Tornadoes · United States · Tennessee · 2023

EF0 tornado, Liberty, Tennessee, March 31, 2023

Name: EF0 tornado, Liberty, Tennessee, March 31, 2023
Start: 2023-04-01T03:29:00.000Z
End: 2023-04-01T03:30:00.000Z
Location: Liberty, Tennessee

This EF0 tornado ran 0.6 miles across Benton County on March 31, 2023, touching down at 10:29 PM CDT and reaching 50 yards wide. It killed nobody, and did $15,000 of property damage.

The rating scale

Tracks are drawn in the color of the rating. The Enhanced Fujita scale rates the damage rather than measuring the wind: the speeds are what that damage is taken to imply.

EF065 to 85 mphthis tornado
Light damage. Surface peeled off some roofs, gutters and siding damaged, branches broken, shallow-rooted trees pushed over.
EF186 to 110 mph
Moderate damage. Roofs badly stripped, mobile homes overturned or badly damaged, exterior doors lost, windows broken.
EF2111 to 135 mph
Considerable damage. Roofs torn off well-built houses, frame homes shifted on their foundations, mobile homes destroyed, large trees snapped or uprooted, cars lifted off the ground.
EF3136 to 165 mph
Severe damage. Whole stories of well-built houses destroyed, large buildings badly damaged, trains overturned, trees debarked, heavy cars lifted and thrown.
EF4166 to 200 mph
Devastating damage. Well-built houses leveled, structures with weak foundations moved some distance, cars thrown and large missiles generated.
EF5over 200 mph
Incredible damage. Strong frame houses swept off their foundations, car-sized missiles thrown more than 100 meters, steel-reinforced concrete badly damaged, high-rise buildings deformed.
Unrated
The survey recorded a tornado but could not put a number on it, most often because it crossed open country and damaged nothing a rating can be read from.

The record

Rating: EF0
Date: March 31, 2023
Touchdown: 10:29 PM CDT (03:29 UTC)
Lifted: 10:30 PM CDT (03:30 UTC)
On the ground: 1 minutes
Path length: 0.6 miles (1.0 km)
Path width: 50 yards (46 m)
Deaths: 0
Injuries: 0
Property damage: $15,000
County: Benton County
Touchdown point: 36.098, -88.191
Lift-off point: 36.101, -88.180
Record number: 2303312129-01

The damage survey

3 damage points were recorded along this path by NWS MEG, in the Damage Assessment Toolkit the survey teams carry. The strongest indicator was rated EF0. The highest wind the damage implies is 85 mph.

Metal from building lofted into trees behind and damage to building in a convergent pattern.

Survey points are preliminary and are the raw material the published rating was built from. Source: NWS Damage Assessment Toolkit.

What the Weather Service recorded

A regional tornado outbreak occurred during the late afternoon of Friday, March 31, 2023, and continued into the early morning hours of Saturday, April 1, 2023. This outbreak covered portions of the Ohio Valley, and the Middle and Lower Mississippi Valleys, including a good portion of the Mid-South and stretching into the Tennessee Valley. On Friday, March 31, a surface low was located near La Crosse, WI, with a cold front stretching south into central/southwest Missouri, western Arkansas, and into eastern Texas. Surface temperatures were mainly in the 70s to approaching 80 degrees with surface dewpoints in the lower to middle 60s, yielding Surface-Based CAPE (SBCAPE) values between 1500-2000 J/kg by Friday evening. Favorable upper-level divergence produced by the right entrance region of a 140-kt jet streak at 300 mb provided ample lift to produce strong to severe thunderstorms across the region. Directional and speed shear were impressive with 70-80 knots of Effective Bulk Shear present and 0-1 km Storm Relative Helicity values between 500-600 m2/s2, all more than enough for organized thunderstorms across the area. Discrete supercells started to develop across the Lower Mississippi Valley during the afternoon hours on March 31, 2023, eventually tracking into the Mid-South by late afternoon. The first supercell that developed in the Mid-South produced an EF-3 that caused major damage in Wynne, Arkansas. Tornadic supercells continued to produce significant tornado damage across the Mid-South into the early morning hours of April 1, 2023. The hardest hit areas besides Wynne, Arkansas included Covington, Tennessee, and McNairy County, Tennessee. Overall, 14 tornadoes occurred across the Mid-South along with several reports of wind damage and measured damaging wind speeds. Eighteen people in the Mid-South lost their lives in this outbreak.

A tornado briefly touched down along an elevated area and led to the collapse of walls and the removal of much of the roof of a metal outbuilding along Sawmill Rd. The tornado also damaged branches on a couple of trees near the outbuilding, lifted briefly, and then downed more limbs along Cedar Grove Church Road. While the damage path was short-lived in duration, it was determined to be tornadic based on the convergent damage pattern and vertical lift of roof panels into trees behind the outbuilding. A special goes out to Benton County Emergency Management for their assistance in locating damage during the survey. Peak winds were estimated at 85 mph.

From NOAA NCEI's Storm Events Database, the narrative the local forecast office wrote for Storm Data.

The forecast that day

The Storm Prediction Center had this point in a Moderate Risk, with a 0.15 chance of a tornado within 25 miles, in the hatched area where significant tornadoes were expected. The outlook in force was issued at 01:04 UTC.

SPC's Day 1 convective outlook as it stood when the tornado began, read at the touchdown point. The same archive is on the radar archive.

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before the tornado touched down, 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 tornado touched down at Mar 31, 7:47 PM CDT, 2 hours 42 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Mar 31, 7:47 PM CDT, 2 hours 42 minutes before

Area Forecast Discussion
National Weather Service Memphis TN
747 PM CDT Fri Mar 31 2023

...New MESOSCALE UPDATE...

.MESOSCALE UPDATE FOR SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS...
Issued at 747 PM CDT Fri Mar 31 2023

00Z Surface analysis places a cold front from Central Iowa back
through Northwest Arkansas and into Central Texas. Surface
dewpoints still remain high in the 60s across much of the Mid-
South. Latest mesoanalysis yields between 1000-1500 J/kg surface-
based CAPE, 0-1 km Storm Relative Helicity values generally
averaging between 300-500 m2/s2, and backing surface winds across
West Tennessee and Northwest Mississippi. Short-term trends still
indicate the environment remains favorable for supercells across
the Mid-South this evening with ample directional and speed shear,
and low LCLs. Consequently, Tornado Watch #94 which covers areas
generally along and west of the Mississippi River was extended
through 3Z. (10 PM CDT)

CJC

&&

.SYNOPSIS...
Issued at 315 PM CDT Fri Mar 31 2023

A Severe Weather Outbreak is imminent this afternoon and evening.
A rare High Risk has been issued for southwest portions of the
Mid-South including the Memphis, Tennessee and Oxford,
Mississippi metros, with a Moderate Risk across the rest of the
Memphis Forecast Area. Damaging winds and several tornadoes remain
the highest threats, including a couple of strong and long-
tracked tornadoes possible. Secondary threats include large hail
and heavy rainfall. The threat for severe weather will end within
a couple of hours after midnight with a brief reprieve from
severe weather for the weekend. Wet, warm, and unsettled weather
will move into the region on Monday and persist through much of
next week. Severe weather chances remain in play for the Tuesday
to Wednesday timeframe.

&&

.DISCUSSION...
(This evening through next Thursday)
Issued at 315 PM CDT Fri Mar 31 2023

A Severe Weather Outbreak is still on track for this afternoon
and evening across the Mid-South. Little Rock, Arkansas has
already had at least one strong and damaging tornado move through
their city. The cell that produced that tornado is on a northeast
track towards Cross and Poinsett Counties in eastern Arkansas and
may intensify as it moves into our area.

Severe weather ingredients remain healthy along and west of the
Mississippi River with a less unstable environment further east.
However, the airmass is still continuing to modify ahead of the
main trough and will likely become just as unstable over the next
couple of hours.

A secondary marine front was analyzed along a northwest
to southeast line from Jonesboro, Arkansas to Holly Springs,
Mississippi and back through Tupelo, Mississippi. Dewpoints are in
the mid to upper 60s south of the front with low 60 dewpoints
north of the front. The latest Mesoanalysis places 2000 J/kg
SBCAPE in our southwest counties with a gradient of 1000 J/kg near
Memphis and down to 500 J/kg near Paris, TN. Additionally, the
entire forecast area is already in a highly sheared environment.
Any storms that move into our area will have the opportunity to
rotate and produce tornadoes, large hail, and heavy rainfall.

Another round of storms will arrive this evening just ahead of a
cold front. The environment will likely be a little bit less
unstable, but more highly sheared. Damaging winds and tornadoes
remain the highest threats as it moves across the area. The storms
may congeal into a line of storms as they move into northeast
Mississippi later this evening. That threat would include damaging
winds and embedded tornadoes. The threat for severe weather
should end within a couple of hours after midnight.

High pressure will build into the region for Saturday and winds
will remain elevated. Sunday looks to be a nice day with
temperatures in the 70s and light winds and low humidity.

Wet, humid, and unsettled weather will set up across the region on
Monday and persist through at least late week. Dewpoints will
climb into the mid to upper 60s as temperatures climb into the
lower 80s early next week. There remains a risk for severe weather
Tuesday into the Wednesday timeframe.

AC3

&&

.AVIATION...(00Z TAFS) Issued at 620 PM CDT Fri Mar 31 2023

A round of strong to severe thunderstorms is expected to impact
MEM and MKL over the next hour or two. Strong damaging wind is
possible along with brief IFR vis. Hail and a tornado at least in
the vicinity is also a possibility.

Before and after thunderstorms strong south to southwest gradient
wind is likely between 25 and 45mph with gusts to 45 mph. Winds
will shift west and then northwest behind a cold front later
tonight.

VFR conditions will prevail at all sites tomorrow along with
northwest wind 10-15kt.

30/Sirmon

&&

.MEG WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
AR...Wind Advisory until 1 AM CDT Saturday for ARZ009-018-026>028-035-
     036-048-049-058.

MO...Wind Advisory until 1 AM CDT Saturday for MOZ113-115.

MS...Wind Advisory until 1 AM CDT Saturday for MSZ001>017-020>024.

TN...Wind Advisory until 1 AM CDT Saturday for TNZ001>004-019>022-
     048>055-088>092.

&&

PUBLIC FORECAST...JDS
AVIATION...ARS

In the hours before

Local storm report, Mar 31, 8:44 PM CDT, 1 hour 45 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MEMPHIS TN
844 PM CDT FRI MAR 31 2023

..TIME...   ...EVENT...      ...CITY LOCATION...     ...LAT.LON...
..DATE...   ....MAG....      ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
            ..REMARKS..

0815 PM     TORNADO          2 WNW BYHALIA           34.88N 89.72W
03/31/2023                   MARSHALL           MS   TRAINED SPOTTER

            POSSIBLE TORNADO.

&&

Local storm report, Mar 31, 9:13 PM CDT, 1 hour 16 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MEMPHIS TN
913 PM CDT FRI MAR 31 2023

..TIME...   ...EVENT...      ...CITY LOCATION...     ...LAT.LON...
..DATE...   ....MAG....      ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
            ..REMARKS..

0752 PM     TSTM WND DMG     2 W HERNANDO            34.83N 90.02W
03/31/2023                   DESOTO             MS   EMERGENCY MNGR

            SEVERAL TREES WERE KNOCKED DOWN WITH ONE
            TREE ON A CAR ON HORN LAKE ROAD NORTH OF
            DEAN ROAD.

&&

Local storm report, Mar 31, 9:46 PM CDT, 43 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MEMPHIS TN
946 PM CDT FRI MAR 31 2023

..TIME...   ...EVENT...      ...CITY LOCATION...     ...LAT.LON...
..DATE...   ....MAG....      ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
            ..REMARKS..

0940 PM     TSTM WND DMG     1 W BETHEL SPRINGS      35.24N 88.63W
03/31/2023                   MCNAIRY            TN   AMATEUR RADIO

            REPORTS OF DAMAGE ON BUENA VISTA ROAD.

&&

Local storm report, Mar 31, 10:04 PM CDT, 25 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MEMPHIS TN
1004 PM CDT FRI MAR 31 2023

..TIME...   ...EVENT...      ...CITY LOCATION...     ...LAT.LON...
..DATE...   ....MAG....      ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
            ..REMARKS..

0940 PM     TSTM WND DMG     4 NW BETHEL SPRINGS     35.24N 88.61W
03/31/2023                   MCNAIRY            TN   FIRE DEPT/RESCUE

            A WALL COLLAPSED ON A HOUSE ON FLOWERS ROAD
            NEAR BETHEL SPRINGS.

&&

Local storm report, Mar 31, 10:08 PM CDT, 21 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MEMPHIS TN
1008 PM CDT FRI MAR 31 2023

..TIME...   ...EVENT...      ...CITY LOCATION...     ...LAT.LON...
..DATE...   ....MAG....      ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
            ..REMARKS..

0956 PM     TSTM WND DMG     SELMER                  35.17N 88.59W
03/31/2023                   MCNAIRY            TN   EMERGENCY MNGR

            TREES DOWN NEAR THE INTERSECTION OF DOWTY
            ROAD AND PEACH STREET ON THE NORTH SIDE OF
            SELMER.

&&

Local storm report, Mar 31, 10:09 PM CDT, 20 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MEMPHIS TN
1009 PM CDT FRI MAR 31 2023

..TIME...   ...EVENT...      ...CITY LOCATION...     ...LAT.LON...
..DATE...   ....MAG....      ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
            ..REMARKS..

0847 PM     TSTM WND DMG     5 SW HUNTINGDON         35.97N 88.48W
03/31/2023                   CARROLL            TN   PUBLIC

            REPORT FROM MPING: 3-INCH TREE LIMBS BROKEN;
            POWER POLES BROKEN.

&&

The air that afternoon

The radiosonde launches on either side of the tornado, from the nearest station that was launching then, drawn and analyzed the way Storm Lab does: the same diagram, the same parcel and shear definitions SPC's mesoanalysis uses.

Nashville Metro, TN (KBNA), 00:00Z

3.5 hours before the tornado, 142 km from the path. April 1, 2023.

Skew-T log-p

Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed. The warm shading is its CAPE, the cool shading the inhibition it has to break through.

Hodograph

The wind turning with height, colored by layer: ground to 1 km, 1 to 3 km, 3 to 6 km, 6 to 10 km. RM and LM are the right and left moving storms Bunkers' method gives; the shaded area is the 0 to 1 km storm-relative helicity.

Mixed-layer CAPE: 0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -70140 J/kg
Surface CAPE: 63 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 1143 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 64 kt
0-1 km bulk shear: 39 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 388 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 532 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.0
Supercell composite: 0.0
0-3 km lapse rate: 6.3 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The surface observations

Huntingdon (HZD), 25 km from the path, in the two hours either side.

Time (UTC)	Temp (°F)	Dew point (°F)	Wind	Gust (kt)	Pressure (mb)	Weather
00:00 UTC

From the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of airport observations.

The radar

The Ft Campbell radar (KHPX), 107 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 03:31 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment, over the track

Reflectivity and velocity, decoded from the Level II archive in the browser. Volumes take a few seconds to open the first time.

This ground now

The live radar over the track Every 2023 tornado in Tennessee Every tornado in Tennessee since 1950 Warnings in force in Tennessee now The forecast where you are

The other tornadoes of March 31, 2023

126 more were confirmed in the United States that day.

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
March 31	2:18 PM CDT	EF3	Little Rock tornado, AR	34.2	800		54	$90 million
March 31	2:37 PM CDT	Unrated	Tazewell, IL	0.3	10
March 31	3:15 PM CDT	EF1	Tazewell, IL	0.9	10
March 31	3:23 PM CDT	Unrated	Woodford, IL	0.6	20
March 31	3:36 PM CDT	EF3	Wapello, IA	26.1	1,000			$2.0 million
March 31	3:45 PM CDT	EF1	Prairie, AR	1.1	100
March 31	3:52 PM CDT	Unrated	Poweshiek, IA	3.6	60
March 31	4:05 PM CDT	Unrated	Livingston, IL	0.0	15
March 31	4:10 PM CDT	EF4	Keota–Wellman tornado, IA	19.9	700		3
March 31	4:22 PM CDT	EF1	Grundy, IA	3.5	80			$50,000
March 31	4:22 PM CDT	EF1	Grundy, IA	4.1	80			$50,000
March 31	4:30 PM CDT	EF3	Wynne–Parkin tornado, Arkansas and Tennessee	72.5	1,600	4	26	$151 million
March 31	4:36 PM CDT	EF2	Benton, IA	1.7	50
March 31	4:37 PM CDT	EF0	Johnson, IA	6.1	50
March 31	4:46 PM CDT	EF2	Johnson, IA	16.9	75		2
March 31	4:47 PM CDT	EF2	Benton, IA	4.9	50
March 31	4:49 PM CDT	EF2	Stone, AR	6.8	125
March 31	4:51 PM CDT	Unrated	Benton, IA	1.4	10
March 31	4:53 PM CDT	EF2	Johnson, IA	14.7	100
March 31	5:03 PM CDT	Unrated	Buchanan, IA	1.7	10
March 31	5:06 PM CDT	EF2	Johnson, IA	9.0	75
March 31	5:06 PM CDT	EF1	Cedar, IA	8.3	10
March 31	5:14 PM CDT	EF2	Cedar, IA	16.4	250
March 31	5:15 PM CDT	Unrated	Scott, IL	0.5	10
March 31	5:17 PM CDT	EF1	Cedar, IA	5.2	100
March 31	5:18 PM CDT	EF2	Cedar, IA	19.6	200		2
March 31	5:20 PM CDT	EF1	Delaware, IA	4.1	50
March 31	5:27 PM CDT	Unrated	Morgan, IL	0.7	10
March 31	5:32 PM CDT	EF1	Delaware, IA	11.1	90
March 31	5:35 PM CDT	EF0	Morgan, IL	1.1	30
March 31	5:41 PM CDT	EF1	Jones, IA	1.4	50
March 31	5:41 PM CDT	EF2	Des Moines, IA	0.9	150
March 31	5:48 PM CDT	EF3	Covington tornado, TN	39.2	2,000	1	28	$80 million
March 31	5:50 PM CDT	EF2	Clinton, IA	18.0	350		1
March 31	5:58 PM CDT	EF1	Jackson, IA	1.2	50
March 31	6:09 PM CDT	EF0	Jackson, IA	0.2	15
March 31	6:12 PM CDT	EF2	Sangamon, IL	5.4	400
March 31	6:16 PM CDT	EF1	Jackson, IA to IL	1.9	100		3
March 31	6:18 PM CDT	EF2	Sangamon, IL	21.0	200
March 31	6:24 PM CDT	EF2	Henry, IL	3.5	300
March 31	6:33 PM CDT	EF2	Henry, IL	3.0	200
March 31	6:36 PM CDT	EF2	Henry, IL	9.3	440
March 31	6:37 PM CDT	EF2	Henry, IL	6.8	650
March 31	6:39 PM CDT	EF1	Carroll, IL	1.0	50
March 31	6:47 PM CDT	EF0	Macoupin, IL	6.3	150			$25,000
March 31	6:48 PM CDT	EF1	Whiteside, IL	13.9	150
March 31	6:48 PM CDT	EF1	Iowa, WI	1.1	75			$300,000
March 31	6:50 PM CDT	EF1	Lafayette, WI	5.5	75			$1.0 million
March 31	6:50 PM CDT	EF1	Carroll, IL	11.0	200
March 31	6:55 PM CDT	EF1	Lafayette, WI	6.6	75			$600,000
March 31	7:03 PM CDT	Unrated	Phillips, AR	2.8	100
March 31	7:06 PM CDT	EF0	Christian, IL	4.1	20
March 31	7:08 PM CDT	EF2	Lee, IL	9.3	350
March 31	7:13 PM CDT	EF1	Lee, IL	7.8	75
March 31	7:13 PM CDT	EF1	Christian, IL	1.7	30
March 31	7:16 PM CDT	EF0	Green, WI	3.0	75			$400,000
March 31	7:20 PM CDT	EF1	Green, WI	10.2	50			$600,000
March 31	7:24 PM CDT	EF1	Ogle, IL	27.5	600	1	40
March 31	7:26 PM CDT	EF0	Green, WI	5.8	75			$400,000
March 31	7:31 PM CDT	EF1	Winnebago, IL	5.8	300

All 127 of them

What this means

Ratings are the survey's, read off the damage rather than measured; the rating scale is above. Tornado counts rise through the record as reporting improved, so a year in the 1950s is not comparable with one today except for the strongest tornadoes, which were always noticed.

Sources

NOAA Storm Prediction Center tornado database, 1950-2025, the official record kept by NOAA's Storm Prediction Center.