EF3 Tornado — Monroe, Mississippi

2023-03-24 · near Gibson, Monroe, Mississippi

Event narrative

This tornado crossed into Monroe County from Chickasaw County near the Highway 45 and Old Houston Road intersection, rapidly intensifying as it approached Egypt and Tumblin Roads. Several structures sustained significant damage, including the total destruction of a couple of single-wide, manufactured homes. Numerous trees and utility poles were heavily damaged in the area and roof damage was noted on several homes.

Several injuries were reported in this area. The tornado continued to move northeast, crossing White Rock Road and causing widespread, significant tree damage, and roof damage to several homes in the path. The tornado strengthened further as it approached McAllister Road. Several homes in the area of McAllister and Herndon Roads suffered significant damage with missing roofs and collapsed walls. A single-wide, manufactured home on Herndon Road was separated from its frame and completely destroyed, resulting in 2 fatalities and multiple significant injuries. Tree damage was severe with many hardwood trees snapped or uprooted. Additional home and widespread, significant tree damage was observed along Whatley Road near the intersection with Highway 45 East south of New Wren. The tornado was nearly one mile wide at this point. One manufactured home was destroyed with debris blown 200 yards down to the highway. A church was destroyed and several homes suffered significant damage. Several homes sustained severe damage along Little Coontail Road, including the complete destruction of multiple manufactured homes. A boat was tossed more than 50 yards and an SUV was thrown into a tree. Some of this damage along Highway 45 East and Little Coontail Road was rated EF3. Farther east along Coontail Road, damage to homes was less significant and was generally confined to minor roof damage. However, severe tree damage continued. The tornado then moved into more wooded, wetland areas, crossing Highway 278 where it intersects with the Tennessee Tombigbee Waterway. Widespread, significant damage to homes and trees was observed all throughout the northern half of Amory. Several locations in Amory sustained damage rated as EF3. The tornado continued to cause damage to trees and homes as it moved across the Amory Golf Course and then affected Myrtle and Elliott Roads. A few homes suffered significant roof damage to the south of Smithville near Parham Store Road and Williams Young Road and widespread tree damage continued. The tornado path began to narrow as the storm moved into northern Monroe County with tree damage found along Highway 23 and State Line Road. Peak winds were estimated at 155 mph in Monroe County.

Wider weather episode

The first significant event to produce widespread severe weather across the Mid-South for 2023 occurred on March 24, during the afternoon and evening hours. This severe weather episode occurred mainly over portions of the Lower Mississippi and Tennessee Valleys. Surface analysis for this day depicted a quasi-stationary boundary from the Mid-Atlantic States and Ohio Valley through northern portions of West Tennessee and Arkansas and stretching back through Central Texas. Low pressure tracked along the stalled front into southeast Missouri during the evening. Meanwhile, a potent mid-level trough ejected out of the southwest U.S. Upper air analysis indicated the Lower Mississippi Valley was in the right entrance region of a strong 300 mb upper-level jet streak. This produced sufficient upper-level divergence and lift needed for severe thunderstorm development.

Moderate instability combined with strong wind shear resulted in a QLCS (Quasi-Linear Convective System) convective mode. This northern part of the QLCS initially started over Western Arkansas Friday afternoon and moved east into Eastern Arkansas by early evening and then across West Tennessee. The northern part of QLCS produced scattered wind damage, flash flooding, and a weak tornado. The southern end of this QLCS scraped across north Mississippi with numerous reports of flash flooding, damaging winds, and several weak tornadoes.

The most significant storm of the night occurred during the late evening hours of March 24, as thunderstorms developing in advance of the QLCS streamed northeast Calhoun and Chickasaw Counties. A tight and small circulation developed in Chickasaw County (MS) about 5 miles east-northeast of Trebloc and quickly grew in strength as it moved into Monroe County (MS), producing significant damage from New Wren to Amory and Smithville, with the most significant damage occurring in Amory.

View location on OpenStreetMap → (33.8690, -88.7200)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 1087403. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.