Family credits AccuWeather app warning for more advance notice, providing extra time to seek shelter before deadly tornado in Tennessee
‘Thank you for your passion; it shows in everything you do,’ says a grateful AccuWeather app user after a tornado warning helped her family get to safety
‘Thank you for your passion; it shows in everything you do,’ says a grateful AccuWeather app user after a tornado warning helped her family get to safety
AccuWeather Global Weather Center – Feb. 20, 2025 - 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.
A family in eastern Tennessee says a tornado warning from the National Weather Service delivered by the AccuWeather® app faster than any other source gave them crucial time to prepare.
“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.
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.”
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.”
With the return of spring severe weather on the horizon and the start of the Atlantic hurricane season four months away, Johnson is encouraging others to download the AccuWeather app to be better informed and prepared for severe weather threats.
“I would encourage everyone to download the AccuWeather app, set up the emergency alerts and, when it alerts you that something is coming, listen to them,” Johnson told AccuWeather in an interview. “Download the app. I’m using the free version. It doesn’t cost you anything but a little bit of space on your phone. I think you’ll be surprised at the alerts, updates and forecasts. We were only about 60 miles away from the damage that came from Hurricane Helene, but we knew about it and knew it was coming days in advance. We knew what to expect. We knew how to prepare as best as we could."
Johnson said she downloaded the AccuWeather app years ago for forecasts for family activities and planning, not realizing that it would provide her family and her neighbors with a life-saving alert before a deadly storm hit.
“I became an AccuWeather user many years ago. My kids have disabilities, and they don't acclimate to extreme heat and cold very well. I needed an app that would give me an accurate idea of not just when severe weather would come in, but the temperature, what I could expect as far as heat and humidity,” Johnson said.
For users who want to be in the know with extra details and features at a low cost, AccuWeather offers AccuWeather Alerts issued by AccuWeather Storm Warning Meteorologists, available through the AccuWeather® Premium+ subscription.
In eastern Tennessee on Feb. 6, AccuWeather® provided additional advance notice to AccuWeather App Premium+ subscribers, businesses, partners and clients before the tornado touched down.
AccuWeather Expert Storm Warning Meteorologists issued a lifesaving SkyGuard Tornado Warning for Morgan County, Tennessee, at 7:43 p.m. EST, 10 minutes before a tornado warning was issued by any other known source. The SkyGuard®Tornado Warning provided an exclusive 27 minutes of valuable advance notice.
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Additional AccuWeather Resources
Tennessee family says AccuWeather app saved their lives
Two killed in Tennessee by EF2 tornado, additional twisters in Kentucky
Tennessee tornado leaves homes destroyed
Advancements in forecasting and warnings helps save lives during extreme weather
