Southern Severe Weather

Losses, 2024 dollars

$1.6 billion

Losses at the time

$1.2 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.

• Hail and Lightning Strike in Wisconsin, March 15, 2016$1,000 · 1 in hail · 3 eventsA deepening low pressure area tracked from Western Illinois into Southern Wisconsin. Numerous thunderstorms developed with most producing small hail, however one large hail report was received. In addition, lightning struck a tree and the buried gas line below it.
• Hail and Damaging Winds in Illinois, March 15, 2016$11,000 · 1.25 in hail · 9 eventsA line of strong to severe thunderstorms moved across northeast Illinois producing large hail and localized wind damage.
• Hail and Damaging Wind in Tennessee, March 15, 20161 in hail · 3 eventsA cold front passed through West Tennessee during the evening hours on March 15, 2016. The front interacted with a marginally moist and unstable airmass resulting in isolated thunderstorms. A couple of storms produced large hail and damaging winds in Tipton County.
• Hail in Indiana, March 16, 20161 in hail · 4 eventsA cold front swept through southern Indiana during the early morning hours on March 16. With very warm temperatures and a favorable dynamic setup in place, isolated to scattered thunderstorms developed.
• Hail in Kentucky, March 16, 20161.25 in hail · 1 eventA cold front swept through northern Kentucky during the early morning hours on March 16. With very warm temperatures and a favorable dynamic setup in place, isolated to scattered thunderstorms developed.
• Damaging Winds in Michigan, March 16, 2016$8,000 · 52 kt wind · 6 eventsThunderstorms produced wind damage in Oakland, Macomb, and St. Clair Counties.
• Lightning Strike in New York, March 16, 20162 injured · 1 eventTwo campers were injured by a lightning strike near North-South Lake near Kaaterskill Falls in Greene County on Wednesday, March 16th around 6 pm.
• Hail in Pennsylvania, March 16, 20161 in hail · 2 eventsAn area of low pressure moved across Virginia during the evening of March 16th. This low pushed a front across northeast Pennsylvania which triggered scattered thunderstorms, one of which dropped large hail.
• Hail in Arkansas, March 16 to 17, 20161.25 in hail · 7 eventsA strong frontal boundary pulled up stationary south of Northeast Texas and Northern Louisiana during the early morning hours of March 17th.
• Hail and Damaging Winds in Texas, March 17, 2016$602 million · 2.5 in hail · 35 eventsA region of intense warm advection led to thunderstorm development over western counties of North Texas Wednesday Night in advance of a developing upper trough across the western United States.
• Hail in Oklahoma, March 17, 20161 in hail · 1 eventStorms formed along the Red River on the morning of the 17th in response to warm air advection, with some of them producing severe hail.
• Flash Flooding and Hail in Mississippi, March 17 to 18, 2016$1.2 million · 2.75 in hail · 52 eventsA quasi-stationary frontal boundary combined with low level moisture and cooling aloft|for strong instability. This brought some large hail and damaging winds across portions|of the region.
• Hail and Damaging Winds in Texas, March 17, 2016$260,000 · 1.5 in hail · 15 eventsA strong frontal boundary pulled up stationary south of Northeast Texas and Northern Louisiana during the morning hours of March 17th.
• Hail and Damaging Winds in Mississippi, March 17, 20162.75 in hail · 4 eventsA stationary front provided a focus for thunderstorms in Southeast Louisiana and Southern Mississippi March 17th and 18th. On the 17th thunderstorms along the front resulted in an outflow boundary causing strong wind gusts and isolated damage across the area.
• Hail and Damaging Winds in Florida, March 17 to 18, 2016$3,000 · 1 in hail · 10 eventsScattered thunderstorms developed across portions of the area in an environment characterized by steep mid-level lapse rates and moderate instability. Large hail and some damaging wind gusts occurred in portions of southeast Alabama and the Florida panhandle.
• Hail and Damaging Wind in Maine, March 17, 20161.75 in hail · 15 eventsA deep upper trough and associated cold pool aloft was swinging into the region from the west on the afternoon of March 17th. Very steep low level lapse rates combined with good surface heating ahead of a cold front to produce numerous reports of large hail in western Maine.
• Hail and Damaging Wind in Mississippi, March 17, 2016$5,000 · 2 in hail · 5 eventsSeveral thunderstorms developed across the area and produced strong winds and large hail.
• Hail and Damaging Wind in Louisiana, March 17, 20161 in hail · 4 eventsA strong frontal boundary pulled up stationary south of Northeast Texas and Northern Louisiana during the morning hours of March 17th.
• Damaging Winds and Strong Wind in Massachusetts, March 17, 2016$139,000 · 50 kt wind · 14 eventsAn upper level disturbance coupled with cold air aloft and moving into southern New England set off a complicated mix of showers and thunderstorms and non-convective winds. All efforts were made to separate out the non-convective winds from the thunderstorm winds.
• Hail and Damaging Winds in Louisiana, March 17 to 18, 20161 death · 2 injured · 2 in hail · 13 eventsA stationary front provided a focus for thunderstorms in Southeast Louisiana and Southern Mississippi March 17th and 18th. On the 17th thunderstorms along the front resulted in an outflow boundary causing strong wind gusts and isolated damage across the area.
• Hail and Damaging Winds in Alabama, March 17, 2016$54,000 · 1 in hail · 12 eventsThunderstorms moved across southwest Alabama producing large hail and damaging winds.
• Hail and Damaging Winds in Louisiana, March 17 to 18, 2016$124,000 · 1.75 in hail · 15 eventsA quasi-stationary frontal boundary combined with low level moisture and cooling aloft|for strong instability. This brought some large hail and damaging winds across portions of the region.
• Hail and Damaging Wind in Alabama, March 17, 2016$2,000 · 1.75 in hail · 3 eventsScattered thunderstorms developed across portions of the area in an environment characterized by steep mid-level lapse rates and moderate instability. Large hail and some damaging wind gusts occurred in portions of southeast Alabama and the Florida panhandle.
• Damaging Wind and Strong Wind in Connecticut, March 17, 2016$21,000 · 3 eventsAn upper level disturbance coupled with cold air aloft and moving into southern New England set off a complicated mix of showers and thunderstorms and non-convective winds. All efforts were made to separate out the non-convective winds from the thunderstorm winds.
• Damaging Winds and Strong Wind in Rhode Island, March 17, 2016$31,000 · 50 kt wind · 5 eventsAn upper level disturbance coupled with cold air aloft and moving into southern New England set off a complicated mix of showers and thunderstorms and non-convective winds. All efforts were made to separate out the non-convective winds from the thunderstorm winds.
• Hail in Louisiana, March 17 to 18, 20161.75 in hail · 9 eventsA frontal boundary moved to and stalled at the Interstate 10 corridor during the 17th. Multiple disturbances aloft passed over the region during the 17th and 18th producing severe weather.
• Damaging Winds in Florida, March 17, 2016$9,000 · 52 kt wind · 3 eventsSevere thunderstorms moved across the Florida panhandle and produced high winds which caused damage.
• Hail in Oklahoma, March 18, 20161 in hail · 2 eventsStorms formed along the Red River on the morning of the 18th in response to warm air advection and enhanced by a fast moving cold front, with some of them producing severe hail.
• Hail in Oklahoma, March 18, 20160.75 in hail · 2 eventsStrong thunderstorms developed over southern Oklahoma and northern Texas during the early morning hours of March 18th. Some of these storms produced hail up to penny size.
• Hail in Texas, March 18, 20161.75 in hail · 2 eventsThe severe weather setup for March 18th was not a lot different than the setup for severe weather that occurred across the Four State Region on March 17th.
• Hail in Oklahoma, March 18, 20160.75 in hail · 1 eventThe severe weather setup for March 18th was not a lot different than the setup for severe weather that occurred across the Four State Region on March 17th.
• Hail in Arkansas, March 18, 20160.75 in hail · 2 eventsThe severe weather setup for March 18th was not a lot different than the setup for severe weather that occurred across the Four State Region on March 17th.
• Hail in Texas, March 18, 20161 in hail · 1 eventShowers and storms developed along a cold front as it pushed south of the Red River on Friday, March 18. A few storms produced hail as they moved across Lamar County.
• Hail in Louisiana, March 18, 20161.75 in hail · 12 eventsThe severe weather setup for March 18th was not a lot different than the setup for severe weather that occurred across the Four State Region on March 17th.
• Hail in Texas, March 18, 20161 in hail · 2 eventsA frontal boundary moved into the region during the 17th and stalled through the 18th. An upper level disturbance moved across the region during the 18th causing numerous storms with one severe storm over Orange County.
• Hail and Damaging Winds in Texas, March 18, 2016$500,000 · 2.25 in hail · 32 eventsBeneath a broad upper level trough a quasi-stationary front across central Texas was overtaken by a cold front that moved southward through the southern plains. This front brought thunderstorms to South Central Texas some of which produced large hail and damaging wind gusts.
• Flash Flood and Hail in Texas, March 18, 20161.5 in hail · 3 eventsA lone thunderstorm formed when a gravity wave interacted with the sea breeze and a slowing cold frontal boundary as it neared the city of Houston. This storm produced large hail and high rainfall rates that lead to flash flooding within the city.
• Hail and Damaging Winds in Texas, March 18 to 19, 2016$5.5 million · 1.75 in hail · 42 eventsA slow-moving cold front combined with strong instability and plentiful moisture to initially produce isolated severe thunderstorms in and near the Laredo area during the early evening hours of March 18th.
• Tornado and Hail in Florida, March 19, 2016EF0 · 3 eventsA line of storms moved into the Florida coast from the Gulf of Mexico during the late morning hours on March 19th. The combination of daytime heating, deep moisture, and a passing upper level system allowed the line to strengthen as it moved into South Florida.

Every billion-dollar disasterEvery storm of 2016Tornadoes in 2016

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.