NWS cancels tornado watch for Shelby County
The area is under a Level 3 risk, compared to last Friday’s Level 5 out of 5 warning, which brought nine tornados to the NWS of Memphis’s area. (Submitted)
A surge of storms crossed the Mississippi River into Tennessee early Wednesday afternoon, April 5, but by 2 p.m., most of the severe weather threats had passed through the Memphis metro area.
The National Weather Service of Memphis canceled the tornado watch for Shelby County just after 2 p.m. but encouraged Collierville residents to stay inside until at least 2:30 p.m., as 40 mile per hour wind and nickel-sized hail headed that way.
Rainfall and scattered thunderstorms are expected into the night, but the NWS of Memphis has cleared the area of all warnings and watches.
Despite a milder forecast Wednesday, damage sustained Friday night has made the area more vulnerable.
“People really need to pay close attention to the weather, because there are going to be periods of time where you don’t want to be outside doing clean-up,” NWS of Memphis hydrologist Katie Dedeaux told The Daily Memphian on Monday. “Hopefully, the people who have already been impacted won’t be impacted again.”
Residents can sign up for the City of Memphis’s emergency alert system for severe weather information.
The National Weather Service encouraged Collierville residents to stay inside until at least 2:30 p.m. (Submitted)
The NWS placed the area under a Level 3 risk heading in to Wednesday’s storms, compared to a Level 5 out of 5 warning Friday, March 31, which brought nine tornados to the NWS of Memphis’ area. Statewide, 15 weather-related fatalities occurred, including three in Shelby County as a result of straight-line winds.
About 6,100 Memphis Light, Gas and Water customers were without power after the Wednesday afternoon storms passed through. Customers can call 544-6500 to report an outage.
“Please do not assume we know your power is out, MLGW said in a tweet.
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National Weather Service severe weatherKeely Brewer
Keely Brewer is a Report for America corps member covering environmental impacts on communities of color in Memphis. She is working in partnership with the Ag & Water Desk, a sustainable reporting network aimed at telling water and agriculture stories across the Mississippi River Basin.
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