Coastal Storm Along the East Coast; Pacific Storm System in the West on Friday

A strengthening coastal storm will bring soaking rains to portions of the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast, with accumulating snow likely across the higher elevations of northern New England through Friday. A Pacific storm system will bring heavy low elevation rain, and gusty winds to northern California and the Pacific Northwest, as well as possible blizzard conditions to the Sierra Nevada on Friday. Read More >

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On March 23, 2012 low pressure spinning over Missouri sent waves of showers and thunderstorms eastward through the Ohio Valley for much of the day. By early afternoon a pocket of strong winds aloft rotated around the low and entered Kentucky just as a small line of convection developed roughly along Interstate 65. As the line of showers moved to the northeast, it may have crossed a subtle boundary that helped add just enough spin to the atmosphere to allow a couple of very narrow, brief tornadoes to form. The cells that spawned the tornadoes were very small, reaching only about 20,000 feet into the atmosphere (summertime supercells can grow to more than 50,000 feet tall). There wasn't even any lightning, as evidenced by lightning detection networks as well as storm witnesses who reported no thunder before the tornadoes struck.

On the map below, click on a track (thick red line) to see detailed information about each tornado in Jefferson and Shelby Counties.

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Coastal Storm Along the East Coast; Pacific Storm System in the West on Friday

March 23, 2012 Tornadoes