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🌪️ Tornado Talk Updates!

Good morning. I am in Huntsville, AL gearing up for the 1000th episode of WeatherBrains. We are all meeting together LIVE at Baron Weather. I am sitting here with a heavy heart reflecting upon the outbreak of tornadoes and severe weather that occurred Friday through the weekend. At the time of this writing, there are have many confirmed tornadoes, including two EF4s.

The EF4 tornadoes were in Arkansas, one in Jackson County and the other in Izard County. There have been at least 18 fatalities across several states related to the tornadoes.

Below is video of EF4 damage out of Diaz, AR (Jackson County):

There have been several EF3 tornadoes confirmed. Here footage from WSIL out of Poplar Bluff, MO where one of these occurred. There was one fatality in Butler County.

Devastation from an EF3 in Plantersville, AL. Anita Owens is interviewed here by ABC 33/40 after learning she lost her mother in this tornado.

Our hearts and just so broken by these stories and so many more that we continue to learn about.

🌪️ This Week In Tornado History

March 17, 1985 - Florida: Four tornadoes were reported in the state of Florida on this day. The strongest occurred early in the AM. It was given a rating of F3 and traveled a short path of 3 miles through parts of Sarasota County. The tornado developed 2 miles SW of Venice and moved to 3 miles SE of town. 55 houses, many well-constructed, were destroyed. 220 other homes had minor to major damage. A 65-year-old woman was killed inside a camper. A 66-year-old man was killed while standing on his front porch. 45 people were injured.

March 18, 1927 - Arkansas:  An F4 tornado crossed 35 miles through Carroll and Boone Counties in Arkansas. 24 were killed and 110 injured. “The funnel was up to a mile wide, and destroyed the entire south half of Green Forest.” Several members of entire families were killed. At least 10 homes were swept away.

March 19, 1931 - Oklahoma: An F3 tornado cut a 15-block-long path through the west side of Clinton, OK. Twelve homes and three schools were demolished. Two were killed and 20 injured. A third fatality occurred by electrocution after the event. A woman who was interviewed by the Sapulpa Herald told the paper that the tornado sounded like the crack of a whip.

March 20, 2003 - Georgia: An F3 tornado tracked for 25 miles across parts of Mitchell and Worth Counties in Georgia. The town of Camilla was hit hard, and the tornado killed six people and injured 200 others. The twister followed a nearly identical trek to an F3 that struck in February 2000.

March 21, 1952 - Arkansas: A tornado outbreak occurred on March 21, 1952. One of the twisters given an F4 rating developed 2 miles SSW of Searcy, AR. It moved to the northeast to near Kensett, through Judsonia and passing 5 miles NE of Bald Knob. It ended near Russell. Per the Climatological Data National Summary, the “town of Judsonia lay squarely in the path of the storm and was almost completely leveled.” At least 30 people were killed in the town. 385 homes were destroyed, and 560 were heavily damaged. The business section was almost completely demolished. There was also heavy damage in Bald Knob, where 10 people were killed. Nine more were killed in a rural area, and one person died on Russell’s western edge.

March 22, 1932 - Georgia:  An F3 tornado moved from south of downtown Athens, GA to NE of Comer. 12 people were killed and 35 injured. One woman died in a small home SE of the University of Georgia campus. 25 homes were damaged in the Athens area. 75 more homes were affected from Colbert to Paola to Comer. 

March 23, 2007 - New Mexico: 18 tornadoes were confirmed across parts of Texas, Oklahoma, and New Mexico on this day. Ten were in New Mexico. One of those developed just south of Lea County Road 147, approximately 7.5 miles west of McDonald. The tornado width at this point was estimated at 50 yards. It intensified as it moved to the northeast. 13 wooden power poles were damaged 7.5 miles SW of Tatum. Three were snapped off at ground level, and others were snapped 3 to 12 feet above the ground. A water trough weighing an estimated 300 pounds was thrown from the tornado for several hundred feet.

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