EF2 tornado in Perry County, Mississippi

The tornado began in Perry County, MS near Punch Harvison Drive

and quickly intensified to peak strength near Leo Harvison Dr

where a large stand of softwood pines were cleanly snapped just

above the base. Adjacent to this, the metal roof of a home was

largely removed. However, an open carport on the west end of the

house provided a failure point; therefore, leaned toward the lower

end of the intensity estimates likely marking the right side of

the vortex. Several other hardwoods and softwoods were snapped or

uprooted near the home and several animal enclosures were damaged

or destroyed behind the house. The tornado weakened slightly as it

continued northeast across Dogwood Lane where a couple of snapped

softwoods and uprooted hardwoods were noted. An attached carport

to another home along Dogwood Lane also collapsed. The tornado

then began to widen to 250 yards as it approached Poplar Ave and

Thompson Hill Road in Mclain, MS (Greene County). Numerous

hardwoods and some softwoods were uprooted along Poplar Ave and

several homes had part of their tin roofs removed, likely due to

porch overhangs. A manufactured home was rolled on its side, with

two large pine trees that had fallen on top of it. The tornado

then crossed Main Street in Mclain causing roof damage to a

church, destroying a brick church sign, and uprooting and snapping

several hardwood and softwood trees. The tornado then continued

northeast towards Highway 98 where an abandoned single story

apartment building was partially destroyed with complete roof

removal. While damage was significant to the structure, poor

construction was noted and only minor tree damage to the

surrounding forest prevented a higher rating at this location. The

tornado lifted as it crossed Highway 98 with no damage noted

north of the highway.

A very active severe weather season continued as an outbreak of severe thunderstorms occurred across the area from the evening of the 30th into the early morning hours on the 31st. A strong spring storm system moved across the area. Ahead of the system plenty of Gulf moisture returned to the central Gulf coast. This led to a very unstable atmosphere over the region which combined to strong wind shear to produce 18 tornadoes which were rated from EF-0 to EF-2. In addition to the tornadoes, the storms produced damaging straight line winds and large hail. Numerous reports of damage came in from southeast Mississippi, southwest Alabama and the western Florida panhandle.