Storm Events Database

Storm Events Database

Event Details:

Event Tornado
-- Scale EF2
-- Length 2.27 Miles
-- Width 1600 Yards
State ARKANSAS
County/Area CRITTENDEN
WFO MEG
Report Source NWS Storm Survey
NCEI Data Source CSV
Begin Date 2023-03-31 16:28 CST-6
Begin Location 2ENE LAMBETHVILLE
Begin Lat/Lon 35.3908/-90.1447
End Date 2023-03-31 16:31 CST-6
End Location 4ENE LAMBETHVILLE
End Lat/Lon 35.4065/-90.1092
Deaths Direct/Indirect 0/0 (fatality details below, when available...)
Injuries Direct/Indirect 0/0
Property Damage 15.00K
Crop Damage 0.00K
Episode Narrative A regional tornado outbreak occurred during the late afternoon of Friday, March 31, 2023, and continued into the early morning hours of Saturday, April 1, 2023. This outbreak covered portions of the Ohio Valley, and the Middle and Lower Mississippi Valleys, including a good portion of the Mid-South and stretching into the Tennessee Valley. On Friday, March 31, a surface low was located near La Crosse, WI, with a cold front stretching south into central/southwest Missouri, western Arkansas, and eastern Texas. Surface temperatures were mainly in the 70s to approaching 80 degrees with surface dewpoints in the lower to middle 60s, yielding Surface-Based CAPE (SBCAPE) values between 1500-2000 J/kg by Friday evening. Favorable upper-level divergence produced by the right entrance region of a 140-kt jet streak at 300 mb provided ample lift to produce strong to severe thunderstorms across the region. Directional and speed shear were impressive with 70-80 knots of Effective Bulk Shear present and 0-1 km Storm Relative Helicity values between 500-600 m2/s2, all more than enough for organized thunderstorms across the area. Discrete supercells started to develop across the Lower Mississippi Valley during the afternoon hours on March 31, 2023, eventually tracking into the Mid-South by late afternoon. The first supercell that developed in the Mid-South produced an EF-3 that caused major damage in Wynne, Arkansas. Tornadic supercells continued to produce significant tornado damage across the Mid-South into the early morning hours of April 1, 2023. The hardest hit areas besides Wynne, Arkansas included Covington, Tennessee, and McNairy County, Tennessee. Overall, 14 tornadoes occurred across the Mid-South along with several reports of wind damage and measured damaging wind speeds. Eighteen people in the Mid-South lost their lives in this outbreak.
Event Narrative The tornado that tracked through Wynne, Arkansas eventually moved from through the oxbows of the Mississippi River crossing between Tennessee and Arkansas a couple of times. Significant tree damage along the Mississippi River occurred.


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Event Map:

Note: The tornado track is approximate based on the beginning (B) and ending (E) locations. The actual tornado path may differ from a straight line.
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All events for this episode:

Location County/Zone St. Date Time T.Z. Type Mag Dth Inj PrD CrD
Totals: 4 26 150.395M 0.00K
MC MANUS CROSS CO. AR 03/31/2023 15:30 CST-6 Tornado EF3 4 26 150.000M 0.00K
PRINCEDALE CROSS CO. AR 03/31/2023 16:01 CST-6 Thunderstorm Wind 56 kts. MG 0 0 0.00K 0.00K
CLOAR CRITTENDEN CO. AR 03/31/2023 16:05 CST-6 Tornado EF2 0 0 250.00K 0.00K
LAMBETHVILLE CRITTENDEN CO. AR 03/31/2023 16:28 CST-6 Tornado EF2 0 0 15.00K 0.00K
FRENCHMANS BAYOU MISSISSIPPI CO. AR 03/31/2023 16:30 CST-6 Thunderstorm Wind 87 kts. EG 0 0 20.00K 0.00K
OSCEOLA MISSISSIPPI CO. AR 03/31/2023 16:34 CST-6 Thunderstorm Wind 50 kts. EG 0 0 5.00K 0.00K
ST THOMAS MISSISSIPPI CO. AR 03/31/2023 16:34 CST-6 Tornado EF3 0 0 25.00K 0.00K
EDGEWOOD PHILLIPS CO. AR 03/31/2023 18:03 CST-6 Tornado EFU 0 0 0.00K 0.00K
LEXA PHILLIPS CO. AR 03/31/2023 18:05 CST-6 Thunderstorm Wind 70 kts. EG 0 0 30.00K 0.00K
SCOTT VLY LEE CO. AR 03/31/2023 19:57 CST-6 Thunderstorm Wind 78 kts. EG 0 0 50.00K 0.00K
Totals: 4 26 150.395M 0.00K