EF1 tornado in Madison County, Mississippi

An EF-1 tornado developed just east of Sunnybrook Road between W. Porter Street and W. Jackson St. and then moved east-northeast through the downtown Ridgeland area. Along its path, multiple trees were damaged. The historic Wesley Chapel on West Porter Street, which was moved from Old Canton Road to its current location in the 1900s, was destroyed when it was blown off its foundation blocks. The tornado crossed Maple St., Central Avenue, and Washington St. A home along N. Wheatley St. had shingle damage. The tornado continued east across NE Madison Dr. and US Highway 51 where a business sustained shingle and tin damage. The tornado ended near the intersection of Beaver Creek Drive and Willow Dr. where a power pole was blown down, fences were damaged, and some minor roof damage occurred. The estimated maximum winds were 90 mph.

An upper-level shortwave trough moving east through the Central Plains initiated a few clusters of thunderstorms that spread into Mississippi during the morning of June 18th. With an unstable air mass and strong jet stream over the region, these storms became severe and produced hail and damaging wind through the morning. An additional round of severe storms developed during the evening of the 18th and into the morning of the 19th. This even resulted in a rare June tornado outbreak. The previous record for number of June tornadoes in the state of Mississippi was 7 in 1974. A total of 15 tornadoes occurred across the state from June 18-19, 2023 - making this event a record in its own right. The tornado which occurred near Louin, MS was the first F3 or EF-3 rated tornado in the state since 1957.