NWS confirms small tornado in Memorial Day storms

Madison County Emergency Management Director Jason Moore said he was concerned Sunday night what the early hours of Monday morning would bring for Madison County as many in the area braced for overnight severe weather.
“Looking at the National Weather Service advance warning models they were sending us, it looked like whatever would happen here would happen about 2 a.m. and that it would be bad for a few minutes,” Moore said. “And it looks like they were right.”
A little before 2 a.m. on Monday, as the second line of severe weather that many across the South were watching passed through West Tennessee.
“We were watching the radar here, and it was all one line of storms that came through at the time, but there were two cells coming from different directions,” Moore said. “One coming from northwest in Missouri and one from the southwest and Memphis, and I guess our atmosphere over Madison County was hot enough that it drew both of them this way, and they got here at the same time.”
That kind of weather convergence isn’t out of the ordinary, but it can create quick times of inclement weather in the immediate area, which is what happened at the Hardeman County line on the southern end of the county.
“There’s a path that starts about Sanderson Road and cuts northeastern over Highway 18 to Lowery Road,” Moore said.
Moore said the National Weather Service confirmed after their assessment Tuesday morning that an EF 1 tornado with wind speeds up to 95 miles an hour did touch down in spots along that path.
The storm crossed Highway 18 just north of the county line, near Richard’s One Stop convenience store where adjacent properties had at least minor damage with branches down if not entire trees, but the store had no damage and was doing business and giving deli food to those working on clearing roads.
“We’ve got EMA, highway, fire, sheriff’s department and TDOT all working on clearing roads and clearing downed trees and branches,” Moore said. “It’s taking a lot of hours but a lot of different people, and we appreciate everyone who are helping out.”
Brandon Shields, brandon@jacksonpost.news