EF1 tornado in Simpson County, Mississippi

A long track high end EF-1 tornado developed near Georgetown and tracked northeast across Simpson and Rankin counties for nearly 29 miles. The storm intensified several times along the path. Near Harrisville one mobile home was destroyed with a partial interior wall and the floor left. The rear exterior wall was ripped off a second mobile home. Near New Zion Church numerous snapped and uprooted hardwood trees fell on a nearby home, crushing a suv. In Braxton along Neely Road numerous hardwood trees fell, one falling on a house. In the Cato community, numerous trees were snapped and uprooted. A large metal building was completely destroyed. A couple barns/sheds loss portions of the roof. The tornado moved through the Johns community knocking down trees. A couple power poles were uprooted and power lines were downed also. The tornado dissipated just west of Highway 43 near Indian Mound Trail. This tornado continued into Rankin County. Maximum estimated winds 107 MPH. Total path length 28.86 miles.

During the daytime hours of April 18th, a developing storm system helped generate a large line of thunderstorms which then moved across the region. From this, a regional outbreak of tornadoes along with widespread wind damage occurred. This line became efficient at producing tornadoes as a meso-scale vortex developed. The combination of multiple environmental features, set the stage for 43 tornadoes to occur over the forecast area. This ranks as 4th most for a single event across the forecast area. In addition to the tornadoes, widespread wind damage occurred as well.