Mark Humphrey/AP

The tornado warning for Davidson county, which includes the Nashville area, was issued at 12:35 a.m. local time. The damage report in East Nashville came in at 12:41 a.m, indicating residents in East Nashville received around six minutes of lead time.

Residents to the west in Nashville would have had even less lead time.

The first report that mentioned a large tornado confirmed on the ground "near Nashville" came in at 12:38 a.m. local time, which would have been as little as three minutes of lead time before the tornado was on the ground in and around Nashville.

There was a severe thunderstorm warning that was issued at 12:10 a.m., which included Nashville and Davidson county, but it was not upgraded to a tornado warning until 12:35 a.m.