AccuWeather helps save lives: Tennessee family credits advance notice for extra time to seek shelter before deadly tornado strikes

AccuWeather provided the 10 minutes of additional advance notice compared to warnings from the National Weather Service and all other known sources before the EF 2 tornado touched down.

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AccuWeather customers and users were best prepared for a destructive tornado, which struck rural portions of eastern Tennessee on Thursday evening, February 6, 2025, causing downed trees, power lines, and poles and destroying manufactured homes. AccuWeather Storm Warning Meteorologists exclusively issued a lifesaving SkyGuard® Tornado Warning with MORE advance notice over the government’s National Weather Service (NWS) and all other known sources issued.  

AccuWeather’s warnings benefited AccuWeather For Business SkyGuard® customers and customers of the AccuWeather Premium+ feature in the AccuWeather app.  

As another example of AccuWeather's Superior Accuracy™, AccuWeather Expert Storm Warning Meteorologists issued a life-saving SkyGuard® Tornado Warning, and AccuWeather App Premium+ users in Morgan County in Tennessee exclusively received 27 minutes of valuable advance notice ahead of a tornado striking the area after dark on Thursday. This warning provided 10 minutes of additional advance notice ahead of any tornado warning issued by the National Weather Service and any other known source, prompting an AccuWeather customer to personally reach out and share that AccuWeather saved lives.

Contact AccuWeather today to better prepare your business for tornadoes and all weather threats with AccuWeather's SkyGuard Severe Weather Warnings.

A family in eastern Tennessee says a tornado warning from the National Weather Service delivered by the AccuWeather app faster than any other source provided them with extra time to take shelter at night in a neighbor’s home before a deadly tornado touched down nearby last week. The neighbors did not even realize a tornado was about to strike.

"I don't think it's an exaggeration to say that AccuWeather saved lives last night. I know it did,” Johnson wrote in an email to AccuWeather. "It was clear outside. It didn't look like anything was going on. All of a sudden, out of nowhere, my phone gives me a tornado warning. At first, I thought it was an Amber alert because it can't be a tornado. Then I pulled up the map, and we were directly in the path of this thing, so we grabbed the kids, and we ran to our neighbor across the street and pounded on their door.” 

Johnson said her neighbors had no previous warning that a tornado was headed their way.

As it turned out, Johnson had received an official government warning delivered faster than any other source via her free AccuWeather app, which is why she had so much more advanced time to get to safety. 

READ MORE: The cost of a tornado: The financial impact on your business

In studies, the AccuWeather app is proven to deliver severe weather warnings and alerts from AccuWeather Storm Warning Meteorologists and the National Weather Service faster than any other source, which is critical when minutes count. This is the latest example in a decades-long collaboration of the commercial and public sectors of the American weather enterprise working together to save lives and protect property.  

Johnson said had she not sought refuge at her neighbors, they too would not have received the earlier significant notice.

"They were surprised to see us, as they'd not been notified there was a tornado warning. We were there maybe 10 minutes before their phones went crazy, notifying them of what we already knew; a tornado-producing storm was coming. Maybe a minute later, the storm hit the house. What I couldn't believe was how much in advance we were notified of the coming danger. My neighbors were notified only seconds before the storm hit; my family had minutes to prepare."

READ MORE: TORNADO ALLEY: Where is it and what you need to know

 Johnson said she and her family live in an RV. Because they alerted their neighbors and took shelter in their home, Johnson said her neighbors then were able to call their own family and loved ones to warn of the approaching tornado.

The tornado destroyed multiple homes in the Deer Lodge and Sunbright areas of Morgan County, Tennessee, around 8 p.m. EST on Feb 6. Authorities say the nocturnal tornado tragically claimed the lives of a mother and daughter and left three other people injured.

Tornadoes in Tennessee during the month of February are uncommon but not rare. An average of 1-2 tornadoes are reported in Tennessee during the month of February every year. The last tornado reported in eastern Tennessee in the month of February happened in 2012.

"A storm like this is scary because you could not tell it was coming. We had no tornado watch; it literally came out of left field,” Johnson told AccuWeather in an interview. “If we had not been warned and this tornado had tracked not even a mile more south than it did, this would have been a very different conversation."

Johnson said neither her family’s RV nor her neighbor’s home were damaged by the tornado that impacted nearby areas. She reached out to AccuWeather after the storm to thank the team of meteorologists and experts for the life-saving advance notice.

"Thank you, sincerely, for all you do. There are at least 10 people last night who got early warning and were able to take shelter because of you,” Johnson said. “We will never be able to repay you."

AccuWeather’s goal is always to help keep you safer and provide the most advance notice so that you can make the best decisions.

This is another of the many weather events for which AccuWeather provided superior forecasts and more valuable impact descriptions to people, communities, and businesses, helping them better prepare and stay safer. 

Contact AccuWeather today to better prepare your business for tornadoes and all weather threats with AccuWeather's SkyGuard Severe Weather Warnings.

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