A Saturday To Remember
March 28, 2020 an EF-3 tornado would go on to touch down in the city of Jonesboro. Below is a summary of the event.
Damage Path
Event Summary
An approaching low pressure system across the Central Plains and evolving unstable environment ahead of this system would provide the potential for severe weather across the Mid-South on March 28, 2020. An EF-3 tornado would go on to touch down in the city of Jonesboro that evening followed by another brief tornado in Greene County, Arkansas.
At 6:00AM CDT, warm temperatures prevailed across the Mid-South due to persistent cloud cover during the overnight hours limiting cooling. Strong southerly flow ahead of an approaching cold front kept a rather humid unstable airmass in place over the Mid-South. As noted by the 12Z (7 AM CDT) sounding, a cap remained in place with minimal surface instability.
Decent southerly flow can be seen in the warm sector. Temperatures at 12Z (7 AM CDT) were already nearing 70°F with dewpoints in the mid- to upper- 60s.
By 11:00AM CDT, a decent cap was still in place over the area due to prevailing stratus, which was limiting initial heating. At 20Z (3 PM CDT), The Storm Prediction Center extended the enhanced risk area further south to include portions of Craighead County, Arkansas.
15Z (10 AM CDT) surface analysis map showing the location of the cold front with temperatures over Memphis 75/ 68.
At 12:15PM CDT, SPC issued a mesoscale discussion regarding the evolving environment across portions of Arkansas. The cap at this time had nearly eroded across western Arkansas as noted by 18Z (1 PM CDT) cloud cover surface observations. Temperatures had warmed to the upper 70s with dewpoints in the upper 60s ahead of the cold front.
Current MLCAPE was near 1500 J/kg across portions of East Arkansas. The mesoscale discussion emphasizes anticipated higher instability (2000+ J/kg MLCAPE by the afternoon) and cooling mid-level temperatures within the warm sector.
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At 2:10PM CDT, the surface low was centered over southwest Iowa with a warm front extending into north-central Illinois and a cold front extending south through western Missouri into Little Rock. At this time, sub-severe thunderstorms were already developing just ahead of the cold front (just west of the Memphis CWA- County Warning Area). These storms would be entering into a moderately unstable environment with 1500-2000J/kg of MLCAPE in place. A special sounding by Little Rock showed SBCPE nearing 3000J/kg.
Given the current environment & expected trends, SPC issued a Tornado Watch that included eastern Arkansas. At this point, all hazards were possible (strong damaging winds, hail, and a few tornadoes) given strong surface instability, sufficient deep-layer shear & lapse rates.
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At 4:59 PM CDT, a quickly evolving supercell thunderstorm spawned several tornadoes, one of which impacted the city of Jonesboro. This storm developed very quickly as it entered a favorable environment capable of producing tornadoes. Ample instability (1500-2000J/kg MLCAPE, 70°F temperatures, & upper 60°F dewpoints), 100-150 m2/s2 of low-level helicity, strong forcing (strengthening low-level jet & frontal lift), and strong deep layer shear (~75-80kts 0-6km) provided the means of producing an EF-3 tornado in Jonesboro (Craighead County Arkansas).
Video provided by Arkansas Department of Transportation.
At 3:59 PM The National Weather Service in Little Rock issued a Tornado Warning for Woodruff and Jackson Counties. By 4:19 PM NWS Little Rock recieved reports of a confirmed tornado in Jackson County. At that same time, we issued a Tornado Warning for the western portions of Poinsett county as well as the southwest portion of Craighead County. Rotation on radar seemed to weaken as it moved closer to the Jonesboro area so we allowed the warning to expire and replaced it with a Severe Weather Warning with "Tornado Possible Tag". By 4:47 PM velocity imagery showed broad rotation and indication that the storm was gaining strength so a Tornado Warning was issued for Craighead County and included Jonesboro. By 4:59 PM we received reports of a tornado on the ground by local media and the warning was updated to include "Considerable Tornado" wording.
The tornado initially touched down in South central Jonesboro , quickly intensified and produced EF-2 damage. The peak intensity of this storm occurred as it crossed over the Jonesboro airport where EF-3 damage was observed. Many industrial buildings were heavily damaged as well as many residential areas where EF-2 & minor EF-3 damage was noted. The tornado traveled a total of 12.55 miles and finally lifted to the northeast of Jonesboro, northeast Brookland. The tornado was estimated to be 600 yards in width and had a peak wind speed of 150 MPH. There were 22 injuries and no fatalities.
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Click on the tabs to see specific damage points along the tornado path.
Storm Prediction Centers Storm Report Summary
