EF1 tornado in Smith County, Mississippi

The tornado began near Smith County Road 84, where some softwood trees were uprooted. It then tracked northeast into Sylvarena. Here the tornado damaged several structures along Highway 18, including ripping off a gas station canopy and blowing down an antenna. Homes also had roof damage and were damaged by uprooted trees. The tornado continued northeast and lifted amongst some trees south of Ted-Sylvarena Road. The maximum estimated wind speed was 105mph.

Widespread severe weather occurred with a mix of damaging winds, hail and several tornadoes. The focus of the severe weather was across central and southern Mississippi. This event was driven by a potent disturbance that swung across the area during the midday and afternoon hours. As this strong feature dropped into the Lower Mississippi River Valley, a surface low rapidly deepened as it tracked across central Mississippi. The atmospheric response to this was for a rapid increase in winds aloft and higher low level moisture. This combination set the stage for an unstable environment that contained high levels of wind shear which supported and sustained tornado development.