7 hail, 2 tornado, 1 lightning, as filed by the National Weather Service.
Every event with a place to put it; 1 filed by county or forecast zone are drawn at its center, in a lighter ring. Tap one for its entry below.
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.
The local office's own words before the first event, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.
NWS Memphis, TN wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Mar 22, 4:25 AM CST, 2 hours 5 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MEMPHIS TN 425 AM CST TUE MAR 22 2005 .DISCUSSION...LATEST SURFACE ANALYSIS PLACES SURFACE LOW PRESSURE ACROSS CENTRAL OKLAHOMA WITH WARM FRONT EXTENDING DOWN INTO SOUTHWESTERN ARKANSAS AND LOUISIANA. A TRAILING COLD FRONT EXTENDS ACROSS WESTERN TEXAS. CONCERNS FOR THIS FORECAST PACKAGE WILL FOCUS MAINLY ON SEVERE WEATHER POTENTIAL TODAY AND TONIGHT. TODAY...BIG QUESTION FOR SEVERE WEATHER POTENTIAL TODAY WILL BE HOW FAR NORTH WARM FRONT MOVES ACROSS THE MID SOUTH AND AMOUNT OF SUNSHINE THE FORECAST AREA SEES TODAY. CURRENT SURFACE ANALYSIS NOT SHOWING MUCH MOVEMENT ON WARM FRONT AS OF YET WHILE SHORT TERM MODELS SUGGESTING WARM FRONT REACHING AREAS AS FAR NORTH AS MEMPHIS BY 12Z. SURFACE FRONT SHOULD HOPEFULLY START TO MOVE NORTH ACROSS THE REGION LATER THIS MORNING. UPPER LEVEL LOW CENTERED ACROSS SOUTHERN KANSAS/WESTERN OKLAHOMA WILL MOVE EAST TODAY WITH 850 MB WINDS INCREASING TO 35 KTS BY THIS AFTERNOON. UPPER LEVEL SUPPORT STILL BEING INDICATED BY MODELS AND 00Z 250MB ANALYSIS WITH UPPER LEVEL DIVERGENCE PRESENT AS THE MID SOUTH IS IN THE LEFT EXIT REGION OF UPPER LEVEL JET. 88D REGIONAL RADAR TRENDS SHOW SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS AFFECTING THE MID SOUTH THIS MORNING. LATEST INFRARED AND WATER VAPOR IMAGERY SHOWING DRY SLOT TRYING TO WORK ITS WAY EAST BEHIND CURRENT CONVECTION. AS A RESULT...WILL SEE A BREAK IN THE ACTION BEFORE ADDITIONAL SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS DEVELOP BY THIS AFTERNOON. LATEST MODEL RUNS OF GFS/NAM SUGGESTING THAT ALL OF THE FORECAST AREA WILL REMAIN MOSTLY CLOUDY BUT SUSPECT THAT AREAS ESPECIALLY ACROSS NORTHERN MISSISSIPPI WILL BECOME PARTLY SUNNY DURING THE DAY. SEVERE WEATHER PARAMETERS FOR THIS AFTERNOON LOOK RATHER GOOD WITH 0-6KM BULK SHEAR VALUES AT OR ABOVE 40KTS...CAPES OF 1100-1800 J/KG...700 MB DEWPOINT DEPRESSIONS UPSTREAM ABOVE 5C...AND STEEP 700-500 MB LAYER MID LEVEL LAPSE RATES AROUND 7 C/KM. BACKING SURFACE WINDS ALONG WITH VEERING WIND PROFILE STILL SUGGEST SUPERCELL THREAT AT ONSET OF CONVECTION...BUT THINK THAT A TRANSITION TO LINEAR CONVECTION WITH BOWING SEGMENTS WILL OCCUR TOWARDS EVENING AS WINDS GRADUALLY BECOME MORE UNIDIRECTIONAL BY 00Z. THAT SAID...THINK BEST POTENTIAL FOR SEVERE WEATHER TODAY WILL BE PRIMARILY ACROSS NORTHERN MISSISSIPPI AND THE BORDERING TENNESSEE/ARKANSAS COUNTIES. 850MB TEMPERATURES WILL WARM TO AROUND 9C BY THIS AFTERNOON...BUT THINK TEMPERATURES WILL REACH AROUND 70 WHERE LESS CLOUD COVER WILL BE PRESENT. TONIGHT...SURFACE COLD FRONT AND MAIN LINE OF CONVECTION WILL PASS THROUGH THE FORECAST AREA DURING FIRST PART OF THE EVENING WITH SOME WRAP AROUND MOISTURE FROM THE UPPER LEVEL LOW PRODUCING SOME RESIDUAL RAIN SHOWERS ACROSS THE FORECAST AREA THROUGH MORNING. LOWS WILL DROP DOWN INTO THE 40S. WEDNESDAY AND WEDNESDAY NIGHT...CLOUDS WILL GRADUALLY BECOME PARTLY CLOUDY AS HIGH PRESSURE BUILDS IN ACROSS THE LOWER MISSISSIPPI VALLEY AND LOW PRESSURE MOVES OFF TO NEW ENGLAND. 850MB TEMPERATURES AROUND 4-5 C WILL SUPPORT HIGHS IN THE UPPER 60S AT BEST...BUT WILL KEEP TEMPERATURES IN THE UPPER 50S TO MIDDLE 60S WITH SOME CLOUD COVER PRESENT. LOWS WEDNESDAY NIGHT WILL DROP INTO THE LOWER 40S. NO CHANGES MADE BEYOND THURSDAY. && .MEG WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... AR...NONE. MO...NONE. MS...NONE. TN...NONE. && CJC
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK...CORRECTED NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MEMPHIS TN 450 AM CST MON MAR 22 2005 CORRECTED DATE ARZ008-009-017-018-026>028-035-036-048-049-058-MOZ113-115-MSZ001>017- 020>024-TNZ001>004-019>021-048>055-088>092-231200- ALCORN-BENTON-CALHOUN-CARROLL-CHESTER-CHICKASAW-CLAY-COAHOMA- CRAIGHEAD-CRITTENDEN-CROCKETT-CROSS-DECATUR-DESOTO-DUNKLIN-DYER- FAYETTE-GIBSON-GREENE-HARDEMAN-HARDIN-HAYWOOD-HENDERSON-HENRY- ITAWAMBA-LAFAYETTE-LAKE-LAUDERDALE-LAWRENCE-LEE(AR)-LEE(MS)-MADISON- MARSHALL-MCNAIRY-MISSISSIPPI-MONROE-OBION-PANOLA-PEMISCOT-PHILLIPS- POINSETT-PONTOTOC-PRENTISS-QUITMAN-RANDOLPH-SHELBY-ST. FRANCIS- TALLAHATCHIE-TATE-TIPPAH-TIPTON-TISHOMINGO-TUNICA-UNION-WEAKLEY- YALOBUSHA- 450 AM CST MON MAR 22 2005 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR NORTHEAST ARKANSAS...NORTH MISSISSIPPI...WEST TENNESSEE AND THE MISSOURI BOOTHEEL. .DAY ONE... THERE IS A MODERATE RISK OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS ACROSS A PORTION OF WESTERN TENNESSEE AND NORTHERN MISSISSIPPI PRIMARILY SOUTH OF I-40 AND EAST OF I-55. A SLIGHT RISK OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS EXISTS ACROSS THE REST OF THE FORECAST AREA. STRONG SURFACE AND UPPER LEVEL LOW PRESSURE WILL MOVE THROUGH ARKANSAS DURING THE DAY TODAY AND ACROSS KENTUCKY ON WEDNESDAY. A WARM FRONT EXTENDING FROM THE LOW ACROSS LOUISIANA AND ARKANSAS WILL MOVE NORTHEAST THIS MORNING ACROSS MUCH OF THE FORECAST AREA. SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS AHEAD OF THE WARM FRONT WILL AFFECT THE MID SOUTH WITH HAIL AS THE PRIMARY THREAT THIS MORNING. ADDITIONAL SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WILL DEVELOP ALONG AND AHEAD OF A COLD FRONT WHICH WILL PASS THROUGH THE AREA TONIGHT. INSTABILITY IN THE ATMOSPHERE AND FAVORABLE WIND FIELDS SUPPORT LARGE HAIL...DAMAGING WINDS...AND TORNADOES THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT. THE GREATEST POTENTIAL FOR SEVERE WEATHER WILL BE FROM NOON TO 9 PM. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN... NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION WILL LIKELY BE NEEDED ACROSS THE ENTIRE AREA THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING.
The Memphis radar (KNQA), 42 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 12:28 UTC.
7 hail, 2 tornado, 1 lightning. Local standard time, as filed.
Four homes were damaged when lightning struck a nearby tree and traveled through some water pipes.
The tornado touched down on the southwest edge of the Cherokee Valley Golf Course and moved northeast. A car wash and a Jiffy Lube had the glass blown out of their buildings. A large oak tree at the golf course was uprooted. Some shingles and small trees were blown down.
The tornado touched down in the Alexandria Ridge subdivision in Olive Branch and moved northeast. One home suffered extensive roof damage. Another home had an air conditioner blown through one of the windows. Several other homes suffered minor shingle and fence damage.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Mississippi in 2005Every state in 2005This day in weather historyThe tornado archive for Mississippi, 2005Warnings in Mississippi, March 2005
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: 5439871, 5440657, 5439806, 5439812, 5439870, 5439807, 5439808, 5439809, 5439810, 5439811.