Southeast Tornadoes and Severe Weather

Losses, 2024 dollars

$2.0 billion

Losses at the time

$1.7 billion

Deaths

6

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.

• Hail and Damaging Winds in Texas, March 22, 20211.5 in hail · 10 eventsStorms developed near a dryline in West Texas early in the day and became a broken line of storms as they moved east. These storms produced hail and damaging winds across North and Central Texas.
• Tornado and Hail in Texas, March 22 to 23, 2021$212,000 · EF1 · 28 eventsAn upper level low moved from the Four Corners region to the southern Plains and brought a cold front through South Central Texas. Thunderstorms developed along the front and some of these storms produced large hail and damaging wind gusts.
• Damaging Wind in Oklahoma, March 22, 2021$5,000 · 52 kt wind · 1 eventA line of thunderstorms moved into eastern Oklahoma during the evening hours of the 22nd. The strongest storms produced damaging wind gusts.
• Tornado and Flash Flood in Louisiana, March 23, 2021$35,000 · EF1 · 2 eventsA cold front slowly moved through the region during the morning of the 23rd. Heavy resulted in flooding at a few locations. A tornado also occurred.
• Hail and Damaging Winds in Mississippi, March 23 to 24, 20211 death · 1 in hail · 5 eventsDuring the daytime hours on March 23rd through March 24th, a deep west coast trough helped to deliver progressive yet strong southwesterly upper-level to mid-level moist flow across the northern Gulf coast.
• Flash Flooding and Hail in Louisiana, March 23 to 24, 20211 in hail · 22 eventsDuring the daytime hours on March 23rd through March 24th, a deep west coast trough helped to deliver progressive yet strong southwesterly upper-level to mid-level moist flow across the northern Gulf coast.
• Damaging Wind in Iowa, March 23, 202150 kt wind · 1 eventThunderstorms developed during the early evening hours of March 23rd ahead of an approaching low pressure system.
• Tornado in Illinois, March 23, 20211 eventA cold front moved through the region triggering showers and storms. Some of the storms became severe. A weak tornado developed over west central Illinois.
• Tornado in Iowa, March 23, 2021EF0 · 1 eventA line of thunderstorms moved through Iowa and Illinois the evening of March 23, 2021. As storms crossed a warm front near southeast Iowa, a brief tornado occurred in Lee County Iowa, north of Fort Madison. This tornado was rated EF-0, and destroyed a shed at a residence.
• Tornado in Illinois, March 23, 2021$25,000 · EF0 · 1 eventA deep area of low pressure over northeast Kansas and an associated occluded frontal boundary arcing into west-central Illinois triggered showers and thunderstorms during the evening of March 23rd. One of the cells produced a weak tornado northwest of Mason City in Mason County.
• Flash Flood and Flooding in Puerto Rico, March 24, 20213 eventsA surge of low-level moisture along with east-southeast flow generated a line of persistent showers that affected the San Juan metro area.
• Tornadoes and Hail in Texas, March 24 to 25, 2021$463 million · 3 in hail · 43 eventsStorms developed along a dryline during the afternoon hours on March 24th. These storms advanced east into North and Central Texas, producing hail and a couple of EF-Unknown tornadoes. Large hail up to the size of 3 was reported in Tarrant and Denton counties.
• Hail in Texas, March 24, 20211.75 in hail · 2 eventsA series of upper level disturbances embedded in the southwest flow aloft ahead of a large upper level trough entering Western Texas and Oklahoma helped focus scattered showers and thunderstorms over portions of Northeast Texas, Southeast Oklahoma, and Southwest Arkansas during…
• Hail in Arkansas, March 24, 20211.75 in hail · 4 eventsA series of upper level disturbances embedded in the southwest flow aloft ahead of a large upper level trough entering Western Texas and Oklahoma helped focus scattered showers and thunderstorms over portions of Northeast Texas, Southeast Oklahoma, and Southwest Arkansas during…
• Flash Flood in Mississippi, March 24, 20211 eventSlow moving thunderstorms produced heavy rain and flooding in southeast Mississippi.
• Hail in Texas, March 24 to 25, 20212 in hail · 20 eventsAn upper level low moved into west Texas and provided lift to generate convection. There was a warm, moist airmass over South Central Texas and a warm front just north of the area. The front acted as a focus for convection and some of the storms produced large hail.
• Tornadoes and Hail in Arkansas, March 24 to 27, 2021$300,000 · EF2 · 32 eventsIt was was repeat performance on March 25th. Just like the 17th, there was another high risk of severe storms, with a tornado outbreak expected just to the east of Arkansas.
• Tornado and Flash Flooding in Mississippi, March 25, 2021$348,000 · EF0 · 26 eventsThis was the second high risk event.
• Flash Flooding and Hail in Alabama, March 25, 20211 injured · $200 · 1 in hail · 20 eventsClusters and line segments of heavy thunderstorms, a couple of which turned severe, overspread north Alabama during the predawn hours of the 25th. These storms produced 2 to 3 inches of rain, mainly south of the Tennessee River, resulting in excessive runoff and flash flooding.
• Tornadoes and Flash Flood in Alabama, March 25, 20216 deaths · 28 injured · EF3 · 28 eventsA potent storm system affected Central Alabama on Thursday, March 25th. A highly-sheared environment combined with increasing instability produced numerous tornadic thunderstorms.
• Tornadoes and Flash Flooding in Georgia, March 25 to 26, 20211 death · $24 million · EF4 · 100 eventsA very moist and moderately unstable airmass over the region combined with strong shear and persistent southwesterly mid and upper flow produced numerous showers and thunderstorms across north and parts of central Georgia through the day on the 25th into the morning of the 26th.
• Flash Flood and Flood in Tennessee, March 25 to 26, 20211.25 in hail · 6 eventsA weather system moved from the Lower Mississippi River Valley through the Appalachian Mountains. Locally heavy rainfall fell across the southern half of east Tennessee during the day and early evening of March 25.
• Flash Flood and Debris Flow in North Carolina, March 25, 20213 eventsA weather system moved from the Lower Mississippi River Valley through the Appalachian Mountains, bringing locally heavy rainfall across southwestern North Carolina on the 25th.
• Damaging Wind in Mississippi, March 25, 2021$2,000 · 50 kt wind · 1 eventA potent upper-level disturbance moved out of the southwest U.S. and into the region during the day on March 25th.
• Tornado and Hail in South Carolina, March 25, 2021$5,000 · EF0 · 6 eventsMultiple supercell thunderstorms developed in the vicinity of a warm front across the South Carolina Piedmont throughout the afternoon.
• Tornadoes and Hail in Tennessee, March 25, 20215 injured · $1.2 million · EF2 · 30 eventsA potent weather system on March 25, 2021 led to an outbreak of supercells and tornadoes across Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, and Tennessee, some of which were strong to violent.
• Hail and Damaging Winds in South Carolina, March 25, 2021$5,000 · 1 in hail · 10 eventsAn isolated long-tracked severe thunderstorm moved east across the Northern Midlands of SC and produced hail and wind damage.
• Tornadoes and Hail in Kentucky, March 25, 2021EF1 · 21 eventsEarly in the day, low level wind shear was very strong. A stable layer over the area allowed a warm front to bring sunshine and warmer temperatures to the region, but the warming surface temperatures caused the stable layer to erode and become unstable.
• Hail and Damaging Wind in Tennessee, March 25, 2021$2,000 · 1.25 in hail · 5 eventsA potent upper-level disturbance moved out of the southwest U.S. and into the region during the day on March 25th.
• Hail in Indiana, March 25, 20211 in hail · 1 eventAn isolated severe storm produced large hail on the north side of Evansville. A surface low pressure center tracked northeast through southeast Missouri into central Illinois during the afternoon and evening.
• Tornado in Alabama, March 25, 2021EF1 · 1 eventAnother in a series of powerful storm systems moved across the region during the day and through the evening. A very unstable airmass developed across the area.
• Hail in Kentucky, March 25, 20211.25 in hail · 1 eventA strong low pressure system lifting northeast across the Ohio Valley region produced isolated thunderstorms during the evening hours.
• Damaging Wind in Kentucky, March 25, 202153 kt wind · 1 eventAn isolated severe storm produced strong winds just west of Hopkinsville. A surface low pressure center tracked northeast through southeast Missouri into central Illinois during the afternoon and evening.
• Hail and High Wind in Indiana, March 25 to 26, 2021$475,000 · 1.5 in hail · 21 eventsDuring the late evening hours of March 25th, a series of storms moved across south central Indiana. A warm front was situated along the Ohio River with plenty of lower and upper level shear, but a general lack of instability.
• Damaging Wind in West Virginia, March 25, 2021$500 · 1 eventA warm front lifted northward through West Virginia on the 25th accompanied by showers and a few thunderstorms. One particular storm inflicted gusty winds in Huntington and resulted in one downed tree in a local neighborhood.
• Damaging Wind in Indiana, March 25, 202150 kt wind · 1 eventEarly in the day, low level wind shear was very strong. A stable layer over the area allowed a warm front to bring sunshine and warmer temperatures to the region, but the warming surface temperatures caused the stable layer to erode and become less stable.
• Damaging Wind and High Wind in Ohio, March 26, 2021$22,000 · 56 kt wind · 29 eventsA potent surface low moved northeastward along a stationary front from northeast Indiana to far-southern Quebec during the wee hours through early afternoon of March 26th.
• Hail in South Carolina, March 26, 2021$60 · 1 in hail · 4 eventsScattered thunderstorms developed along a frontal boundary. An isolated thunderstorm produced severe sized hail. Some other storms produced small hail.
• Damaging Winds and Strong Wind in New York, March 26, 2021$9,000 · 50 kt wind · 8 eventsAn area of low pressure tracked across the St. Lawrence River Valley on Friday, March 26, 2021. A warm front lifted northward across the region in the morning, advecting in a very warm air mass along with some non-severe showers and thunderstorms.
• Damaging Winds in New York, March 26, 2021$49,000 · 55 kt wind · 4 eventsLow pressure moved northeast across northern NY during the afternoon of March 26th. This was the same system responsible for the tornado outbreak across AL/MS/GA the previous day.
• Tornado and Damaging Winds in Vermont, March 26, 20212 injured · $150,000 · EF1 · 8 eventsLow pressure moved northeast across northern NY during the afternoon of March 26th. This was the same system responsible for the tornado outbreak across AL/MS/GA the previous day.
• Hail in Georgia, March 26, 2021$20 · 0.7 in hail · 1 eventScattered thunderstorms developed along a frontal boundary. One thunderstorm produced sub-severe sized hail.
• Hail and Damaging Winds in New Hampshire, March 26, 202154 kt wind · 3 eventsAn early season line of thunderstorms developed on a surface cold on March 26th. This line of thunderstorms brought isolated damaging wind gusts along with nickel size hail to Carrol County New Hampshire.

Every billion-dollar disasterEvery storm of 2021Tornadoes in 2021

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.