In the afternoon of March 28, 2020, a large and intense tornado moved through Craighead County, Arkansas, United States, striking the eastern portions of Jonesboro. The tornado, which was on the ground for 16 minutes and tracked for , injured 22 people and damaged an estimated 300 buildings. The tornado, rated EF3 on the Enhanced Fujita scale, heavily damaged planes and hangars at the Jonesboro Municipal Airport and damaged The Mall at Turtle Creek beyond repair. The tornado was captured widely on video, being seen on traffic cameras and tower cameras that were shown to the public during live coverage of the event.
The tornado first touched down at 4:58 pm Central Daylight Time (CDT) reaching EF2 intensity as it impacted a retail area. The tornado continued to strengthen as it neared The Mall at Turtle Creek, which sustained heavy damage. To the northeast, the tornado reached EF3 intensity at it directly impacted the Jonesboro Municipal Airport, where hangars were destroyed and a Beechcraft King Air 200 was blown down the airport's runway. At a railroad located to the northeast, 112 railcars were blown off. The tornado slightly wavered in intensity at this location. Continuing to track to the northeast, it again reached EF3 intensity as it struck a subdivision of homes. Wind speeds as the tornado struck the homes were estimated to have been as high as . The tornado then began to consistently weaken, dissipating 16 minutes after touching down.
On March 25, meteorologists working for the Storm Prediction Center (SPC) outlined a "slight", level 2-out-of-5 risk of severe weather in northern Oklahoma, western Missouri, southeastern Kansas and a small portion of Arkansas. The following day, on March 26, the SPC moved the slight risk slightly northward, putting northern Arkansas in a "marginal", level 1-out-of-5 risk but moving it out of the slight risk area. The SPC also outlined a 5% risk of tornadoes for northern Oklahoma and southern Kansas, while a 2% risk of tornadoes existed from central Oklahoma to central Missouri. The Day 3 convective outlook outlined on March 26 showed southeastern Arkansas in a slight risk area, although Jonesboro remained in a marginal risk.
The Day 1 convective outlook on March 28 saw the majority of Arkansas put in a slight risk area, with the SPC outlining a 5% chance of tornadoes in northeastern Arkansas. In addition, 15% risks were introduced for both hail and wind, covering much of Arkansas in conjunction with the slight risk area. To the north, a "moderate", level 4-out-of-5 risk was outlined for Central Illinois and extreme eastern Iowa, which was driven by a 15% risk of tornadoes within 25 miles of a given point, commonly known as a "hatched area".
In a 20:00 UTC update convective outlook on March 28, Arkansas was introduced to an expansion of the initial 5% tornado risk, which now covered the eastern half of the state. An "enhanced", level 3-out-of-5 risk was outlined for the Missouri Bootheel and small portions of northern Arkansas. A 30% risk for damaging winds was also expanded southward, stretching into northern Arkansas.
Later on March 28, Tornado Watch #68 was issued for much of Arkansas. The tornado watch outlined a moderate risk of tornadoes, but a low risk of EF2+ tornadoes.
The tornado first touched down just east of McClellan Drive at 4:58 pm CDT, moving to the northeast. The tornado initially produced EF0-consistent damage before reaching EF1 intensity on Spencer Circle. EF2 intensity was reached as the tornado impacted the intersection of Race Street and South Caraway Road. At 2801 South Caroway Road, a video showed the tornado impacting and destroying the Gateway Tire and Service Center; a damage study by engineers Timothy P. Marshall and Garry Woodall noted the building was "blown apart" and pieces of the building struck power lines, causing power flashes. On the southern edge of the tornado's path, a building suffered a wall failure. To the north, a large steel building suffered a progressive structural collapse as it was directly by the tornado, which at the time maintained wind speeds as high as . The tornado wavered in strength as it crossed over Stone Street, producing EF1 damage to an office building. A post office in the area lost its roof, and several retail outlets were damaged by the tornado.
The tornado re-intensified as it crossed East Highland Drive, reaching EF3 intensity above a subdivision of homes and destroying at least one home southwest of the Jonesboro Municipal Airport. The tornado then entered The Mall at Turtle Creek, heavily damaging the building and collapsing several walls in varying directions. The mall flooded following the tornado.
The tornado maintained wind speeds as it drew closer to the airport, where another steel building collapsed under the tornadic winds. On the grounds of the Jonesboro Municipal Airport, the tornado inflicted EF3 damage to steel buildings and hangars north of the tarmac; at least one plane was overturned. The Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association noted that 50 aircraft were damaged at the airport and that a Beechcraft King Air 200 was blown down the runway by the tornado. A maintenance hangar owned by Fly Jonesboro was also destroyed. It weakened to EF2 intensity on Lindbergh Drive before entering a large neighborhood of homes on and to the north of Yukon Drive. At least one home was damaged at EF2 intensity on Wildwood Point. To the north of the airport, the tornado derailed 112 railcars off of a railroad.
On Wildwood Lane, the tornado again reached EF3 intensity, inflicting EF3-rated damage to homes. The tornado maintained this intensity while tracking over Tiffany Lane and over Prospect Road, where a home was destroyed at EF3 intensity; the tornado had estimated wind speeds of at this location. The tornado then crossed Elizabeth Lane, before impacting a few homes on Nathan Drive. On the corner of Nathan Drive and Tawn Drive, at least one home was completely destroyed at EF3 intensity.
The tornado weakened after crossing Troy Cove, where EF2 damage was inflicted to a home. The tornado then crossed the Murray Creek and impacted Smithfield Drive, where it entered another subdivision of homes. On Slimbridge Drive and Laura Lea Drive, at least three homes were deroofed at EF2 intensity. The tornado continued to weaken, dropping to EF1 intensity as it tracked over a field south of Darrick Circle, before re-reaching EF2 intensity as it impacted and tracked parallel to U.S. Route 49 and East Johnson Avenue. A small building located off the highway partially collapsed in wind speeds estimated to have been as high as . Further to the northeast, a steel building was heavily damaged at EF2 intensity.
A short distance northeast, the tornado weakened to EF1 intensity, moving to the east and clipping Jonesboro Junction. A home located on County Road 928 received EF1 damage, being directly impacted by the tornado. The tornado began to track through less-populated areas near the end of its life, only striking a subdivision of homes on Eason Street and Dooley Street. The tornado crossed the three-way intersection of County Road 933 and County Road 938 and later County Roads 936 and 939 while beginning to become thinner. Shortly after tracking over Arkansas Highway 230 the tornado weakened to EF0 intensity before dissipating east of Aetna in Craighead County at 5:14 pm CDT.
The tornado was on the ground for , reaching a maximum width of . The tornado injured 22 people and received an EF3 rating by the National Weather Service (NWS), with maximum wind speeds estimated to have been approximately . News channel KAIT broadcast live video of the tornado, helping warn the public in advance.
The tornado damaged or destroyed many buildings in and around Jonesboro. The tornado caused monetary damage that totaled an estimated $300 million (2020 USD). In addition to structural and monetary figures, 22 people were injured in the tornado. The lack of fatalities was attributed to the COVID-19 pandemic in Arkansas, which led to public spaces being less crowded than usual and residents already being in their homes. Two of the injured stayed in the hospital overnight, but nobody sustained life-threatening injuries.
The NWS was praised on social media platform X (at the time called Twitter) for its advanced warnings of the event, including a tornado warning that was issued ten minutes before the tornado actually touched down. In addition to advanced warnings, the tornado was covered live on television and warnings were transmitted via the NOAA Weather Radio outlet, which according to Midland Radio "undoubtedly saved lives".
In November 2022, structural engineers Timothy P. Marshall and Gary Woodall for the Haag Engineering Company conducted a detailed damage survey on the tornado. The survey, titled "Damage survey of the Jonesboro, Arkansas tornado: March 28, 2020" noted that cleanup efforts began immediately after the tornado, which made surveying of tornado damage difficult. The survey used Google Street View and other historical imagery to compare the damaged buildings to their pre-tornado state.
One of the buildings surveyed was Cheddar's Scratch Kitchen, which was directly impacted by the tornado. The building was wood and steel-framed with large windows extending along the building's northern side. The windows blew inward during the tornado, compromising the interior of the structure and lifting up the roof. The survey determined that wind speeds at this location reached , which corresponds to an upper-end EF1 rating.
In October 2021, Cheddar's Scratch Kitchen was reopened to the public after being rebuilt; 25 of the original employees returned to work at the restaurant.
The tornado was described by Weather Underground as "the first U.S. weather disaster of the coronavirus-shutdown era". Rick Crawford, state representative for the area, stated that âÂÂin the midst of this response, maintaining the appropriate posture with regard to COVID-19 is going to be an added challengeâÂÂ; the pandemic was affecting Arkansas at the time of the tornado. The City of Jonesboro ordered a 7 pm curfew.
Heart to Heart International and other humanitarian groups like the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement helped with recovery efforts in Jonesboro, as well as first responders and emergency personnel from the region. Bay, Arkansas Police Chief Paul Keith stated that âÂÂAfter the tornado passed, [the area] was inundated with first responders from all over". StormPoint, a non-profit group, flew a drone to survey and capture imagery of the tornado's damage path, which was conducted to aid the Jonesboro Police Department.
Several weaker tornadoes were associated with the storm system that produced the Jonesboro tornado.