Severe Tornado Outbreak Strikes Southern States with Devastating Impact
A series of severe storms unleashed over 100 tornadoes across 14 states, accompanied by destructive thunderstorm winds that swept through the South, Midwest, and East, marking the most significant surge of severe weather in 2025. The National Weather Service has confirmed a total of 109 tornadoes that touched down in the U.S. during the three-day outbreak from March 14 to 16, with 43 of them categorized as “strong,” causing at least EF2 damage on the Enhanced Fujita scale. Alongside the tornadoes, nearly 1,000 reports of large hail and damaging or powerful thunderstorm wind gusts were recorded. Local NWS offices issued over 900 tornado and severe thunderstorm warnings throughout the duration of the outbreak.
The Severity of the Tornadoes
Three of the tornadoes were classified as EF4, denoted as “violent” tornadoes, which represent a small fraction of the annual tornado count in the country. Two EF4 tornadoes swept through northern Arkansas on the night of March 14, leaving a path of destruction in their wake, while another EF4 tornado caused significant damage in southern Mississippi, claiming five lives. The outbreak also witnessed several long-track tornadoes, including an EF3 tornado that traveled almost 82 miles through Arkansas, and an EF2 tornado that carved a 58-mile path across southwest Indiana.
The Impact
The total combined tornado path lengths in states like Missouri, Mississippi, Arkansas, and Alabama exceeded 1,000 miles, showcasing the extensive reach of the destructive storms. Notable damage was reported in various areas, including the near-miss of Lambert International Airport in St. Louis by an EF2 tornado and wind-driven hail causing property damage in O’Fallon, Illinois.
Minutes before an EF1 tornado touched down just northeast of the town of , Illinois, a home in Paragould, Arkansas was unfortunately damaged again by an EF2 tornado just after midnight on March 15, following damage from a tornado in late May 2024. In southern Mississippi, two strong tornadoes struck a part of western Covington County within 41 minutes on March 15. The first tornado was a long-track EF4 from Louisiana that eventually dissipated, followed by a second tornado rated EF2. The intersection of these paths occurred in a forested area just north of Spring Hill School Road, as reported by the National Weather Service damage survey. In Alabama, an EF2 tornado caused a school bus to flip onto the roof of the Winterboro High School gymnasium in Talladega County, resulting in one fatality. Additionally, an EF3 tornado caused significant damage to homes and businesses, claiming two lives in Plantersville. The outbreak concluded with a predawn EF1 tornado on St. Patrick’s Day near Woodville, North Carolina. Although three mobile homes were destroyed and others were damaged, thankfully there were no fatalities, though eight injuries were reported. Jonathan Erdman, a senior meteorologist at weather.com with experience covering national and international weather since 1996, particularly enjoys discussing extreme and unusual weather phenomena. Connect with him on Bluesky, X (formerly Twitter), and Facebook.
