EF2 Tornado — Jones, Mississippi

2011-11-16 · near Service, Jones, Mississippi

Event narrative

The tornado developed along Pat Holifield and Leroy Hill Roads, downing a few trees. The tornado moved northeast, widened and reached its maximum width in the area of Springhill Road, where high end EF-1 damage to trees occurred. The tornado then narrowed to about 150 to 250 yard wide path of mid to high end EF-2 damage on either side of State Highway 15 in the Shady Grove community northwest of Laurel. Several mobile homes were completely destroyed, numerous power poles were snapped, several frame and brick homes suffered major damage and other moderate damage, and extensive tree damage occurred. A few commercial buildings along State Highway 15 suffered major damage. As the tornado continued northeast across northeast Jones County, it caused EF-1 type damage as it crossed Sharon-Moss and Lake Como Roads, snapping and uprooting trees and causing some roof and minor structural damage to several homes. The tornado then intensified somewhat again as it crossed into Jasper County, destroying three large chicken houses and causing extensive tree damage along County Road 812 just inside the Jasper County line. The tornado dissipated shortly after causing this damage. Fifteen people were injured by this tornado, with nearly all of the injuries being relatively minor. Maximum winds were estimated at 130 mph.

Wider weather episode

During the early morning hours of November 16, a supercell thunderstorm tracked across the south-central and southeastern portions of Mississippi producing three tornadoes. Actually, this particular cell was responsible for two other tornadoes, one in southeast Louisiana and another in west-central Alabama. This activity occurred as an upper level disturbance moved over the region and combined with increasing wind shear and instability. Initially the storm activity associated with this disturbance was rather weak. However, after 3 am, there was a resurgence in activity, and storms intensified across southeast Louisiana, and southern and southeast Mississippi. The storm that produced all the damage developed in a location where instability and high wind shear were maximized. The result was a cyclic supercell that produced several tornadoes. Across the NWS Jackson service area, three tornadoes impacted four counties: Marion, Jefferson Davis, Jones, and Jasper. Two of the tornadoes were rated EF1 and the other rated EF2. Nearly two dozen structures were damaged or destroyed by these tornadoes and 15 people were injured.

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Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 353322. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.