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EF4 tornado in Marshall County, Mississippi

Tornado December 23, 2015 · Marshall County, Mississippi

EF4

Rating

75.1 mi

Whole path

1,300 yd

Path width

Deaths

Injuries

$10.9M

Damage as recorded

NOAA records this tornado county by county. Its path ran through Tate County → Marshall County → Benton County → Tippah County → Hardeman County, Tennessee → McNairy County, Tennessee; the totals above are for the whole tornado.

EF0EF1EF2EF3EF4EF5Unrated

The path drawn at its surveyed width of 1,300 yards (0.74 mi) — zoom in and the swath grows to true scale. Other tornadoes recorded nearby that day are shown faint.

What EF4 means. On the Enhanced Fujita scale, EF4 is devastating damage: well-built houses levelled, consistent with estimated gusts of 166–200 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

The tornado tracked into Marshall County from Tate County. As it moved into Marshall County the tornado heavily damaged several homes along Highway 4. The tornado produced damage to a church and surrounding trees southwest of Holly Springs that approached EF-4. The tornado moved across the southeastern edge of Holly Springs causing EF-2 to EF-3 damage. Numerous trees were uprooted or snapped. About 200 homes were damaged in Marshall County. Two fatalities occurred in Marshall County along with at least 30 injuries. The tornado then tracked into Benton County.

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 Chulahoma (34.6131, -89.6691).

Other tornadoes from the same storm system

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

EF3 Coahoma County 2 dead EF1 Prentiss County

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event 610235. Narratives are written by the National Weather Service forecast office that issued the report.

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