Tornadoes Leave A Path Of Destruction, Calmer Weather Ahead

Saturday April 1st

**WIND ADVISORY UNTIL 1 PM TODAY**

Winds will gust up to 35 mph at times. Winds should diminish by the evening for calmer weather ahead the rest of the weekend.

Damage and devastation has been revealed with first light this morning in McNairy, Hardin, and Wayne Counties. 7 deaths have been confirmed this morning in McNairy County due to the tornado Friday evening. Major damage has occurred through parts of McNairy,  Hardin, and Wayne Counties with homes and businesses being destroyed.

Photo Courtesy Of Tennessee Valley Weather

Scenes of catastrophic damage are filtering in at this time. Please avoid these areas and allow rescue authorities to do their job.

Photo taken by the Adamsville Police Department.

We are continuing to get reports in today so stay with the WBBJ 7 News Team for the latest.

McNairy County Courthouse Courtesy Of Page Walley

The storms moved through last night with tornadoes, large hail, damaging winds. Pictures and video have been coming into the weather center and news room. A tornado moved through Covington Tennessee causing lots of damage on Friday evening. Several other tornadoes were indicated on radar and more scenes of damage could come in as it’s still early into Saturday.

The setup was just right to have large supercell storms capable of large destructive tornadoes and hail larger than golf balls. Near baseball sized hail fell from a supercell storm that moved through the Saltillo area Friday night.

Additional scenes of damage came in from Covington where damage to homes and businesses occurred. At one point the roads were impassible due to trees, powerlines, and debris in the roadways. Power was out to around 25,000 people and remains out in sporadic areas near Covington as of the morning.

The National Weather service will be surveying the areas where tornadoes were indicated by radar or reported by storm spotters in the area and we’ll know more about how powerful the tornadoes were as well as the size of the tornadoes. We will pass along the reports as we get them in.

If you live nearby these areas be very careful traveling through the areas and remember there could still be trees and debris in the way. It is still early and there are likely more damage areas that may have not been reported as of now. Use caution especially if traveling rural roads as there could still be trees or debris in the roadways.

TODAY:

The weekend is looking much calmer and other than a wind advisory effective until 1 pm today, there will be plenty of sunny skies. The winds should become much calmer this evening, tonight, and tomorrow. Cooler temperatures will the passing of the cold front today as highs will stay in the lower 60’s.

TONIGHT:

Tonight will bring a cool and fall like night with lows around 39, mostly calm winds, and clear skies.

SUNDAY:

Mostly sunny skies with light northeast winds 5 to 9 mph. Highs around 70 in the afternoon.

Sunday night: Increasing clouds with a slight chance of showers, mainly south of I-40. Lows in the mid to upper 40’s.

Monday will continue with a slight chance of showers and mostly cloudy skies. Highs in the lower 70’s.

A 30 percent chance of showers Monday night. A possible return of severe weather on Tuesday! We are already in the outlook again for Tuesday for a 15% risk for severe weather. We will want to be weather aware through the day Tuesday as the ingredients again as supercell thunderstorms capable of producing tornadoes and severe storms will again be around west Tennessee. We will update as needed closer to the event.

Highs will reach the lower 80’s into Tuesday afternoon helping to fuel the storms. A few storms could linger into Wednesday. Thursday looks dry in the mid 60’s while Friday returns to some scattered showers in the lower 60’s. Unfortunately, Well want to be weather aware heading into Tuesday but the StormTeam 7 Meteorologists will be here to keep everyone ahead of the storms On-Air, Online, and on our WBBJ 7 Weather App.

For tips on preparing for the storms, click here. To download the WBBJ 7 Weather app, click here.

Brian Davis
Storm Team 7 Meteorologist
Twitter – @Brian7wbbj
Facebook – Briandaviswbbj
Email – Badavis@wbbjtv.com