Portal:Tornadoes/Anniversaries/March

March 1

1997 – After producing a handful of weak tornadoes the previous day, a major tornado outbreak stuck the eastern United States, killing 27 people. Most of the deaths and intense tornadoes were in Arkansas. The worst impacts were from an F4 tornado that devastated Shannon Hills and suburbs of Little Rock, killing 15 people and injuring 220. Another F4 tornado caused major damage in Arkadelphia, killing 6 people and injuring 111.

March 2

1906 – An F4 tornado swept way homes and leveled factories in Meridian, Mississippi, killing 23 people and injuring 60.
2012 – A major tornado outbreak hit the Ohio Valley and southeastern United States, resulting in 41 deaths and more than 300 injuries. An EF4 tornado killed 11 people, including an entire family of 5, in New Pekin, Henryville, and Marysville, Indiana. A long-track EF3 tornado killed 10 people in eastern Kentucky, including 6 in West Liberty
2020 – A small, but intense tornado outbreak killed 25 people in Tennessee. Most of the deaths were from an EF4 tornado, which killed 19 people and injured 87 in and near Cookeville. A high-end EF3 tornado killed 5 people and caused $1.5 billion in damage as it moved through parts of Nashville and Mount Juliet

March 3

1966 – A small but violent tornado outbreak hit the southeastern United States. A long-track F5 tornado killed 57 people as it moved across central Mississippi and leveled numerous homes and a shopping center in Jackson, where 19 people died. An F2 tornado, historically considered part of the F5 tornado's path, killed one person near Coker, Alabama.
2019 – A tornado outbreak in the southeastern United States produced a long-track EF4 tornado that traveled from near Beauregard, Alabama to near Talbotton, Georgia. The worst damage was in Beauregard, where 23 people died.

March 4

1961 – An F2 tornado struck Chicago, damaging more than 3,000 homes, of which 617 had severe damage. One person was killed and 115 were injured. Damage totaled more than $7 million, equivalent to $71 million in 2023.
1964 – A few strong tornadoes affected the Mississippi and Ohio Valleys. An F4 tornado destroyed 24 homes, with 5 completely swept away, near Kirksey and Hardin, Kentucky, killing three people. An F3 tornado killed one person near Waldo, Arkansas.

March 5

1963 – An F4 tornado moved through Bessemer, Alabama and other communities south and southwest of Birmingham, destroying 29 homes and damaging more than 240 others. Thirty-five people were injured.
1989 – A small tornado outbreak affected the Mississippi, Alabama, and Georgia. An F2 tornado traveled 53 mi (85 km) in eastern Alabama and western Georgia killing one person in a trailer near Franklin, Georgia and injuring six. An F3 tornado hit Grantville, Georgia, injuring 23 people, including 8 in the destruction of a newly-built motel. A trailer park and subdivision were also hit and a total of 86 homes were damaged or destroyed.
2022 – Seven people in Iowa died as the result of a tornado outbreak. A long-track EF4 tornado killed six people near Winterset, four of them in one family, and caused damage in the suburbs of Des Moines, amounting to $220 million.

March 6

1996 – A tornado outbreak affected parts of Alabama, Georgia, and Florida. An F3 tornado killed 4 people and injured 40 as it hit a trailer park the northwest side of Selma, Alabama. Four tornadoes struck Montgomery, Alabama. The strongest, rated F2, hit a mobile home park on the east side of the city, killing 2 people and injuring 17.

March 7

2008 – A small tornado outbreak affected parts of Florida and Georgia. An EF2 tornado destroyed 19 homes and damaged 41 others in Lake City, Florida, killing one person and injuring five. Another person died as an indirect result of the tornado while trying to connect a power generator.

March 8

1871 – An F3 tornado moved through East St. Louis, Illinois after crossing the Mississippi River, killing nine people. Six railroad depots and about 30 homes were destroyed.
1909 – An F4 tornado devastated Brinkley, Arkansas. More than 800 buildings, including 260 homes, were destroyed and more than 2,000 were damaged. In all, 49 people killed, including 7 people in nearby rural areas. Entire families were killed. Other tornadoes killed 18 people across Arkansas.

March 9

1901 – A tornado outbreak resulted in 14 deaths across the Central United States, with three tornadoes accounting for most of the fatalities. An F3 tornado killed four people in Wills Point, Texas, where 20 homes were unroofed or destroyed. Another F3 tornado killed four people near Forrest City, Arkansas. An F2 tornado killed four more people near Paragould, Arkansas and destroyed 10 of the 12 homes in the community of "Jackson."

March 10

1876 – Several strong tornadoes struck the Midwestern United States. An F3 tornado destroyed much of Hazel Green, Wisconsin, killing 9 people and injuring 50. Homes were "ground finer than grist from the mills of the Gods" and debris was carried up to 8 mi (13 km). An F4 tornado killed 14 people across Monroe, Ralls, and Marion counties, Missouri.
1973 – A tornado outbreak affected parts of the Southern United States with the worst damage in Texas. An F4 tornado destroyed much of Hubbard, Texas, killing 6 people and injuring 77. An F3 tornado damaged or destroyed about 200 buildings in Burnet, Texas, injuring 40 people.

March 11

1917 – An F4 tornado damaged or destroyed 350 buildings on the south side of New Castle, Indiana, killing 24 people in all and injuring 110. An F3 tornado killed three people in Cincinnati.
1923 – An F5 tornado completely swept away about a quarter of Pinson, Tennessee, killing 20 people and injuring 70. Bodies and body parts were carried for up to a mile.

March 12

2006 – Fifty-five tornadoes touched down across the Midwestern United States as part of a larger outbreak sequence, killing eight people. An F3 tornado killed four people and injured 26 near Renick, Missouri, including 13 people on a bus that it overturned. An F2 tornado injured 13 people near Fordland, Missouri, including one man who was carried 1,307 ft (398 m), the greatest distance that a person has been carried by a tornado and survived.

March 13

1913 – A tornado outbreak resulted in at least 76 deaths across much of the Southern United States. A mile-wide F4 tornado destroyed farms across Floyd and Gordon counties, Georgia, killing 15 people. Another F4 tornado killed 10 people near Middleton and Henderson, Tennessee.
1990 – A tornado outbreak affected parts of the Great Plains and Midwestern United States. A single supercell in Kansas produced two F5 tornadoes in succession, which killed one person each. The first caused major damage in Hesston while the second swept away farms near Goessel, producing "extreme F5" damage. Amateur video captured the dissipating Hesston tornado and newly-formed Goessel tornado as they merged, the first time such an event had been filmed.

March 14

1933 – A major tornado outbreak killed 44 people in Tennessee. An F3 tornado moved through downtown Nashville, damaging the State Capitol and killing 15 people, including 11 in the city. An F4 tornado devastated Pruden, killing 12 people and injuring 162. Another F3 tornado or tornado family killed 16 people and injured 235 as it moved through several rural communities and the city of Kingsport.

March 15

1938 – A tornado outbreak impacted parts of the Ohio and Mississippi Valleys. An F4 tornado or tornado family killed 10 people in northeastern Arkansas and southeastern Missouri, mostly near Bakersville, Missouri. Another F4 tornado destroyed portions of Belleville and O'Fallon, Illinois, killing another 10 people.

March 16

1919 – A tornado outbreak resulted in 42 people dead across parts of Louisiana and Mississippi. Most of the deaths were from two long-track tornadoes or tornado families that struck multiple plantations. One F4 tornado killed 16 people on plantation near Isola, Mississippi out of a total of 24 along its entire track. Another tornado family, with a maximum rating of F3, killed 17 people as it moved from near Bakers, Louisiana to near Rolling Fork, Mississippi.
1942 – A violent tornado outbreak killed 149 people across the Central and Southern United States. A tornado family, with members up to F4 intensity, traveled 110 mi (180 km) across northern Mississippi, killing 63 people, including 19 people each in Leflore and Yalobusha counties. Another F4 tornado killed 15 people in and near Bethe Springs, Beacon, and Enville, Tennessee. An F5 tornado swept away many homes in Lacon, Illinois and caused damage in Alta and Chillicothe, killing 8 people.

March 17

1894 – Part of a larger four-day outbreak sequence, an F4 tornado destroyed much of the western part of Emory, Texas, killing 4 people and injuring 40. The same tornado may have also struck Sulphur Springs at F2 intensity, inuring 5 others. One, possibly two other people were killed by an F2 tornado near Celeste, Texas.
1985 – An F3 tornado struck the southern side of Venice, Florida, destroying 55 homes, many of them well-constructed, and damaging 220 others. Two people died and 45 were injured.

March 18

1925 – The Tri-State tornado, the deadliest and longest-tracked tornado in United States history, carved a 219 mi (352 km)-long damage path across Missouri, Illinois, and Indiana, killing an estimated 695 people and injuring more than 2,000. Multiple towns were devastated: Annapolis, Missouri, Gorham, Illinois, and Griffin, Indiana were nearly completely destroyed; 234 people were killed in Murphysboro, Illinois and 127 in West Frankfort, Illinois.

March 19

1948 – A tornado outbreak killed 43 people across the Midwestern United States. Most of the deaths were from an F4 tornado that killed 33 people as it devastated Fosterburg, Bunker Hill, and Gillespie, Illinois. Another F4 tornado killed four people in Belgrade, Missouri and caused major damage in Bonne Terre.

March 20

1875 – A violent tornado outbreak hit the southeastern United States, killing at least 93 people. Much of the damage was caused by two tornado families that tracked 12 to 15 mi (19 to 24 km) apart across parts of Georgia and South Carolina. The greatest number of deaths was from an F4 tornado that tracked 75 miles from near Sparta, Georgia to near Edgefield, South Carolina killing at least 28 people and possibly as many as 42.

March 21

1932 – One of the deadliest tornado outbreaks in U.S. history struck the Midwestern and Southeastern United States, killing at least 330 people and injuring more than 2,000. A single F4 tornado killed an estimate 49 people in central Alabama, marking it as the state's deadliest tornado until 2011.
1952 – A major tornado outbreak killed more than 202 people in the Southeastern United States and injured more than 1,100. An F4 tornado devastated Judsonia, Arkansas and nearby rural areas, killing 50 people and injuring 325. Other tornadoes inflicted major death tolls in Cotton Plant, Arkansas (29 killed), Henderson, Tennessee (23), and Cooter, Missouri (17).

March 22

1991 – An outbreak of 23 tornado hit the central and southern United States, resulting in six deaths and 76 injuries. The greatest casualties were from an F3 tornado that hit Selmer and Lawton, Tennessee, killing four people and injuring 45. Damage was worst in Selmer, where three of the deaths occurred and 65 houses and 28 mobile homes were destroyed. An F2 tornado killed an 11-year-old boy near Lickskillet, Logan County, Kentucky, and another F2 tornado killed an infant in Hohenwald, Tennessee.

March 23

1913 – Part of a larger outbreak sequence, an F4 (possibly F5) tornado devastated the western and northern portions of Omaha, Nebraska, killing 103 people. Other tornadoes on that day killed a total of 89 people, mostly across the Midwestern United States. These included an F4 tornado that killed 24 people in Terre Haute, Indiana and another that killed 25 people in several communities in Nebraska and Iowa, including 17 in Yutan, Nebraska.
1917 – An F4 tornado moved through the north side of New Albany, Indiana, destroying 300 homes, many of which were swept away. At least 46 people (possibly up to 53) were killed and 250 were injured.

March 24

1975 – An F3 tornado moved through the western and northern parts of Atlanta, Georgia, killing three people and injuring 152. There was major damage to an industrial area and to many homes and businesses, including the governor's mansion, leading this event to be called the "Governor's Tornado."

March 25

1948 – A tornado hit Tinker Air Force Base for the second time in five days, damaging or destroying 84 planes and injuring one person. The possibility of tornadoes was noted by Air Force meteorologists, marking the first time that tornadoes were successfully forecast.

March 26

1948 – A tornado outbreak killed 23 people in the Midwestern and Southern United States. Most of the deaths were from a tornado family in central Indiana that killed 19 people. Tis totalincluded 14 deaths in Coatesville, where 80% of the buildings were damaged or destroyed.
1949 – A total of 28 people were killed by a tornado outbreak across parts of the Southern United States. Most of the deaths were from an F4 tornado that destroyed about 100 homes near England, Arkansas and killed 18 people. An F3 tornado killed 5 people across parts of Woodruff and Jackson counties, Arkansas.
1976 – An F5 tornado swept away several homes on the south side of Spiro, Oklahoma, killing two people and injuring 64.

March 27

1890 – A major tornado outbreak hit the Midwestern United States and Ohio Valley, killing at least 146 people. The worst casualties were from an F4 tornado that killed 76 people as it tore through downtown Louisville, Kentucky. A long-track tornado family, killed at least 21 people in parts of Kentucky and Illinois, mostly near Blackford and Dixon, Kentucky, and flooded the shore of the Ohio River up to rooftop level.
1994 – The 1994 Palm Sunday tornado outbreak killed 40 people in the Southeastern United States. An F4 tornado killed 22 people near Piedmont, Alabama. This included 20 people in a church. While a tornado warning was issued, parishioners did not receive the alert. An F3 tornado killed nine people near Jasper, Georgia.

March 28

1920 – A major tornado outbreak killed 153 people in the Midwestern and Southern United States. An F3 tornado killed 27 people as it destroyed a factory and poorly-constructed homes near LaGrange, Georgia. An F4 tornado killed 26 people in Agricola, Susanna, and Red Ridge, Alabama and in West Point, Georgia.
1984 – The 1984 Carolinas tornado outbreak resulted in 57 deaths and more than 1,200 injuries across North and South Carolina. Much of the damage was caused by a single tornado family. An F4 tornado killed 16 people as it struck Snow Hill, Winterville, Ayden, and Greenville, North Carolina. An F3 tornado killed 12 people in Beaver Dam, Salemburg, Roseboro, and Clinton, North Carolina.

March 29

1976 – A tornado outbreak affected parts of the central and Southern United States. An F3 tornado killed five people and injured 64 in Cabot, Arkansas, with four deaths in a single office building. An F4 tornado caused major damage in Canton, Mississippi, killing three people, injuring 177, and destroying 72 homes. One other person was killed by an F3 tornado in Drasco, Arkansas.
1991 – A tornado outbreak impacted the Southeastern United States. An F1 tornado struck a trailer park in Munford, Alabama, killing five people, including four in one family. An F3 tornado destroyed 15 homes in Clarkdale, Georgia and injured 25 people.

March 30

1897 – A multiple-vortex F4 tornado damaged or destroyed every building in Chandler, Oklahoma, killing at least 14 (possibly 16) people. Many buildings were swept away.
1938 – A tornado outbreak killed 37 people across the Midwestern United States. An F4 tornado devastated Columbus, Kansas, killing 10 people and damaging or destroying 180 homes. An F3 tornado destroyed three blocks of South Pekin, Illinois and killed 9 people.

March 31

1962 – An F3 tornado struck Milton, Florida, killing 17 people and injuring 100, with four deaths in a single home. Seventy-five homes were destroyed and about 200 were damaged. This tornado was part of a larger outbreak, with other tornadoes causing a handful of injuries across the Southeastern United States.
2019 – The first confirmed tornado in the history of Nepal hit the Bara and Parsa districts killing at least 28 people, possibly as many as 50, and destroying more than 1,000 homes.