EF0 Tornado — Hancock, Mississippi

2024-04-10 · near Gainesville, Hancock, Mississippi

Event narrative

A tornado crossed the Pearl River Wildlife Management Area from St. Tammany Parish into Hancock County west of Stennis. It became increasingly more apparent as the tornado appeared to intensify on high resolution satellite imagery at this time. The tornado damage path was its widest and most intense just west of Perch Lake where the peak width was measured to be near 175 yards. This coincided with the tornado to the south occluding and dissipating which appeared to have given it a boost. After this point, the tornado damage path began to narrow and weaken as the tornado occluded into the tornado to its north. Mostly EF0 damage points were associated with this damage path as the tornado dissipated entering the property of Stennis Space Center. Peak estimated winds over the Pearl River Wildlife Management Area were 105 mph, or EF-1.

Wider weather episode

A strong upper level disturbance, surface low, and cold front produced a line of severe thunderstorms that pushed across Southeast Louisiana and Southern Mississippi in the morning and early afternoon hours of Wednesday, April 10, 2024. The line of severe thunderstorms produced strong straight line winds, extensive flash flooding in the New Orleans metro area and several tornadoes. 12 tornadoes have been confirmed in Mississippi from this event. 3 of them developed in Louisiana and tracked into Mississippi. 5 of those 12 tornadoes touched down and tracked across Stennis Space Center. At one point, as many as 3 of those 5 were on the ground at the same time. These tornadoes have been determined to range in strength from EFU to EF1 after NWS storm surveys and high resolution satellite analysis were conducted.

View location on OpenStreetMap → (30.3354, -89.6301)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 1178276. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.