EF4 Tornado — Mcnairy, Tennessee

2015-12-23 · near Chewalla, Mcnairy, Tennessee

Event narrative

The tornado moved into McNairy County from Hardeman County and began weakening. Around 15 homes were damaged or destroyed south of Selmer. The last observed damage was near Highway 45 on the southeast edge of Selmer.

Wider weather episode

Strong surface low pressure tracked from the Plains into the Mississippi River Valley while a strong cold front pushed into the Mid-South on December 23, 2015. A very moist and unstable airmass moved into the area as a warm front lifted north through the region during the early morning hours. A potent upper level disturbance help to trigger thunderstorms along and in advance of the approaching cold front. The necessary ingredients were in place for storm to intensify to severe limits. There were several reports of large hail, damaging winds and flash flooding across West Tennessee during the late afternoon. A violent long track tornado moved from into parts of Hardeman and McNairy Counties from North Mississippi during the early evening.

View location on OpenStreetMap → (35.0471, -88.7866)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 611942. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.