EF3 Tornado — Mcnairy, Tennessee

2025-04-02 to 2025-04-03 · near Rose Creek, Mcnairy, Tennessee

Event narrative

The tornado developed near Locke Road and quickly intensified as it moved to the east-northeast just north of Sulphur Springs. It produced mainly tree damage along Eldie Foster and Nelson Store Roads. The tornado produced significant damage to several homes on Sulphur Springs Road near Dee Moore Road and destroyed a manufactured home. The tornado then moved over a more forested area south of Ervin Hester Road, but a well-defined swath of downed trees can be seen via aerial imagery. The tornado intensified as it moved across Highway 45 into Selmer, damaging numerous homes on the western and northern portions of town. The most significant damage was surveyed along New Bethel Road and Adams Extension, where several homes were destroyed. Wind speed estimates in this area were 145-160 mph, corresponding to a high-end EF3 rating. Between these locations, damage to homes and trees was generally in the EF2 range. Significant damage continued to be observed east of the Illinois Central Railroad tracks along Bethesda Purdy Road, where a home suffered major roof damage and a metal building was destroyed. The tornado tracked further northeast, producing minor to significant tree damage, but affected a few more homes and outbuildings along Purdy Road and Airport Road. Aerial imagery revealed significant tree damage between Purdy Road and Barnes Road, with damage to trees and outbuildings noted near the intersection of Old Stage Road and Leapwood Enville Road. Consistent tree damage continued as the tornado crossed Puron Road, Neely Sharp Road, and Highway 22 north of Adamsville before crossing into Hardin County. Peak winds were estimated at 160 mph.

Wider weather episode

A significant multi-hazard, multi-day event occurred across the Mid-South from April 2, 2025, to April 8, 2025, producing 35 tornadoes, record flooding, and numerous reports of damaging winds and large hail. A large upper-level trough covered the Western U.S. in early April. A significant piece of energy rotated around the base of the trough and ejected into the Southern Plains and the Middle-Upper Mississippi Valley on April 2nd. A 500 mb jet maximum of 120 knots and a 300 mb jet maximum of 140 knots pushed into Iowa by late afternoon on April 2nd. Meanwhile, a 992 mb surface low moved into the Upper Mississippi Valley with a trailing cold front pushing toward the Mid-South. A secondary, weaker surface low developed over northeast Arkansas and helped to back surface winds. The warm sector across the Mid-South was potent with surface dewpoints climbing into the upper 60s and MLCAPE values climbing to 2000-3000 J/kg. Increasing upper-level divergence occurred in the entrance region of the upper jet, resulting in strong lift across the Mid-South and storm initiation in the increasingly moist and unstable airmass. Hodographs were long, strongly curved, and supportive of tornadoes. Discrete supercells intensified across the Mid-South during the evening as 0-6 km bulk shear values increased to 60-70 knots, and 0-1 km helicity values increased to 300-400 m2/s2. Fifteen tornadoes occurred from late afternoon on April 2nd through about 2 am on April 3rd, including four EF-3s. This period represented the most significant period of severe weather during the event.

The cold front stalled across the Mid-South on April 3rd while moist southwesterly flow aloft continued and anomalous precipitable water values prevailed across the region. Heavy rain fell across northern sections of the Mid-South into the morning hours of April 3rd. Rainfall amounts of 3-4 inches were common across east-central Arkansas, West Tennessee, and extreme northwest Mississippi, along with scattered instances of flash flooding. By the afternoon of April 3rd, the airmass south of the stalled front destabilized and storms strengthened thanks to a 90-knot mid-level jet maximum moving through Missouri. These storms produced wind damage, large hail, flash flooding, and a tornado east of Corinth. Heavy rain continued into the early morning hours on April 4th when the front eventually lifted north of the area, resulting in a relative lull during the day on April 4th.

View location on OpenStreetMap → (35.1299, -88.7171)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 1256962. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.