Late March Tornadoes
March 26th, 2023
Summary of all Local Storm Reports (LSRs) on March 26th, as well as all the LSRs across the region for this event.
Storm survey teams have concluded that there was one EF-1 tornado in Clarke County, AL and at least one EF-1 tornado in Wilcox County, AL. The Wilcox County tornado will be further refined in the coming days as more data becomes available. Another possible track in Wilcox County will also be analyzed over the next several days.
The data provided on this page are considered preliminary as we continue to analyze all available data. We will add more information to this page and our social media accounts as it becomes available. We thank you in advance for your patience.
----- IMPORTANT 2023 UPDATE -----
Significant updates were made to several tornado tracks and wind swaths impacting the NWS Mobile/Pensacola area in the 2018 to 2023 timeframe thanks to the introduction of high-resolution Sentinel, Worldview, and Planet satellite imagery. One or multiple tornado tracks/wind swaths listed on this event webpage were updated in 2023.
An updated graphic and details surrounding these significant updates can be found further down on this webpage in the section for that specific tornado track or wind swath. More information on this Local Tornado Reanalysis Project and a list of all updates can be found on our webpage at weather.gov/mob/TornadoReanalysis or the National Damage Viewer.
Here is a list of the significant updates:
1. March 26, 2023 - New Tornadoes - Wilcox County, AL: A unique scenario unfolded between Highway 265 South and Highway 10 East on 3/26/2023. A rapid succession of tornadoes occurred from the same supercell producing three separate tornadoes discernible on high resolution Worldview satellite imagery. The first tornado occurred just southeast of a small lake/pond in between several dirt roads. The tornado began by moving due north on the right side of the lake and dirt road, expanding rapidly to about 500 yards in width and uprooting/snapping many softwood and hardwood trees. It was here that it reached its peak intensity around 110mph as an EF1. The tornado starts moving northeast after this point, quickly beginning an occlusion to the north and northwest which is clearly evident with a narrow convergent path of tree uproots visible on high resolution Worldview satellite imagery. The tornado reached its peak intensity by the small lake with winds around 110mph.
2. March 26, 2023 - New Tornadoes - Wilcox County, AL: The second Estelle tornado began immediately as the prior tornado quickly occluded off to the northwest. This tornado began just east of the prior tornado path causing a narrow swath of tree uproots. It continued to the east for a brief moment before rapidly occluding northward, nearly completing a full cyclonic loop back to the southwest during its occlusion. A distinct convergent path of tree uproots was able to be seen via high resolution Worldview satellite imagery which allowed for the distinction of this tornado from the other two tornadoes in its vicinity. The tornado reached a peak intensity of 100mph and maximum width of 300 yards.
3. March 26, 2023 - New Tornadoes - Wilcox County, AL: The third and final tornado in this cyclic supercell developed to the south of the occluding second tornado. This tornado began southwest of Highway 10 East where it quickly grew in size and intensified as it curved to the north, reaching a max width of 300 yards. Based on numerous uproots and snaps visible on high resolution Worldview satellite imagery, the tornadoes intensity is estimated to have peaked here at around 110mph. The tornado narrowed as it moved over Pursley Creek and weakened to EF0 intensity as it crossed Highway 10 East, downing a couple of trees as it crossed. From here the tornado remained weak intermittently damaging trees visible on worldview satellite imagery up to its crossing of highway 28 East. It appears the tornado lifted at this point as satellite imagery revealed no damage past the highway. Ground survey crew were able to assess the damage point at Highway 28 East where a couple trees were snapped and damaged powerlines.
4. March 26, 2023 - Updated Tornado - Wilcox County, AL: A tornado developed over an inaccessible area west of County Road 53 and moved along an east-southeast path. Numerous pine trees were snapped or uprooted along the road, with a metal property gate being crushed. From there, the tornado moved across County Road 14, where several more pine trees were knocked down and another gate was damaged before the tornado crossed into Wilcox County. The tornado eventually approached Highway 5 and snapped numerous trees on both sides of the highway, with downed powerlines as well.
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Springfield Tornado (Clarke County, AL)
PUBLIC INFORMATION STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MOBILE AL 1054 PM CDT MON MAR 27 2023 ...NWS DAMAGE SURVEY FOR 03/26/2023 TORNADO EVENT... ..NORTHERN CLARKE COUNTY TORNADO... RATING: EF1 ESTIMATED PEAK WIND: 100 MPH PATH LENGTH /STATUTE/: 1.67 MILES PATH WIDTH /MAXIMUM/: 340 YARDS FATALITIES: 0 INJURIES: 0 START DATE: 03/26/2023 START TIME: 06:24 PM CDT START LOCATION: 1 WSW SPRINGFIELD / CLARKE COUNTY / AL START LAT/LON: 31.8318 / -87.7742 END DATE: 03/26/2023 END TIME: 06:26 PM CDT END LOCATION: 1 ENE SPRINGFIELD / CLARKE COUNTY / AL END LAT/LON: 31.84 / -87.7474 SURVEY SUMMARY: THE TORNADO IS ESTIMATED TO HAVE TOUCHED DOWN NEAR LONDON ROAD IN NORTHERN CLARKE COUNTY, THEN PROCEEDED TO MOVE NORTHEAST. SPORADIC TREES WERE SNAPPED AND UPROOTED ALONG THE FIRST PART OF THE PATH. THERE WAS MINOR DAMAGE TO A WELL-BUILT HOME AND AN OVERHANG ON A NEARBY SHED WAS BLOWN OVER. A SKI BOAT HOUSED BY THE SHED WAS PUSHED BY THE WIND DOWNHILL AS WELL. A TRAILER IN A NEARBY FIELD WAS ALSO BLOWN DOWNHILL INTO THE WOODS. BEFORE THE TORNADO CROSSED SANDFLAT ROAD, TEN TO TWELVE TALL, HARDWOOD OAK TREES WERE UPROOTED IN A FIELD BEHIND A NEARBY HOME. THE TORNADO THEN MOVED ACROSS SOME HEAVILY-WOODED AREAS AND COW PASTURES AS IT APPROACHED KELLEY ROAD. SEVERAL LARGE, HARDWOOD TREES WERE SNAPPED AND UPROOTED AT THIS POINT. FURTHERMORE, A LARGE SHED WAS OVERTURNED ON ITS ROOF. THE TORNADO CONTINUED TO THE NORTHEAST, LIFTING JUST NORTHEAST OF HIGHWAY 43.
Flatwood Tornado (Wilcox County, AL)
PUBLIC INFORMATION STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MOBILE AL 1111 PM CDT MON MAR 27 2023 ...NWS DAMAGE SURVEY FOR 03/26/2023 TORNADO EVENT UPDATE #1... .UPDATE...THIS UPDATE INCLUDES THE NORTHWEST WILCOX COUNTY PORTIONS OF THE TORNADO TRACK. ADDITIONAL UPDATES FORTHCOMING. ..NORTHWEST WILCOX COUNTY TORNADO... RATING: EF1 ESTIMATED PEAK WIND: 93 MPH PATH LENGTH /STATUTE/: 1.67 MILES PATH WIDTH /MAXIMUM/: 170 YARDS FATALITIES: 0 INJURIES: 0 START DATE: 03/26/2023 START TIME: 08:38 PM CDT START LOCATION: 1 N FLATWOOD / WILCOX COUNTY / AL START LAT/LON: 32.1697 / -87.5225 END DATE: 03/26/2023 END TIME: 08:40 PM CDT END LOCATION: 2 NE FLATWOOD / WILCOX COUNTY / AL END LAT/LON: 32.1625 / -87.4956 SURVEY SUMMARY: THE TORNADO ORIGINATED FROM EASTERN MARENGO COUNTY (BMX CWA) AND CONTINUED EAST/SOUTHEAST ACROSS A HEAVILY WOODED AREA THAT COULD NOT BE ACCESSED BY THE SURVEY TEAM. THE TORNADO EVENTUALLY APPROACHED HIGHWAY 5 AND SNAPPED NUMEROUS TREES ON BOTH SIDES OF THE HIGHWAY, WITH DOWNED POWERLINES AS WELL. THE TORNADO COULD HAVE CONTINUED FARTHER TO THE EAST; HOWEVER, DUE TO THE HEAVILY WOODED AREA IT ENTERED, THE SURVEY TEAM COULD NOT ASSESS ANY FURTHER. HIGH RESOLUTION SATELLITE DATA WILL NEED TO BE ANALYZED OVER THE NEXT SEVERAL DAYS TO FURTHER REFINE THE TORNADO TRACK. && EF SCALE: THE ENHANCED FUJITA SCALE CLASSIFIES TORNADOES INTO THE FOLLOWING CATEGORIES: EF0...WEAK......65 TO 85 MPH EF1...WEAK......86 TO 110 MPH EF2...STRONG....111 TO 135 MPH EF3...STRONG....136 TO 165 MPH EF4...VIOLENT...166 TO 200 MPH EF5...VIOLENT...>200 MPH NOTE: THE INFORMATION IN THIS STATEMENT IS PRELIMINARY AND SUBJECT TO CHANGE PENDING FINAL REVIEW OF THE EVENT AND PUBLICATION IN NWS STORM DATA.
Additional Information
Acknowledgements: Page created by Morgan Barry (Forecaster). Updated by Michael Mugrage (Forecaster).
LAST UPDATED: March 2024
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