EF2 tornado in McNairy County, Tennessee

NWS damage surveys concluded that a tornado touched down just south of Bethel Springs on Main Street around 9:30 PM CDT on the evening of March 31, 2023. The tornado picked up in size and intensity as it moved northeast toward Murray School Road where a double-wide manufactured home was completely destroyed. EF-2 damage continued northeast on Bethel Purdy Road where wooden power poles were snapped. A nearly 5-mile-long swath of EF-1 damage was noted up through Good Hope Church Road where more structures were significantly damaged. EF-2 damage was observed at several locations off Good Hope Church Road, including significant roof damage to a single-family residence along with bent metal electrical transmission poles. Widespread tree damage continued for 10 miles to the northeast consistent with EF-1 wind ratings as the tornado crossed into Hardin County. Peak winds in McNairy County from this tornado were estimated at 115 mph.

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.