EF2 Tornado — Montgomery, Mississippi

2017-04-30 · near Kilmichael, Montgomery, Mississippi

Event narrative

This tornado started on the south side of Vaiden and tracked northeast, dissipating just to the northwest of Kilmichael. Initially, trees were snapped and uprooted along county road 28 and county road 27. The tornado then crossed Highway 51 where numerous trees were snapped or uprooted and power lines were downed. A few homes sustained minor roof damage and one had a large tree down on it. The railroad was blocked by several trees as well. The tornado then crossed Highway 35 where more trees were damaged. It then moved into a wooded area and mostly tracked south of Highway 430. A few damage locations were accessible along CR 9 where more trees were downed, but the road was blocked and the core of the tornado path was inaccessible. The Northwest edge of the tornado began to impact portions of Highway 430 a few miles before the junction with Highway 407. Here numerous trees were damaged. The tornado appeared to peak in intensity and reach its widest point near the Carroll and Montgomery County line and along Highway 407. Here, significant tree damage was noted as the tornado moved across an open field and slammed into a wooded area. Significant tree damage was noted across the field south of the highway and where it crossed Highway 407. Widespread tree damage continued across Herring Loop, Lower Bethlehem Road, and Herring School Road. Some homes were damaged by trees. Along Herring School Road, a couple sheds were destroyed along with several homes sustaining minor roof damage. A large metal I-beam shed was destroyed and thrown nearly 100 yards. As the tornado neared Kindred Road, a turn to the left was noted and it began to track more northerly. Damage to trees continued as it crossed Lewis CreekRoad along with a few sheds damaged and shingles off roofs. As it crossed Highway 82 west of Kilmichael, more trees were downed along with a dozen or so power poles. Three homes had roof damage and several sheds had tin off the roof. The tornado continued just a bit farther north and dissipated just past the intersection of Mayfield and Robinson-Thompson Road. The total path length of the tornado was 15.75miles. The maximum width of the tornado was 1.1 miles, which occurred in Montgomery County, as well as the highest wind speed of the tornado at 115 mph.

Wider weather episode

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.

View location on OpenStreetMap → (33.3875, -89.6463)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 692099. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.