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EF3 tornado in Panola County, Mississippi

Tornado December 23, 2015 · Panola County, Mississippi

EF3

Rating

61.6 mi

Whole path

800 yd

Path width

Deaths

Injuries

$2.4M

Damage as recorded

NOAA records this tornado county by county. Its path ran through Bolivar County → Coahoma County → Quitman County → Panola County; the totals above are for the whole tornado.

EF0EF1EF2EF3EF4EF5Unrated

The path drawn at its surveyed width of 800 yards (0.45 mi) — zoom in and the swath grows to true scale. Other tornadoes recorded nearby that day are shown faint.

What EF3 means. On the Enhanced Fujita scale, EF3 is severe damage: whole stories of well-built houses destroyed, large buildings badly damaged, trains overturned, consistent with estimated gusts of 136–165 mph. The rating comes from a survey of the worst damage after the storm, not from a wind measurement, so it says as much about what the tornado hit as about how strong it was.

What the National Weather Service wrote

This tornado moved from Quitman County into Panola County. Numerous trees were snapped or uprooted. As the tornado approached Interstate 55 the tornado damaged several homes. This is where the tornado reached peak intensity with winds estimated at 160 mph. The tornado crossed Interstate 55 between Sardis and Como and then dissipated east of Como. A total of 29 homes were affected in Panola. Eight homes were either destroyed or suffered major damage.

The wider storm

Strong surface low pressure tracked from the Plains into the Mississippi River Valley while a strong cold front pushed into the Mid-South on December 23, 2015. A very moist and unstable airmass moved into the area as a warm front lifted north through the region during the early morning hours. A potent upper level disturbance help to trigger thunderstorms along and in advance of the approaching cold front. The necessary ingredients were in place for storm to rapidly intensify. Three tornadoes touched down across North Mississippi including an EF-4 that caused severe damage.

Began near Curtis Station (34.3402, -90.1974).

Other tornadoes from the same storm system

2 more tornadoes the National Weather Service filed under this storm episode.

EF4 Benton County 9 dead EF1 Prentiss County

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event 610231. Narratives are written by the National Weather Service forecast office that issued the report.

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