Tornado, Clarke
- When
- March 18, 5:30 PM CST to 5:40 PM CST
- Where
- Clarke County, Jackson Muni Arpt to Walker Springs
- Rating
- F1
- Path length
- 8 mi
- Path width
- 200 yd
- Injuries
- 15 direct, 0 indirect
- Property damage
- $1.0 million
- Coordinates
- 31.470, -87.900
Tornado in Alabama, March 18, 1996
A TORNADO TOUCHED DOWN JUST EAST OF U. S.
Where it happened
Every event with a place to put it. Tap one for its entry below.
- Tornadoes
- Tropical storms and surge
- Floods
- Wind
- Hail
- Winter weather
- Heat and drought
- Cold
- Fire, smoke and dust
- Marine and coastal
- Other
The toll
- Deaths
- 0
- Injuries
- 15
- Property damage
- $1.0 million
- Crop damage
- None recorded
- Events
- 1
Deaths and injuries are direct and indirect together, as the offices filed them. Damage is property and crops in the dollars of the year, not adjusted for inflation, and only where an office estimated it.
What happened
The episode as NWS MOB wrote it up.
A TORNADO TOUCHED DOWN JUST EAST OF U. S. HWY 43, JUST SOUTH OF JACKSON NEAR THE BOISE CASCADE PLANT AND THE AIRPORT. HEAVY DAMAGE WAS SUSTAINED AT THE BOISE CASCADE PLANT TO A BUILDING UNDER CONSTRUCTION. SEVERAL HOMES NEAR THE AIRPORT ALSO SUFFERED ROOF DAMAGE. THE TORNADO MOVED NORTHEAST AND CROSSED STATE HIGHWAY 2 AND THEN PASSED JUST SOUTH OF WALKER SPRINGS. SEVERAL HOMES WERE DAMAGED HERE, WITH SEVERAL BARNS AND OUTBUILDINGS AND A TRAILER BEING DESTROYED. A LADY IN THE TRAILER CRAWLED UNDER A TRACTOR TO ESCAPE THE TORNADO. ANOTHER LADY ESCAPED INJURY BY HIDING IN THE CLOSET OF HER HOME. FIFTEEN PEOPLE WERE INJURED BUT NONE SERIOUSLY AND THREE COWS WERE ALSO KILLED. MOST OF THE OTHER DAMAGE WAS TO SHINGLES BEING BLOWN FROM ROOFS AND ALSO FROM TREES BEING BLOWN ON HOMES. THE TORNADO THEN LIFTED BACK INTO THE CLOUD NEAR COUNTY ROAD 29. THE TORNADO WAS ON THE GROUND FOR ABOUT EIGHT MILES.
The radar
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
Event by event
1 tornado. Local standard time, as filed.
What these are
- Tornado
- A violently rotating column of air in contact with the ground and extending from a thunderstorm, filed with its path, width and Fujita or Enhanced Fujita rating from the damage survey.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
The same day elsewhere
- Tornadoes in Alabama, March 18, 1996
- Tornado in Alabama, March 18, 1996
- Tornadoes in Alabama, March 18, 1996
- Hail in Mississippi, March 18, 1996
- Hail in Mississippi, March 18, 1996
- Tornadoes in Alabama, March 18, 1996
- Hail in Mississippi, March 18, 1996
- Tornado in Alabama, March 18, 1996
- High Wind in Louisiana, March 18 to 19, 1996
- Hail in Mississippi, March 18, 1996
- Hail in Mississippi, March 18, 1996
- Tornado in Alabama, March 18, 1996
More
Every storm in Alabama in 1996Every state in 1996This day in weather historyThe tornado archive for Alabama, 1996Warnings in Alabama, March 1996
Sources
NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database, compiled from the National Weather Service’s monthly Storm Data. Complete through 2026-06; NCEI adds each month about 75 days after it ends and revises past years a few times a year. Rebuilt 2026-09-24. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 5552291.