Scattered severe thunderstorms are expected this afternoon and evening from eastern Texas into the lower Mississippi and Tennessee Valleys/southern Appalachians. Heavy to excessive rainfall may produce flash flooding from the lower Mississippi River Valley into the southern Appalachians today. A late-season snowstorm will continue heavy snow over parts of the central Rockies through today. Read More >
Overview
Two episodes of severe weather occurred on March 12. A cluster of severe thunderstorms formed around midday in southern Illinois, then moved southeast along a warm front across the Pennyrile region of western Kentucky. During the late afternoon, a supercell thunderstorm formed over the Ozark foothills of southeast Missouri and tracked across the Poplar Bluff area.Tornadoes:
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Tornado - 5 SE Ellsinore, MO
Track Map
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Tornado - 13 NW Poplar Bluff, MO
Track Map  
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The Enhanced Fujita (EF) Scale classifies tornadoes into the following categories:
| EF0 Weak 65-85 mph |
EF1 Moderate 86-110 mph |
EF2 Significant 111-135 mph |
EF3 Severe 136-165 mph |
EF4 Extreme 166-200 mph |
EF5 Catastrophic 200+ mph |
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Wind & Hail:
Wind
Several reports of wind damage accompanied the afternoon storms in southern Illinois and western Kentucky. A pole barn was destroyed near Benton, IL. Trees up to three feet in diameter were blown down near Providence, KY. A roof was blown off a store at Greenville, KY.
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| Wind Damage to a gas station in Poplar Bluff, MO (KFVS) | Tree damage in Butler County, MO (NWS Damage Survey) | Tree damage in Butler County, MO (NWS Damage Survey) | Tree damage in Carter County, MO (NWS Damage Survey) |
Hail
Very large hail accompanied both the afternoon storms along the warm front, as well as the supercell thunderstorm near Poplar Bluff. Numerous reports of quarter to golf ball size hail accompanied the storms from the Du Quoin and Benton areas of IL, southeast across Marion and Harrisburg IL, to near Madisonville and Greenville, KY. With the supercell thunderstorm, hail up to 3.2 inches in diameter was reported four miles north of Poplar Bluff. A baseball is 2.75 inches in diameter.
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| Large hail in Franklin County, IL (Mike Rennie) |
Large hail in Hilliard, MO (Lori Dunlap) |
Accumulating hail in Madisonville, KY (Brad Coyle) |
Large hail in West Frankfort, IL (Ashley Dial) |
Photos & Video
Various pictures of the severe thunderstorms
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| Wall Cloud near Poplar Bluff, MO (Nathan Lee McAlister) |
Aerial view of the tornado-warned storm near Poplar Bluff, MO (Dan Skoff) |
Radar
Still images of the warm frontal cluster moving southeast in the afternoon...
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| Radar Mosiac at 1 P.M. | Radar mosaic at 2 P.M. | Radar mosaic at 3 P.M. | Radar mosaic at 4 P.M. |
Radar images of the tornadic supercell in southeast Missouri
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| KPAH radar base reflectivity at 5:15 PM CDT near Ellsinore, MO. | KPAH radar storm relative velocity at 5:15 PM CDT near Ellsinore, MO. | KPAH radar base reflectivity at 5:36 PM CDT near Poplar Bluff, MO | KPAH radar storm relative velocity at 5:36 PM near Poplar Bluff, MO |
Storm Reports
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT...SUMMARY
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
1150 AM HAIL 2 ENE PADUCAH 37.09N 88.60W
03/12/2020 M0.75 INCH MCCRACKEN KY NWS EMPLOYEE
NUMEROUS PEA TO MARBLE SIZE HAIL REPORTS IN
AND AROUND PADUCAH KY AND ACROSS THE RIVER
IN BROOKPORT IL.
1229 PM HAIL 2 N CAVE-IN-ROCK 37.51N 88.17W
03/12/2020 E0.70 INCH HARDIN IL PUBLIC
.
0131 PM HAIL 1 N TAMAROA 38.14N 89.23W
03/12/2020 E0.50 INCH PERRY IL LAW ENFORCEMENT
0140 PM HAIL 2 NNW BENTON 38.03N 88.93W
03/12/2020 E1.00 INCH FRANKLIN IL TRAINED SPOTTER
.
0141 PM HAIL SESSER 38.09N 89.05W
03/12/2020 E1.00 INCH FRANKLIN IL EMERGENCY MNGR
0145 PM HAIL 1 S PINCKNEYVILLE 38.06N 89.38W
03/12/2020 E0.50 INCH PERRY IL TRAINED SPOTTER
CORRECTION TO TIME ON PREVIOUS HAIL REPORT
FROM 1 S PINCKNEYVILLE.
0146 PM HAIL 6 NNW VERGENNES 37.98N 89.39W
03/12/2020 E1.00 INCH PERRY IL TRAINED SPOTTER
.
0149 PM TSTM WND DMG 1 SSW BENTON 38.00N 88.92W
03/12/2020 FRANKLIN IL EMERGENCY MNGR
A POLE BARN WAS DESTROYED ON INDUSTRIAL ROAD
IN THE CITY.
0155 PM HAIL 1 NW INA 38.16N 88.91W
03/12/2020 E1.25 INCH JEFFERSON IL PUBLIC
.
0158 PM HAIL DU QUOIN 38.00N 89.24W
03/12/2020 M1.25 INCH PERRY IL BROADCAST MEDIA
.
0205 PM HAIL 1 S PINCKNEYVILLE 38.06N 89.38W
03/12/2020 E0.50 INCH PERRY IL TRAINED SPOTTER
.
0208 PM HAIL 2 SSW ZEIGLER 37.87N 89.06W
03/12/2020 E2.00 INCH FRANKLIN IL PUBLIC
RELAYED VIA FACEBOOK. TIME ESTIMATED FROM
RADAR.
0208 PM HAIL ZEIGLER 37.90N 89.05W
03/12/2020 M1.00 INCH FRANKLIN IL BROADCAST MEDIA
.
0212 PM HAIL HURST 37.83N 89.15W
03/12/2020 E1.00 INCH WILLIAMSON IL TRAINED SPOTTER
.
0212 PM HAIL ROYALTON 37.88N 89.11W
03/12/2020 E1.00 INCH FRANKLIN IL PUBLIC
0219 PM HAIL WEST FRANKFORT 37.90N 88.93W
03/12/2020 M0.50 INCH FRANKLIN IL PUBLIC
REPORT FROM MPING: HALF-INCH (0.50 IN.).
0220 PM HAIL JOHNSTON CITY 37.82N 88.93W
03/12/2020 M1.75 INCH WILLIAMSON IL TRAINED SPOTTER
.
0220 PM HAIL 2 NNW JOHNSTON CITY 37.85N 88.94W
03/12/2020 E2.00 INCH WILLIAMSON IL STORM CHASER
TRAFFIC STOPPED ON I-57 DUE TO LARGE HAIL
DRIVEN BY WIND.
0220 PM HAIL 2 W MUDDY 37.77N 88.55W
03/12/2020 E1.00 INCH SALINE IL TRAINED SPOTTER
.
0221 PM HAIL WEST FRANKFORT 37.90N 88.92W
03/12/2020 E1.75 INCH FRANKLIN IL EMERGENCY MNGR
WEST FRANKFORT PARK.
0224 PM HAIL MARION 37.73N 88.94W
03/12/2020 M1.25 INCH WILLIAMSON IL BROADCAST MEDIA
NUMEROUS REPORTS OF HALF DOLLAR SIZE HAIL IN
MARION.
0225 PM HAIL CARTERVILLE 37.76N 89.08W
03/12/2020 E0.88 INCH WILLIAMSON IL PUBLIC
.
0243 PM FLASH FLOOD WEST FRANKFORT 37.90N 88.92W
03/12/2020 FRANKLIN IL EMERGENCY MNGR
FLOODING IS BEING REPORTED ACROSS A BIG PART
OF THE COUNTY DUE TO WATER DRAINAGE BEING
STOPPED BY LARGE HAIL.
0244 PM HAIL HARRISBURG 37.74N 88.55W
03/12/2020 M1.00 INCH SALINE IL TRAINED SPOTTER
RELAYED VIA TWITTER.
0251 PM HAIL 2 S HARRISBURG 37.71N 88.55W
03/12/2020 E1.00 INCH SALINE IL PUBLIC
.
0256 PM HAIL 1 NNW CARRIERS MILLS 37.70N 88.63W
03/12/2020 E1.00 INCH SALINE IL PUBLIC
0346 PM HAIL 4 SE STURGIS 37.50N 87.94W
03/12/2020 E0.70 INCH UNION KY TRAINED SPOTTER
0350 PM TSTM WND GST 4 NE MARION 37.38N 88.04W
03/12/2020 M48 MPH CRITTENDEN KY MESONET
MESONET STATION RPTN MARION 4 NE.
0400 PM HAIL CLAY 37.48N 87.82W
03/12/2020 M1.00 INCH WEBSTER KY EMERGENCY MNGR
.
0418 PM TSTM WND DMG 2 E PROVIDENCE 37.40N 87.71W
03/12/2020 HOPKINS KY TRAINED SPOTTER
TREES DAMAGED ALONG HIGHWAY 41. ONE IS
ACROSS A POWER LINE. TREES ARE ESTIMATED AT
2-3 FEET IN DIAMETER.
0424 PM HAIL 2 NNE MADISONVILLE 37.36N 87.49W
03/12/2020 E1.00 INCH HOPKINS KY PUBLIC
0454 PM HAIL GREENVILLE 37.20N 87.18W
03/12/2020 E1.75 INCH MUHLENBERG KY PUBLIC
CORRECTS PREVIOUS HAIL REPORT FROM
GREENVILLE.
0455 PM TSTM WND DMG GREENVILLE 37.20N 87.18W
03/12/2020 MUHLENBERG KY EMERGENCY MNGR
A ROOF HAS BEEN BLOWN OFF A STORE. THERE ARE
SEVERAL TREES DOWN.
0458 PM HAIL ELLSINORE 36.94N 90.75W
03/12/2020 E0.70 INCH CARTER MO EMERGENCY MNGR
0509 PM HAIL ELLSINORE 36.93N 90.75W
03/12/2020 M1.75 INCH CARTER MO EMERGENCY MNGR
0517 PM TORNADO 5 SE ELLSINORE 36.88N 90.68W
03/12/2020 CARTER MO NWS STORM SURVEY
EF0 TORNADO BLEW DOWN A FEW TREES AND TREE LIMBS.
0520 PM TORNADO 13 NW POPLAR BLUFF 36.90N 90.57W
03/12/2020 BUTLER MO NWS STORM SURVEY
EF0 TORNADO BLEW DOWN A FEW TREES AND TREE LIMBS ALONG
HIGHWAY PP, CO. RD. 415 AND CO. RD 426.
0527 PM HAIL 5 N POPLAR BLUFF 36.84N 90.41W
03/12/2020 E0.70 INCH BUTLER MO TRAINED SPOTTER
0529 PM HAIL 8 SE ELLSINORE 36.86N 90.64W
03/12/2020 E1.75 INCH BUTLER MO EMERGENCY MNGR
0535 PM FUNNEL CLOUD 4 NW POPLAR BLUFF 36.80N 90.47W
03/12/2020 BUTLER MO TRAINED SPOTTER
0535 PM HAIL 4 NW POPLAR BLUFF 36.81N 90.46W
03/12/2020 E2.75 INCH BUTLER MO TRAINED SPOTTER
0535 PM HAIL CENTRAL CITY 37.30N 87.13W
03/12/2020 E1.00 INCH MUHLENBERG KY PUBLIC
PUBLIC REPORT THROUGH FACEBOOK.
0536 PM HAIL 1 SSW VAN BUREN 37.00N 91.02W
03/12/2020 E1.00 INCH CARTER MO EMERGENCY MNGR
0540 PM HAIL 4 N POPLAR BLUFF 36.83N 90.42W
03/12/2020 E3.20 INCH BUTLER MO PUBLIC
LATE PUBLIC REPORT WITH A PICTURE OF HAIL
WITH ESTIMATED DIAMETER OF 3.2 INCHES. TIME
ESTIMATED FROM RADAR.
0542 PM TSTM WND DMG 2 NW POPLAR BLUFF 36.79N 90.43W
03/12/2020 BUTLER MO BROADCAST MEDIA
ROOF DAMAGE TO A CONVENIENCE STORE ON THE
NORTH SIDE OF POPLAR BLUFF. TIME ESTIMATED.
0557 PM HAIL 2 NW FISK 36.81N 90.23W
03/12/2020 M1.00 INCH BUTLER MO PUBLIC
REPORT FROM MPING: QUARTER (1.00 IN.).
&&
$$
Environment
During the afternoon, a cluster of severe thunderstorms moved southeast along a warm front across southern Illinois into western Kentucky. Late in the afternoon around 5 to 6 P.M., a supercell thunderstorm moved east-southeast across the Poplar Bluff area in advance of a cold front.
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| Figure 1: Tor Watch 46 | Figure 2: Tor Watch 47 | Figure 3: Convective Discussion 171 |
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