EF1 tornado in Smith County, Mississippi

This tornado touched down just south of Highway 18 near the Rankin/Smith county line. Several trees were snapped on the south side of the highway. On the north side, a large barn had part of the roof blown off. Sporadic damage continued along Highway 18 for a mile before more substantial tree damage occurred just to the west of the White Oak Community. Here several large hardwood trees were uprooted and snapped along Highway 18. The tornado then dissipated just to the east of the Highway 18 and 541 intersection. Maximum winds were around 90 mph. Total path length in Rankin/Smith Counties was 3.7 miles.

A significant severe weather event and tornado outbreak affected portions of central Mississippi, southeastern Arkansas, and northeastern Louisiana on April 15th. This event evolved slowly and brought multiple rounds of severe storms to the region between 3 am and 9 pm. A total of 15 tornadoes occurred during this event with 3 being of the strong variety (EF2 or EF3). In addition, numerous reports of damaging straight-line winds occurred as well as instances of large hail. Some of the strongest storms produced hail from golf ball to baseball size. There were two reports of softball sized hail as well, one in Clarke County and the other in Kemper County. In addition to the severe storms, significant flash flooding occurred over northern portions of central Mississippi.