[1] The outbreak took place along a sharp cold front that tracked across the entire region from west to east.

[2] The activity started in the overnight hours in Louisiana and Arkansas and tracked eastward, producing scattered tornadoes across the entire Gulf Coast and into the Carolinas over the next 36 hours.

The most severe tornadoes took place in St. Helena Parish, Louisiana where one person was killed in a trailer, near Sumrall, Mississippi where an F3 tornado led to severe damage and numerous injuries, and in Montgomery, Alabama where an indoor roller skating park was destroyed with 30 children inside (but no serious injuries occurred there).

However, breaks in the squall line allowed supercells to form in the overnight hours, and early on the 16th, the deadly tornado in southern North Carolina formed at the end of the outbreak.

Three other deaths occurred that were not related to tornadoes; one was a utility worker that was electrocuted checking downed power lines in South Carolina and two were in car crashes in North Carolina related to severe thunderstorms.