Isolated Tornadoes and Wind on April 22, 2017

An upper level trough and associated low pressure system tracked eastward across the southern United State during the day on April 22^nd. This pushed a strong cold front southeastward and into the Lower Mississippi Valley by that afternoon, with a warm front remained draped across northern Mississippi and through central Tennessee. Ahead of the cold front, southerly flow advected warm and moist air into the TN Valley and helped the atmosphere become unstable. Showers and thunderstorms developed across Mississippi in response to the unstable environment and enhanced by the lift associated with the cold front. As these storms pushed eastward, surface winds across northern Alabama shifted to the southeast and increased the low level wind shear across the area. Given the instability in place and the increased wind shear, isolated thunderstorms developed into supercells and moved east across portions of the area. One supercell produced a tornado in Mississippi, which tracked into Franklin County, AL. While this tornado lifted shortly after entering the state, the same storm produced another tornado in western Cullman County. Another supercell moved across Lincoln County, TN and produced a swath of quarter to golf ball sized hail. As this storm moved into Jackson County, AL, it produced a weak tornado. Elsewhere, thunderstorms produced sporadic wind damage and quarter sized hail.