EF2 tornado in Kemper County, Mississippi

The tornado began near Kellis Store Road where several soft and hardwood trees were snapped and uprooted. The tornado continued northeast to Weaver Sciples Mill Road where it took the roof off of a home along with a couple of load bearing walls. Numerous hardwood and softwood trees were also snapped at this location. Across the street, a portion of a roof was taken off and a shed was also destroyed. The tornado continued northeast and crossed into Noxubee County where it caused significant damage along Gholson Road. One home sustained roof damage and windows were blown out. In addition, numerous hardwood and softwood trees were snapped. Two outbuildings were also destroyed at this location. Across the street, a well built garage was destroyed along with significant damage to a couple of other outbuildings. Trees were blown down and a shop was damaged along Gholson Road. Maximum winds were around 125 mph. Total path length across both Kemper and Noxubee Counties was 6 miles.

A potent storm system brought a prolonged outbreak of severe thunderstorms to the Lower Mississippi Valley region from the afternoon hours of New Years Eve lasting through the morning hours of New Years Day. This rare combination of high instability and wind shear is mainly what supported the large outbreak that included multiple strong tornadoes. National Weather Service storm survey teams found 11 total tornadoes that occurred during this event. Of the 11, two were EF-3 and two were EF-2. Six were EF-1 with one EF-0. Damaging straight line winds also brought down numerous trees and large limbs across the area. Large hail also occurred during the event with reports ranging from quarter to golf ball size. In addition, flash flooding was a significant issue across the area. Roads were flooded in several locations, some vehicles were submerged in flood waters, and a few evacuations took place as a result of rising flood waters.