| 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 into 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 |
A storm survey of Pontotoc County confirmed an EF-2 tornado moved across the area around 12:00 a.m. CST on April 1. The tornado began in far western Pontotoc County, around Antioch Road, with a few trees downed and tree limbs snapped. Along Highway 9 and Houpt Road, tree damage became more significant, and a few homes and outbuildings sustained damage. A brick home on Highway 9 sustained heavy damage to the front side, mostly caused by a large uprooted tree. Damage in this area was rated EF-1. Weaker damage continued south of the Springville community before another area of EF-1 damage was noted along Highway 341 at Foster Lane. Here a brick home sustained significant roof loss, caused partially by the uplift of an open-air carport. A few other homes had roof damage as the tornado continued to the south side of Pontotoc. A swath of more intense damage ran from Highway 15 across Highway 41 and East 10th Street, with numerous homes sustaining considerable damage. The tornado reached EF-2 intensity in this area, based on a double-wide mobile home being swept away, two brick homes having significant roof loss, and a large anchored garage being destroyed. Bolted footings that remained in place were observed in the garage. Damage to other homes in the area was rated EF-1, and many trees were uprooted, with a good number of snaps as well. Significant tree damage, along with minor structural damage, continued across Horseshoe Bend, Hall Road, and New Hope Road, maintaining EF-1 intensity. After briefly weakening near Highway 278, the tornado encountered the College Hill Lane neighborhood along Old Highway 6. Here, more significant damage was observed to structures and trees, mostly pines. A site-built home lost part of its roof, and a neighboring double-wide was swept away and scattered south and east, resulting in a fatality. Additionally, other homes sustained minor damage, and a small barber shop building was rolled and destroyed. Damage continued in the EF-0 range from Faulkner Road to near the Lee County line, with several more homes being damaged and numerous trees being uprooted. The more severe home damage in this area appeared to be a combination of tree failure or uplift of garages/carports, thus the rating was kept at high-end EF-0. At Country Oaks Circle, a church sign and cemetery sign were blown down, and several headstones in the cemetery sustained damage. The damage path appeared to end in a grove of trees just south of Old Highway 6, and no damage was observed on County Road 41 at the Pontotoc/Lee county line. Along the track, 12 homes were destroyed and 120 were damaged. Peak estimated winds in Pontotoc County were 120 mph. Note that part of this tornado occurred after 12:00 am CST on April 1 and much of that data is included in April's Storm Data. The complete narrative is included in both March Storm Data and April Storm Data. |
