Southeast Severe Weather
One of the severe storm disasters on NOAA’s billion-dollar list: $2.7 billion in losses at 2024 prices ($2.0 billion at the time) and 1 deaths.
What the offices filed during it
The 27 most significant severe storm episodes filed in these dates, colored by kind.
- Tornadoes
- Tropical storms and surge
- Floods
- Wind
- Hail
- Winter weather
- Heat and drought
- Cold
- Fire, smoke and dust
- Marine and coastal
- Other
The toll
- Losses, 2024 dollars
- $2.7 billion
- Losses at the time
- $2.0 billion
- Deaths
- 1
The losses and deaths are NCEI’s, counting everything the disaster did. The episodes below are only what the Weather Service filed in its Storm Events record, which counts damage differently and often not at all, so the two never add up and are shown apart.
By state, as filed
| State | Events | Deaths | Injuries | Damage filed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mississippi | 67 | 0 | 3 | $557 million |
| Georgia | 75 | 2 | 9 | $43 million |
| Tennessee | 17 | 0 | 0 | $525,000 |
| Alabama | 154 | 0 | 13 | $281,000 |
| South Carolina | 38 | 0 | 0 | $145,000 |
| Louisiana | 6 | 0 | 0 | $111,000 |
| Arkansas | 9 | 0 | 0 | $50,000 |
| Kentucky | 19 | 0 | 0 | $21,000 |
| Ohio | 2 | 0 | 0 | $10,000 |
| Texas | 19 | 0 | 0 | $2,000 |
| New Mexico | 3 | 0 | 0 | |
| Oklahoma | 1 | 0 | 0 | |
| Nebraska | 1 | 0 | 0 |
Episode by episode
- Damaging Wind and High Wind in New Mexico, March 17, 2013A weak upper level disturbance quickly moved east over New Mexico and produced widespread gusty dry showers and thunderstorms over central and western portions of the state.
- Damaging Winds in Texas, March 17, 2013During the afternoon hours of the 17th an upper level shortwave trough moved across the Texas Panhandle. This trough provided sufficient synoptic forcing to cause convection to develop along a surface trough moving into the Texas Panhandle from central New Mexico.
- Damaging Winds in Texas, March 17, 2013Despite minimal low-level moisture and instability, strong lift accompanying a short wave trough helped generate a line of showers and thunderstorms along a surface trough late this St. Patrick's Day afternoon.
- Tornadoes and Hail in Tennessee, March 18, 2013As a line of showers and thunderstorms moved west to east across Middle Tennessee during the morning hours of Monday, March 18th, some of these thunderstorms reached severe thresholds, resulting in large hail, thunderstorm wind damage, and the occurence of four different…
- Flash Flooding and Flooding in Kentucky, March 18, 2013A line of thunderstorms progressed across eastern Kentucky during the morning hours of March 18th. A prolonged period of rainfall then fell behind the storms.
- Hail in Oklahoma, March 18, 2013A complex of showers and thunderstorms affected areas of eastern Oklahoma during the early morning of the 18th. A few of the stronger storms produced small hail over parts of the affected area.
- Hail in Arkansas, March 18, 2013Low pressure moved across Arkansas on the 18th, setting off thunderstorms in the cooler air to the north of a cold front. There were numerous reports of hail 1/4 to 1/2 inch in diameter in central and southern Arkansas.
- Flash Flood and Flooding in Kentucky, March 18, 2013A widespread area of rain persisted across portions of northern Kentucky throughout the morning and into the early afternoon. As a result, heavy rainfall accumulations occurred as well as isolated flooding and flash flooding.
- Flash Flooding in Kentucky, March 18, 2013A prefrontal band of fast moving showers and thunderstorms trained over northeast Kentucky from 0630E through 1300E. The maximum observed rainfall was on the order of 1.25 inches in 3 hours, with 1.25 to 2.0 inches falling in 6 hours.
- Flash Flooding in Ohio, March 18, 2013A prefrontal band of fast moving showers and thunderstorms trained over extreme southeast Ohio from 0630E through 1300E. The maximum observed rainfall was on the order of an inch in 3 hours, with 1.25 to 1.75 inches in 6 hours.
- Hail and Damaging Winds in Mississippi, March 18, 2013Showers and thunderstorms developed in association with an upper level trough that moved through the Mid-South during the afternoon hours of March 18th, 2013. Some storms became severe across North Mississippi producing large hail and damaging winds.
- Hail and Damaging Winds in Mississippi, March 18, 2013A strong upper level disturbance combined with a strong cold front and associated surface low which crossed the region.
- Hail in Arkansas, March 18, 2013A strong upper level disturbance combined with a strong cold front and associated surface low which crossed the region.
- Tornado and Hail in Alabama, March 18, 2013An upper trough became negatively tilted as it moved into the Mississippi River Valley. A strong cold front trailed southward from the trough and swept through the state.
- Tornadoes and Hail in Alabama, March 18, 2013An active severe weather episode was produced by two quasi-linear convective systems.
- Hail in Louisiana, March 18, 2013A strong upper level disturbance combined with a strong cold front and associated surface low which crossed the region.
- Damaging Winds in Tennessee, March 18, 2013High shear along with limited instability resulted in isolated severe thunderstorm development across Southeast Tennessee. An area of low pressure moving northeast along the Ohio Valley pulled a cold front into the Southern Appalachians.
- Tornadoes and Hail in Georgia, March 18, 2013A strong upper level system combined with a moist south to southeast flow, moderate instability, a cold pool aloft, and enhanced surface convergence along and ahead of an approaching cold front moving through the Deep South.
- Hail in Louisiana, March 18, 2013A severe thunderstorm moved through Rapides Parish producing hail.
- Damaging Winds in South Carolina, March 18, 2013A squall line moved through the Midlands of South Carolina and produced estimated wind gust to 75mph. Many trees and powerlines were taken down.
- Tornado and Hail in Georgia, March 18, 2013A line of severe thunderstorms moved through the CSRA producing some large hail and damaging winds. A tornado also developed causing considerable damage to several farms in rural Burke County.
- Hail and Damaging Winds in Georgia, March 18, 2013A line of thunderstorms ahead of an approaching cold front started developing and intensifying in the mid to late afternoon hours across northern Georgia and Alabama. There were also discrete supercells developing ahead of the main line during peak heating.
- Hail in Mississippi, March 18, 2013A cold front moving into a very unstable airmass triggered isolated thunderstorms over southwest Mississippi. Several reports of large hail were received.
- Hail and Damaging Winds in South Carolina, March 18, 2013A line of thunderstorms ahead of an approaching cold front started developing and intensifying in the mid to late afternoon hours across northern Georgia and Alabama. There were also discrete supercells developing ahead of the main line during peak heating.
- Damaging Wind in Georgia, March 18, 2013A strong upper level low crossed the area with 500 mb temps in the -14/-15 deg C range.
- Tornado in Nebraska, March 19, 2013This Tuesday afternoon yielded the first tornado of 2013 in the state of Nebraska, in the form of a weak, brief EF0 landspout photographed by several people as it tracked through extreme southeast Buffalo County between Shelton and Interstate 80.
- Damaging Wind in Texas, March 19, 2013Isolated thunderstorms developed across the Texas Hill Country. Isolated wind gusts to around 60 mph were recorded.
More
Every billion-dollar disasterEvery storm of 2013Tornadoes in 2013
Sources
NOAA NCEI, U.S. Billion-Dollar Weather and Climate Disasters (2025), https://doi.org/10.25921/stkw-7w73, and the Storm Events Database for the episodes.