National Weather Service United States Department of Commerce

Storm Impacting the Northwest U.S.; Fire Weather Conditions in Southern California; Severe Weather in the South

A Pacific storm is bringing areas of low elevation rain, moderate to heavy mountain snow, and high winds to the Northwest. Strong Santa Ana winds and very dry conditions are producing elevated to critical fire weather conditions in southern California. Isolated strong to severe thunderstorms are possible through early Wednesday morning across parts of northeast Texas into western Tennessee. Read More >

Overview

A widespread tornado outbreak occurred Friday, March 31, 2023 involving nearly 150 tornadoes across the country. This included 29 tornadoes in the NWS Quad Cities County Warning Area (CWA), with eleven (11) reported injuries, and no fatalities.  This was one of the nation's largest tornado outbreaks in terms of total number of tornadoes, and was the largest tornado outbreak in the NWS Quad Cities CWA on record (since 1950). The strongest tornado developed southwest of Keota, IA and moved northeast towards Wellman before finally dissipating in far southwestern Johnson county.  It was rated EF4 with maximum sustained winds estimated around 170 mph. This was the strongest tornado in the NWS Quad Cities CWA since 1995.

 

 

March 31, 2023 Story Map
Click for event Story Map. Background photo courtesy of A.Wehrle.