooded areas, sometimes in the edge of yards, etc.). The main thing is if you think you're going to be in a chigger infested area, wear Deet, and pull off your clothes and wash them as soon as you get home, and take a nice shower yourself. Again, most of the time, in day-to-day living, you won't be bothered. But you could be.
The TV people here now make a big deal about tornadoes if there's even a remote possibility of one. They will zoom in to street level and show all their color radars and break into to programs to report a storm cell a hundred miles away, etc. Some of this is good in that it warns people; a lot of it is just plain showmanship. If you lived here and weren't used to it, the TV weather reports at times probably would scare you at first. You will think one is bearing down right on your house.
Hi, how many tornado warnings do you get a year? Do they worry you?
What are the pest issues out there? Are you wearin "Off" all year?
Thanks
HI Twiggy,
I don't live in Nashville but thought I would respond to your post because I see your posts all the time in the Phoenix forum. I too am in Phoenix, well actually Peoria, and am sick of the heat and wanting to get out. I always laugh when I read your posts because it sounds like you are very tired of the heat also. My husband and I have fallen in love with the Nashville area and are just waiting for our house to sell so we can move our four children away from here. Obviously with the housing market the way it is here it could be a while but we are hoping this will be our last summer here.
We have friends that live in a small town north of Nashville called Pleasant View. I have asked them the same questions you are posing here. The husband has lived in Nashville about 8 years and he says that he has yet to see a tornado. He has heard warnings but hasn't actually seen one. I don't think you will be running to your basement very often because of tornado warnings. I think in the research I have done there have maybe been two documented "bad" tornados where maybe there were a couple of fatalities and I think the last one was in the mid '90's.
Secondly, bugs!!! This is a very big concern of mine too. The question I asked our friends is will I be trading the constant sunscreen for constant insect repellant. The way I see it we have mosquitos here. I have seen them in my house. I don't think it is too much worse there. The thing that frightens me is ticks and lyme disease. I have researched this on the internet and it sounds like if your kids play in the woods, near cows or in leaves then comb them over and check for ticks. But just playing in the backyard of a subdivision it shouldn't be a problem.
If you are thinking of moving to Nashville and would like a native Phoenicians perspective feel free to message me. We have visited twice and researched many different areas of the US to move to and keep coming back to Nashville as the best choice.
Honestly, your mentioning of rattle snakes under the sink is scarier than anything I can think of here. I live in Murfresboro, about 30min SE of Nashville, and I've seen about 5 snakes in my 29yrs of living here. Tornadoes are common, but like a previous poster said, you find a safe place to go and wait it out. I don't think it's something to fear, the weather forecasters can pretty much tell you the exact houses that need to seek shelter...so that's a good thing.
No matter where you go, there's going to be something you're going to have to adjust to...be it hurricanes, blizzards, droughts, earthquakes, or even terrorists.
No matter where you go, there's going to be something you're going to have to adjust to...be it hurricanes, blizzards, droughts, earthquakes, or even terrorists.
If I'm not mistaken, floods are actually the most dangerous weather phenomenon in Tennessee.
Wow...I didn't know that. But it sure doees make sense being that Tennessee is nothing but rivers, lakes, ponds, streams, springs,and caves.
Even the name Tennessee is derived from the Cherokee name of Tenasi, which I was told during a grade school fieldtrip to Fort Nashboro means "Land of Many Rivers"...
I have lived in Nashville since 1982. This area has had quite a few tornadoes since the time I moved here.
The most prominent are the two tornadoes, following nearly the same track April 16,1998, which hit The Centennial Park Area, proceeded through downtown, East Nashville and through the Hermitage area hitting The Hermitage, President Andrew Jackson's Home. One person was killed in Centennial Park when a tree fell on him. The tornadoes collapsed a construction crane inside the Titans' Football Stadium while it was being built.
A tornado struck Clarksville, about 40 miles northwest of Nashville, which did severe damage to the downtown area.
I believe Jackson, Tennessee, about halfway between Nashville and Memphis, had a tornado which did some serious damage.
Another hit the Rivergate Mall area several years ago, damaging the mall and several businesses along Gallatin Pike. I remember viewing video from one of the local stations showing a stop sign, pole and all, blown through the back window of someone's SUV.
There was extensive damage in April of 2006 to the Gallatin area, parts of Hendersonville and Goodlettsville from a tornado. A student from Volunteer State Community College, in Gallatin, videotaped the tornado on his cell phone as it approached the college and captured awesome video which was shown on local newscasts. The college was in the direct path of this tornado.
A small tornado hit the Brentwood area around Christmas several years ago.
And finally, my house was hit by a tornado in Donelson in May of 1999. I remember it well, as I was here when it struck. The Weather Bureau said it was probably straight line winds, but the Nashville International Airport said it was definitely a tornado which struck them. And since I live about a mile and a half from the airport, I will take their word over the Weather Bureau's since they are much closer. This particular tornado bounced all over this area doing very selected damage. My neighbor's and my houses had extensive damage, but the house on the other side of me was untouched. There was a garbage can across the street, which was untouched and still had the lid on it after the tornado passed over. And, yes, tornadoes do sound like freight trains.
I don't think we get any more tornadoes in Nashville than the rest of the state. It is just when they hit, they always seem to hit something due to the population density and that always makes the news.
And, I agree with an earlier poster who stated the TV Stations sometimes go overboard on storm coverage even when the storms are 100 miles away. The Nashville Scene, a local weekly newspaper, said it best when doing a story on local TV coverage of storms stating, "Channel 2 can turn a light sprinkle into "The Perfect Storm". Remember that movie from a few years ago?
I hope this information is helpful to you. Others on this board may have more information on storms I may have missed.
We lived in Hendersonville for 11 years before just moving to Austin at the end of May. Miss it already with all this rain central Texas is having. I never, in a million years, though we would have to worry about tornadoes, but after the storm in April of 2006, I changed my mind quickly. We were not damaged in any way,thank goodness, but it makes you realize that it can happen to you when it is that close. But do I worry about storms, no. It is just like anywhere, you just have to make plans, depending on what type of natural disasters you have wherever you live, you make plans and make sure everyone knows the plans.
Now bugs, in particular mosquitoes, are the worst! Dawn and sunset can be brutal. Make sure you keep plenty of bug spray around. The cicadas are HORRIBLE, but that is only once every 17 years!!
The Nashville area is a great place to live and raise a family!!! By the way, if you are visiting Nashville, check to see if there is a hockey game in town. Buy tickets and go to a Nashville Predators game. SAVE THE PREDATORS and keep them in Nashville. BUY TICKETS!!!!!!
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Tornadoes in the Nashville Area
