The March 1942 tornado outbreak was a deadly late-winter tornado outbreak which struck a large area of the Central and Southern United States on March 16–17, 1942. The tornado outbreak killed 153 people and injured at least 1,284. At least five states reported violent, F4–F5 tornadoes, making the outbreak the fifth-most widespread in terms of violent tornadoes—only outbreaks in 1920, 1965, 1917, and 1974 featured a wider distribution of violent tornadoes. Violent tornadoes occurred from Illinois and Indiana south to Mississippi, beginning with an F4 tornado in the morning in Illinois. Intense activity spread south to the Gulf Coast and north to the Michigan–Indiana border as the day went on. Seven violent tornadoes were reported, one of which was a powerful F5 in Illinois. The March 1942 o