Grainger County Natural Disasters and Weather Extremes
The chance of earthquake damage in Grainger County is lower than Tennessee average and is much lower than the national average. The risk of tornado damage in Grainger County is much lower than Tennessee average and is much lower than the national average.
Earthquake Index, #40
| Grainger County | 0.21 |
| Tennessee | 0.56 |
| U.S. | 1.81 |
The earthquake index value is calculated based on historical earthquake events data using USA.com algorithms. It is an indicator of the earthquake level in a region. A higher earthquake index value means a higher chance of an earthquake.
Volcano Index, #1
| Grainger County | 0.0000 |
| Tennessee | 0.0000 |
| U.S. | 0.0023 |
The volcano index value is calculated based on the currently known volcanoes using USA.com algorithms. It is an indicator of the possibility of a region being affected by a possible volcano eruption. A higher volcano index value means a higher chance of being affected.
Tornado Index, #73
| Grainger County | 36.82 |
| Tennessee | 175.35 |
| U.S. | 136.45 |
The tornado index value is calculated based on historical tornado events data using USA.com algorithms. It is an indicator of the tornado level in a region. A higher tornado index value means a higher chance of tornado events.
Other Weather Extremes Events
A total of 13,579 other weather extremes events within 50 miles of Grainger County were recorded from 1950 to 2010. The following is a break down of these events:
| Type | Count | Type | Count | Type | Count | Type | Count | Type | Count |
| Avalanche: | 0 | Blizzard: | 1 | Cold: | 63 | Dense Fog: | 32 | Drought: | 95 |
| Dust Storm: | 0 | Flood: | 1,493 | Hail: | 3,070 | Heat: | 46 | Heavy Snow: | 212 |
| High Surf: | 0 | Hurricane: | 9 | Ice Storm: | 49 | Landslide: | 2 | Strong Wind: | 124 |
| Thunderstorm Winds: | 7,550 | Tropical Storm: | 10 | Wildfire: | 12 | Winter Storm: | 132 | Winter Weather: | 148 |
| Other: | 531 | ||||||||
Volcanos Nearby
No volcano is found in or near Grainger County.
Historical Earthquake Events
A total of 4 historical earthquake events that had recorded magnitudes of 3.5 or above found in or near Grainger County.
| Distance (miles) | Date | Magnitude | Depth (km) | Latitude | Longitude |
| 41.5 | 1973-11-30 | 4.7 | 3 | 35.8 | -83.96 |
| 45.2 | 1976-01-19 | 4 | 5 | 36.88 | -83.83 |
| 16.4 | 1984-02-14 | 3.6 | 10 | 36.13 | -83.74 |
| 16.2 | 1969-07-13 | 3.5 | N/A | 36.1 | -83.7 |
Historical Tornado Events
A total of 16 historical tornado events that had recorded magnitude of 2 or above found in or near Grainger County.
| Distance (miles) | Date | Magnitude | Start Lat/Log | End Lat/Log | Length | Width | Fatalities | Injuries | Property Damage | Crop Damage | Affected County |
| 12.3 | 2009-05-08 | 2 | 36°27'N / 83°34'W | 2.00 Miles | 100 Yards | 0 | 0 | 0K | 0K | Claiborne | |
| Brief Description: EVENT NARRATIVE: An EF-2 tornado with maximum wind speed of 110 miles an hour occurred around five miles southwest of Tazewell. The tornado initially touched down along Cole Road and quickly produced 110 mph winds. It lifted the roof off of a home on Cole Road moved east across the road and moved east across the road and destroyed two large wooden barns carrying debris up to a half mile away. Several trees were also snapped off at mid trunk level. The tornado continued in a 2.2 mile path and dissipated near Neely Road. EPISODE NARRATIVE: A highly organized mesoscale convective vorticity maximum with strong low to mid tropospheric flow coupled with moderate instability resulted in the development of discrete supercellular thunderstorms. These storms produced a long-lived tornado across Northeast Tennessee late in the afternoon and another long duration tornado across Southwest Virginia later in the evening. | |||||||||||
| 21.7 | 1980-07-06 | 2 | 36°35'N / 83°15'W | 36°25'N / 83°13'W | 11.50 Miles | 300 Yards | 0 | 0 | 250K | 0 | Hancock |
| 24.7 | 1988-05-09 | 3 | 36°36'N / 83°45'W | 36°36'N / 83°39'W | 5.00 Miles | 500 Yards | 1 | 15 | 25.0M | 0 | Bell |
| 27.9 | 1976-02-18 | 2 | 35°57'N / 83°13'W | 1.00 Mile | 33 Yards | 0 | 10 | 2.5M | 0 | Cocke | |
| 30.6 | 1963-03-11 | 2 | 36°00'N / 83°07'W | 36°02'N / 83°01'W | 6.20 Miles | 200 Yards | 1 | 1 | 250K | 0 | Cocke |
| 35.3 | 1953-05-02 | 2 | 36°02'N / 84°04'W | 0.80 Mile | 100 Yards | 0 | 0 | 3K | 0 | Anderson | |
| 35.6 | 2002-11-10 | 2 | 36°12'N / 84°12'W | 36°12'N / 84°05'W | 5.50 Miles | 75 Yards | 0 | 0 | 213K | 0 | Anderson |
| Brief Description: An F2 tornado produced a damage path 75 yards wide for a distance of 5.5 miles from near Briceville to Medford. The Medford community received the brunt of the damage, which was concentrated along Highway 25W, Leinart Road, Bryant Circle and Old and New Clear Branch roads. In all, 32 homes were damaged while 3 were totally destroyed. In addition, 9 mobile homes were damaged. | |||||||||||
| 36.6 | 1993-02-21 | 3 | 36°01'N / 84°15'W | 36°06'N / 83°58'W | 10.00 Miles | 150 Yards | 0 | 3 | 5.0M | 0 | Knox |
| Brief Description: The tornado started near Oak Ridge, moved through the Bull Run Steam Plant and went through the town of Claxton. Fifty homes were damaged and six mobile homes were destroyed. Two business were destroyed and another 10 were damaged including a weapons plant. Twelve electric transmission towers were knocked down. | |||||||||||
| 39.1 | 1965-04-15 | 2 | 35°52'N / 84°05'W | 35°57'N / 84°00'W | 7.40 Miles | 200 Yards | 0 | 6 | 2.5M | 0 | Knox |
| 40.2 | 1955-03-05 | 2 | 36°28'N / 82°52'W | 36°30'N / 82°48'W | 4.30 Miles | 300 Yards | 0 | 6 | 250K | 0 | Hawkins |
| 40.4 | 1967-03-12 | 2 | 36°08'N / 82°55'W | 36°15'N / 82°40'W | 16.00 Miles | 300 Yards | 1 | 5 | 250K | 0 | Greene |
| 41.0 | 1974-04-03 | 2 | 35°47'N / 83°55'W | 0.50 Mile | 50 Yards | 0 | 2 | 250K | 0 | Blount | |
| 43.1 | 1967-03-12 | 3 | 36°40'N / 84°07'W | 2.00 Miles | 100 Yards | 0 | 0 | 0K | 0 | Whitley | |
| 46.3 | 1967-04-22 | 2 | 36°12'N / 82°41'W | 0.20 Mile | 250 Yards | 0 | 0 | 250K | 0 | Greene | |
| 46.9 | 1955-03-25 | 2 | 36°01'N / 84°25'W | 36°12'N / 84°14'W | 16.30 Miles | 1760 Yards | 0 | 0 | 3K | 0 | Jefferson |
| 50.0 | 1967-03-12 | 3 | 36°45'N / 84°20'W | 36°40'N / 84°08'W | 12.50 Miles | 100 Yards | 0 | 5 | 250K | 0 | Whitley |
* The information on this page is based on the global volcano database, the U.S. earthquake database of 1638-1985, and the U.S. Tornado and Weather Extremes database of 1950-2010.