Alert archive / Mississippi / Tornado Watches in 2026

Tornado Watch 55

March 15, 20267 states

The Storm Prediction Center issued this tornado watch at Mar 15, 2026, 3:57 PM CDT for 7 states. It was in force for 7 hr.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued: Mar 15, 2026, 3:57 PM CDT (20:57 UTC)
Expired: Mar 15, 2026, 11:00 PM CDT
In force: 7 hr
Issued by: the Storm Prediction Center
Largest hail expected: 2 in
Strongest gust expected: 70 kt

All 132 counties

Ashley County, AR, Chicot County, AR, Clay County, AR, Craighead County, AR, Crittenden County, AR, Cross County, AR, Greene County, AR, Lee County, AR, Mississippi County, AR, Phillips County, AR, Poinsett County, AR, St. Francis County, AR, Alexander County, IL, Edwards County, IL, Franklin County, IL, Gallatin County, IL, Hamilton County, IL, Hardin County, IL, Jackson County, IL, Jefferson County, IL, Johnson County, IL, Massac County, IL, Perry County, IL, Pope County, IL, Pulaski County, IL, Saline County, IL, Union County, IL, Wabash County, IL, Wayne County, IL, White County, IL, Williamson County, IL, Gibson County, IN, Pike County, IN, Posey County, IN, Spencer County, IN, Vanderburgh County, IN, Warrick County, IN, Ballard County, KY, Caldwell County, KY, Calloway County, KY, Carlisle County, KY, Christian County, KY, Crittenden County, KY, Daviess County, KY, Fulton County, KY, Graves County, KY, Henderson County, KY, Hickman County, KY, Hopkins County, KY, Livingston County, KY, Lyon County, KY, Marshall County, KY, McCracken County, KY, McLean County, KY, Muhlenberg County, KY, Todd County, KY, Trigg County, KY, Union County, KY, Webster County, KY, Bollinger County, MO, Butler County, MO, Cape Girardeau County, MO, Carter County, MO, Dunklin County, MO, Mississippi County, MO, New Madrid County, MO, Pemiscot County, MO, Perry County, MO, Ripley County, MO, Scott County, MO, Stoddard County, MO, Wayne County, MO, Alcorn County, MS, Attala County, MS, Benton County, MS, Bolivar County, MS, Calhoun County, MS, Carroll County, MS, Chickasaw County, MS, Choctaw County, MS, Clay County, MS, Coahoma County, MS, DeSoto County, MS, Grenada County, MS, Holmes County, MS, Humphreys County, MS, Issaquena County, MS, Itawamba County, MS, Lafayette County, MS, Lee County, MS, Leflore County, MS, Marshall County, MS, Monroe County, MS, Montgomery County, MS, Oktibbeha County, MS, Panola County, MS, Pontotoc County, MS, Prentiss County, MS, Quitman County, MS, Sharkey County, MS, Sunflower County, MS, Tallahatchie County, MS, Tate County, MS, Tippah County, MS, Tishomingo County, MS, Tunica County, MS, Union County, MS, Washington County, MS, Webster County, MS, Yalobusha County, MS, Yazoo County, MS, Benton County, TN, Carroll County, TN, Chester County, TN, Crockett County, TN, Decatur County, TN, Dyer County, TN, Fayette County, TN, Gibson County, TN, Hardeman County, TN, Hardin County, TN, Haywood County, TN, Henderson County, TN, Henry County, TN, Lake County, TN, Lauderdale County, TN, Madison County, TN, McNairy County, TN, Obion County, TN, Shelby County, TN, Tipton County, TN, Weakley County, TN

The radar

The Paducah radar (KPAH), 86 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 21:00 UTC, the scan nearest the moment this went out.

Open the radar archive at this moment

The archived warnings, watches and discussions in force at that minute are drawn over the scan, this one among them.

What SPC expected

The probabilities SPC published with the watch, for the watch area over its life.

Two or more tornadoes: 80%
One or more EF2 to EF5 tornadoes: 50%
Ten or more severe wind reports: 90%
One or more gusts of 65 knots or more: 60%
Ten or more severe hail reports: 50%
One or more hailstones of 2 inches or more: 30%
Six or more combined severe hail and wind reports: 95%

Warnings issued inside it

92 tornado, severe thunderstorm and flash flood warnings for its counties while it was in force.

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Mar 15, 4:42 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning Considerable damage threat	PAH	Carter, Ripley	63 min
Mar 15, 4:57 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	PAH	Carter, Ripley	48 min
Mar 15, 5:29 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	PAH	Ripley	31 min
Mar 15, 5:31 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	PAH	Butler, Carter, Wayne	44 min
Mar 15, 5:33 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MEG	Clay, Greene	42 min
Mar 15, 5:42 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	PAH	Butler, Ripley	48 min
Mar 15, 5:46 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	PAH	Perry	29 min
Mar 15, 5:47 PM CDT	Tornado Warning Tornado observed	MEG	Clay, Craighead, Greene	43 min
Mar 15, 5:50 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	PAH	Perry	40 min
Mar 15, 5:59 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	PAH	Bollinger, Butler, Cape Girardeau, Scott, Stoddard, Wayne	46 min
Mar 15, 6:02 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	PAH	Bollinger	30 min
Mar 15, 6:05 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MEG	Clay, Craighead, Greene, Mississippi, Poinsett	40 min
Mar 15, 6:21 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MEG	Crittenden, Cross, Mississippi, Poinsett, St. Francis	54 min
Mar 15, 6:22 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	PAH	Cape Girardeau, Perry	23 min
Mar 15, 6:23 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	MEG	Craighead, Greene, Mississippi	52 min
Mar 15, 6:24 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	PAH	Jefferson, Perry	51 min
Mar 15, 6:24 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	PAH	Bollinger, Cape Girardeau	51 min
Mar 15, 6:29 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	JAN	Ashley, Chicot	61 min
Mar 15, 6:29 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	MEG	Clay	31 min
Mar 15, 6:32 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MEG	Lee, Phillips	58 min
Mar 15, 6:36 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	PAH	Franklin, Jackson, Jefferson, Perry, Williamson	39 min
Mar 15, 6:36 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	PAH	Alexander	39 min
Mar 15, 6:41 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning Considerable damage threat	MEG	Clay, Craighead, Greene, Mississippi, Poinsett	49 min
Mar 15, 6:42 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	PAH	Jackson, Union, Williamson	48 min
Mar 15, 6:44 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	PAH	Cape Girardeau, Perry	16 min
Mar 15, 6:45 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	PAH	Fulton	28 min
Mar 15, 6:47 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MEG	Crittenden	43 min
Mar 15, 6:47 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MEG	Phillips	43 min
Mar 15, 6:52 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	PAH	Alexander, Jackson, Johnson, Pulaski, Union, Williamson	38 min
Mar 15, 6:53 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	MEG	Mississippi	22 min
Mar 15, 6:56 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	MEG	Lee, Phillips	33 min
Mar 15, 7:03 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MEG	DeSoto, Tunica	42 min
Mar 15, 7:04 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	PAH	Union	26 min
Mar 15, 7:07 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning Considerable damage threat	JAN	Bolivar, Sunflower	68 min
Mar 15, 7:12 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	JAN	Ashley	63 min
Mar 15, 7:12 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning Considerable damage threat	MEG	Crittenden, Cross, Mississippi, Poinsett, St. Francis	35 min
Mar 15, 7:15 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	PAH	Franklin, Williamson	30 min
Mar 15, 7:16 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning Considerable damage threat	PAH	Alexander, Pulaski	44 min
Mar 15, 7:18 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	PAH	Alexander, Pulaski	42 min
Mar 15, 7:20 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	PAH	Carlisle, Fulton, Hickman	55 min
Mar 15, 7:22 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MEG	Crittenden, Lee, Phillips	38 min
Mar 15, 7:25 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	JAN	Chicot	80 min
Mar 15, 7:26 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning Considerable damage threat	MEG	Pemiscot	64 min
Mar 15, 7:30 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning Considerable damage threat	MEG	Crockett, Fayette, Haywood, Lauderdale, Madison, Shelby and 1 more	60 min
Mar 15, 7:32 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	JAN	Bolivar, Sunflower	43 min
Mar 15, 7:34 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	PAH	Johnson, Pulaski, Union	15 min
Mar 15, 7:36 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	PAH	Alexander, Johnson, Massac, Pulaski	39 min
Mar 15, 7:41 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MEG	Alcorn, Benton, Tippah	49 min
Mar 15, 7:43 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning Considerable damage threat	PAH	Massac, Pope	47 min
Mar 15, 7:52 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MEG	DeSoto, Lafayette, Marshall, Panola, Quitman, Tate and 1 more	38 min
Mar 15, 7:55 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	JAN	Chicot	65 min
Mar 15, 7:56 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	PAH	Johnson, Massac, Pope	28 min
Mar 15, 7:58 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MEG	Phillips	47 min
Mar 15, 7:58 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	MEG	Alcorn, Tippah	47 min
Mar 15, 8:08 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	PAH	Graves, Hickman	23 min
Mar 15, 8:14 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	PAH	Edwards, Wabash, White	46 min
Mar 15, 8:17 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	JAN	Ashley	58 min
Mar 15, 8:17 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MEG	Chester, Fayette, Gibson, Hardeman, Henderson, McNairy and 1 more	43 min
Mar 15, 8:18 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning Considerable damage threat	MEG	Benton, Carroll, Decatur, Gibson, Henderson, Henry and 1 more	57 min
Mar 15, 8:20 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	PAH	Calloway, Graves	40 min
Mar 15, 8:22 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning Considerable damage threat	MEG	Alcorn, Tishomingo	53 min
Mar 15, 8:24 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MEG	Benton, DeSoto, Lafayette, Marshall, Panola, Tate and 1 more	51 min
Mar 15, 8:26 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MEG	Alcorn, Tishomingo	64 min
Mar 15, 8:28 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	JAN	Carroll, Grenada, Holmes, Humphreys, Leflore, Sunflower	62 min
Mar 15, 8:33 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MEG	Calhoun, Lafayette, Panola, Quitman, Tallahatchie, Yalobusha	42 min
Mar 15, 8:34 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MEG	Itawamba, Lee, Pontotoc, Prentiss, Union	41 min
Mar 15, 8:37 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	PAH	Christian, Muhlenberg, Todd	53 min
Mar 15, 8:41 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	MEG	Hardin	34 min
Mar 15, 8:46 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	PAH	Trigg	29 min
Mar 15, 8:53 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	JAN	Holmes, Humphreys, Issaquena, Sharkey, Sunflower, Washington	46 min
Mar 15, 8:56 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MEG	Alcorn, Benton, Lafayette, Marshall, Prentiss, Tippah and 1 more	49 min
Mar 15, 8:58 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MEG	Chester, Decatur, Hardeman, Henderson, McNairy, Madison	47 min
Mar 15, 9:03 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	PAH	Christian, Muhlenberg, Todd, Trigg	57 min
Mar 15, 9:04 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	JAN	Carroll, Grenada, Montgomery, Webster	41 min
Mar 15, 9:08 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning Considerable damage threat	PAH	Gibson, Pike, Spencer, Vanderburgh, Warrick	52 min
Mar 15, 9:08 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MEG	Calhoun, Chickasaw, Lafayette, Panola, Pontotoc, Tallahatchie and 2 more	37 min
Mar 15, 9:08 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MEG	Itawamba, Lee, Prentiss, Tishomingo	67 min
Mar 15, 9:10 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MEG	Benton, Decatur	20 min
Mar 15, 9:19 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	PAH	Christian, Daviess, Hopkins, McLean, Muhlenberg, Webster	56 min
Mar 15, 9:24 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	MEG	Prentiss, Tishomingo	36 min
Mar 15, 9:25 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	PAH	Muhlenberg	35 min
Mar 15, 9:25 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MEG	Decatur, Hardin, Henderson, McNairy	50 min
Mar 15, 9:27 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MEG	Alcorn, Prentiss, Tippah, Tishomingo, Union	48 min
Mar 15, 9:32 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	JAN	Claiborne, Hinds, Issaquena, Warren	58 min
Mar 15, 9:37 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	PAH	Christian, Todd	24 min
Mar 15, 9:41 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MEG	Itawamba, Lee, Pontotoc, Prentiss, Tishomingo, Union	64 min
Mar 15, 9:43 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	JAN	Clay, Webster	47 min
Mar 15, 9:48 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MEG	Calhoun, Chickasaw, Itawamba, Lee, Monroe, Pontotoc	57 min
Mar 15, 10:09 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	JAN	Hinds, Madison, Rankin, Yazoo	66 min
Mar 15, 10:09 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MEG	Prentiss, Tishomingo	21 min
Mar 15, 10:13 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	JAN	Clay	62 min
Mar 15, 10:38 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MEG	Chickasaw, Itawamba, Lee, Monroe, Tishomingo	39 min

Discussions around it

SPC mesoscale discussions over the same counties from four hours before the watch to its end.

The nearest sounding before it

Nashville Metro, TN (KBNA), launched 12:00Z, 9.0 hours before the alert went out and 209 km from the middle of its area. This is the routine balloon launch nearest before it, the air the forecaster had in hand, not a measurement taken for the alert.

Skew-T log-p

Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.

Hodograph

The wind turning with height, colored by layer: ground to 1 km, 1 to 3 km, 3 to 6 km, 6 to 10 km.

Mixed-layer CAPE: 0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: No buoyant parcel
Mixed-layer LCL: 1402 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 38 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 67 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 161 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.0
Supercell composite: 0.0

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

SPC that day

Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Mar 15, 12:31 PM CDT	Mesoscale Discussion	SPC	Baxter, Boone, Bradley, Calhoun, Carroll, Clark and 49 more	89 min
Mar 15, 1:53 PM CDT	Tornado Watch	SPC	Arkansas, Baxter, Boone, Bradley, Calhoun, Carroll and 56 more	7 hr
Mar 15, 3:27 PM CDT	Mesoscale Discussion	SPC	Chicot, Clay, Craighead, Crittenden, Greene, Mississippi and 2 more	93 min
Mar 15, 3:39 PM CDT	Mesoscale Discussion	SPC	Arkansas, Ashley, Baxter, Boone, Bradley, Calhoun and 49 more	96 min
Mar 15, 6:43 PM CDT	Mesoscale Discussion	SPC	Arkansas, Ashley, Bradley, Calhoun, Chicot, Clay and 18 more	2 hr
Mar 15, 12:23 PM CDT	Mesoscale Discussion	SPC	Bond, Calhoun, Clinton, Greene, Jackson, Jersey and 13 more	2 hr
Mar 15, 1:33 PM CDT	Tornado Watch	SPC	Bond, Calhoun, Clinton, Fayette, Greene, Jersey and 9 more	6 hr
Mar 15, 3:43 PM CDT	Tornado Watch	SPC	Cass, Champaign, Christian, Clark, Clay, Coles and 23 more	5 hr
Mar 15, 5:16 PM CDT	Mesoscale Discussion	SPC	Iroquois, Kankakee	59 min
Mar 15, 5:42 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Watch	SPC	Ford, Iroquois, Kankakee, Livingston	6 hr
Mar 15, 5:47 PM CDT	Mesoscale Discussion	SPC	Bond, Champaign, Clark, Clay, Clinton, Coles and 22 more	88 min

Nearby

Tornado Watches in Mississippi, 2026 Tornado Watches in Kentucky, 2026 Tornado Watches in Tennessee, 2026 Every tornado watch in 2026

Sources

The product and its follow-ups from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service and Storm Prediction Center text; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.