EF2 tornado in Smith County, Mississippi

This tornado started west southwest of Raleigh along county road 516 near Highway 540. The tornado tracked northeast downing numerous trees and power lines along the path. At its widest point the tornado produced substantial damage to a brick home...removing half of the roof and severely damaging the remaining half. The walls of the home fell in the section of the house where the roof was removed. Several other houses received minor to moderate roof damage. Numerous sheds and small barns were destroyed or damaged. Tin roofing and siding was removed from a storage shed...some of which became projectiles that were forced through the walls of a wood frame house. A mobile home was blown off its foundation. Widespread tree damage also occurred. Maximum winds were around 125 mph.

During the evening hours of November 29th and the overnight/early morning period of the 30th, the region was impacted by an outbreak of tornadoes. This outbreak brought 13 tornadoes to the forecast area. This occurred as potent storm system moved out of the Rockies and developed a strong area of low pressure across the Central Plains. This surface low caused a warm front to take shape and quickly lift northward across the forecast during the afternoon of the 29th. Warm and humid conditions pushed north, which led to unstable conditions over the region just ahead of the advancing strong cold front. The wind energy through the atmosphere was strong. The resulting wind shear (change in wind speed or direction with height) was strong and very favorable for rotating storms and supporting tornadoes. As the clash of systems occurred, a mix of supercell thunderstorms developed, along with a broken line of thunderstorms. A handful of these storms utilized the strong wind shear present and produced tornadoes. Overall, 13 tornadoes occurred with 5 being of the strong variety (EF2-EF3). The strongest tornado occurred over northwest Leake and southern Attala Counties. Here, an EF3 moved along a 10 mile path and destroyed numerous mobile homes, 6 people were injured. Four other strong tornadoes occurred and were all rated EF2. Two of these occurred in Yazoo County, one just southwest of Yazoo City and the other in Downtown Yazoo City. Numerous buildings were damaged along with many trees and power lines down. Another EF2 occurred in Starkville where it destroyed multiple mobile homes in town. Fifteen injuries occurred in this area. The final EF2 occurred in Smith County. This tornado had an 11 mile path which started just SW of Raleigh to 6 miles NE of Raleigh. One brick home sustained significant damage along with numerous other buildings and sheds damaged.

This outbreak broke a streak of 3 years when no tornadoes occurred during the month of November across Mississippi. Additionally, the last Fall outbreak of tornadoes occurred on November 24, 2004. Historically, November marks the peak of our 2nd severe weather season and ranks 3rd as the most active month for tornadoes in Mississippi, just a few behind March.