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EF1 tornado in Jefferson County, Mississippi

Tornado April 30, 2017 · Jefferson County, Mississippi

EF1
Rating
14.4 mi
Whole path
440 yd
Path width
$300K
Damage as recorded

NOAA records this tornado county by county. Its path ran through Jefferson County → Claiborne County; the totals above are for the whole tornado.

EF0EF1EF2EF3EF4EF5Unrated

The path drawn at its surveyed width of 440 yards (0.25 mi) — zoom in and the swath grows to true scale. Other tornadoes recorded nearby that day are shown faint.

What EF1 means. On the Enhanced Fujita scale, EF1 is moderate damage: roofs badly stripped, mobile homes pushed off foundations or overturned, windows broken, consistent with estimated gusts of 86–110 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 touched down just south of Highway 28. A few trees were downed and snapped in this area. As it continued northeast through a rural area, numerous trees were snapped and uprooted. It then crossed McBride Road and Pap Goza Road, uprooting and snapping many large trees. It also snapped a power pole and caused extensive roof damage to a few chicken houses. It continued northeast into Claiborne County, crossing Hudson Road and Beech Grove Road. The tornado ended near Northeast Smith Road, snapping a couple of trees before lifting. A tornado debris signature was also noted on radar during this event. The total length of the tornado path was 14.46 miles and the maximum wind speed was 105 mph.

The wider storm

During the early morning hours of April 30th, a squall line of severe thunderstorms developed across central Louisiana and pushed eastward across the ArkLaMiss. The line intensified as it approached the Mississippi River and caused wind damage and tornadoes. As the convective system evolved into Mississippi, numerous tornadoes developed along the advancing line, with the most prolific damage occurring along the track of a large meso-scale convective vortex (MCV). This feature tracked roughly from Claiborne County through western Hinds/Madison, eastern Yazoo, eastern Holmes, southeastern Carroll, Montgomery, and northwestern Webster counties. This corridor is where the most significant damage occurred, as well as one fatality. Flash flooding, hail, and other wind damage occurred as these storms moved through.

Began near Perth (31.6707, -90.9184).

Other tornadoes from the same storm system

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

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event 690422. Narratives are written by the National Weather Service forecast office that issued the report.

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