EF3 Adamsville–Corinth tornado, Tennessee, March 31, 2023

1. EF065 to 85 mph

   Light damage. Surface peeled off some roofs, gutters and siding damaged, branches broken, shallow-rooted trees pushed over.

2. EF186 to 110 mph

   Moderate damage. Roofs badly stripped, mobile homes overturned or badly damaged, exterior doors lost, windows broken.

3. 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.

4. EF3136 to 165 mphthis tornado

   Severe damage. Whole stories of well-built houses destroyed, large buildings badly damaged, trains overturned, trees debarked, heavy cars lifted and thrown.

5. EF4166 to 200 mph

   Devastating damage. Well-built houses leveled, structures with weak foundations moved some distance, cars thrown and large missiles generated.

6. 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.

7. 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.

Rating

EF3

Date

March 31, 2023

Touchdown

11:04 PM CDT (04:04 UTC)

Lifted

12:37 AM CDT (05:37 UTC)

On the ground

93 minutes

Path length

86.0 miles (138.4 km)

Path width

1,400 yards (1280 m)

Deaths

9

Injuries

23

Property damage

$25 million

Counties

Hardeman, McNairy, Hardin and Wayne counties

Touchdown point

35.156, -88.817

Lift-off point

35.521, -87.358

Record number

2303312204-01

346 damage points were recorded along this path by NWS MEG and NWS OHX, in the Damage Assessment Toolkit the survey teams carry. The strongest indicator was rated EF3. The highest wind the damage implies is 155 mph.

• Completed destruction, no anchoring noted. Trees suggest upper end EF-2
• Debris and frame blown about 50 yards into the road
• Mobile home also lost most shingles
• dozens of trees uprooted... less than 20%

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

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 very strong low pressure system deepened over the central Great Plains beginning on March 31, 2023 and continuing into April 1st. As this storm system approached Middle Tennessee from the west, southerly flow at the surface resulted in plenty of moisture and warm temperatures for the area. This all helped to set up an early spring severe weather episode for the area. This system's accompanying cold front approached the Mississippi River late on March 31st. Thunderstorm activity ahead of the front across western Tennessee quickly turned severe, but this early activity tended to rapidly weaken as it crossed the Tennessee River where instability was not favorable. However, as the cold front approached Middle Tennessee and the low level jet strengthened, these thunderstorms were able to better sustain themselves. Numerous severe thunderstorms impacted Middle Tennessee through the early morning hours of April 1st. These thunderstorms produced large hail and damaging winds, while several thunderstorms also produced tornadoes. In total, four tornadoes were confirmed in National Weather Service Nashville's area. The most impacted area was Readyville along the Rutherford and Cannon county line were a strong EF2 tornado caused significant damage. As this event crossed over into a new month, this event will be continued in April 2023.

This tornado crossed from Hardeman County into McNairy County and moved east-northeast along Skipper Creek, intensifying as it moved into the Rose Creek area. A swath of significant damage was surveyed along Rose Creek Road from Talley Road to King Road. Tree damage was widespread and several homes were severely damaged. A single-wide manufactured home was destroyed on Rose Creek Road, killing all four occupants. Maximum wind speeds in this area were estimated at 125 mph. The tornado briefly weakened as it approached Highway 64 west of Selmer. Widespread tree damage and sporadic damage to structures were noted along Bud Long Road, Highway 64, and John Moore Road, with several utility poles snapped along Highway 64. A church was damaged at Highway 45 and Dowty Road. The glass in the foyer was blown out and some damage to the siding was observed. Just north of the church, a metal building was destroyed and several utility poles were snapped. More significant damage was noted along Main Street just south of Hopkins Street in the Bethel Springs area. Several homes sustained significant damage. This is the same area affected by a tornado a few hours prior with a few of these properties sustaining damage from both tornadoes. The tornado continued to the east-northeast, damaging trees and utility poles on Murray School Road and numerous homes along Bethel Purdy Road. The Community Center on Purdy Beauty Hill Road was completely destroyed and a nearby home suffered severe damage. The tornado intensified as it followed Old Stage Road. Widespread damage to trees, powerlines, and homes was observed from Dogwood Lane to Leapwood Enville Road. Several homes were completely destroyed and four fatalities occurred in this area. Additional home and tree damage was observed along Puron and Neely Sharp Roads with another area of more significant damage near Highway 22 and Winding Ridge Road where another fatality occurred. In total, nearly 200 structures were damaged in McNairy County between this tornado and the EF-2 that occurred a couple of hours earlier, 91 of which were total losses. The tornado weakened as it moved into Hardin County. Peak winds in McNairy County from this tornado were estimated at 155 mph.

This tornado weakened as it moved from McNairy into Hardin County, with damage to homes and trees along Highway 69, Old Union Road, Harris Road, and Glendale Road near Hookers Bend. One area of more intense damage was surveyed near Chalk Bluff along Glendale Road where a manufactured home was completely destroyed and an area of trees was slightly debarked. The tornado then approached New Harmony, crossing the bends in the Tennessee River three times. Numerous homes were damaged along Emerald Lane and in the area of Flat Bluff near Becky Road and Lion Lane. Additional damage was noted in the Crossroads area along Clifton and Hardin Creek Roads as the tornado moved into Wayne County. In total, nearly 150 structures were damaged in Hardin County between this tornado and the EF-2 that occurred a couple of hours earlier, 42 of which were total losses. Peak winds in Hardin County from this tornado were estimated at 145 mph.

This major, long track tornado began in National Weather Service Memphis's area as an EF3 tornado in Hardeman, McNairy, and Hardin counties before entering Wayne County as an EF2 tornado. The tornado entered National Weather Service Nashville's area about two miles south of Clifton and continued northeast, passing across Highway 641 near Tom Holt Road where several homes and outbuildings were heavily damaged and dozens of trees blown down. Further northeast, the tornado struck the Leatherwood community along Beech Creek Road where a few poorly constructed homes were leveled and others heavily damaged. One person was critically injured in this area and airlifted to the hospital, and another person was also injured. The tornado then crossed Highway 13 about six miles north of Waynesboro before moving through the Topsy and Ashland communities, snapping and uprooting hundred of more trees. This tornado then continued into Lewis County. Damages are estimated for Wayne County.

The deaths

9 direct deaths are recorded for this tornado, each with what Storm Data knows of it.

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

13 minutes of warning. NWS MEG issued a tornado warning for this county at 03:51 UTC, 13 minutes before the tornado touched down, in force until 04:15 UTC.

The county was under a tornado watch, issued at 22:58 UTC and running to 04:59 UTC.

Every warning and watch covering the touchdown point that day, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service products. Lead time is measured from the issue of the warning in force to the touchdown time in the database, both of which were recorded to the minute by different people.

The Storm Prediction Center had this point in a High Risk, with a 0.30 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.

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.

Savannah (SNH), 22 km from the path, in the two hours either side.

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

The Columbus AFB radar (KGWX), 162 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 04:04 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.

Local storm reports within 60 km of the path, in the three hours either side.

From the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service local storm reports.

The live radar over the trackEvery 2023 tornado in TennesseeEvery tornado in Tennessee since 1950Warnings in force in Tennessee nowThe forecast where you are

126 more were confirmed in the United States that day.

All 127 of them

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.

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