EF2 tornado in Franklin County, Mississippi

This EF-2 tornado began in a forested area near the Adams/Franklin County line northwest of the Knoxville community and tracked across Liberty Road, snapping and uprooting several trees. It continued northeastward across Enterprise Road where it produced more prolific tree damage with numerous hardwood trees snapped. At this location, a home sustained major roof damage and was shifted by an uprooted tree, with debris swept downwind into a nearby wooded area. An adjacent outbuilding was also heavily damaged. The tornado then crossed Mississippi Highway 33 where several additional trees were snapped and uprooted. The tornado lifted shortly thereafter. Maximum winds were 120 mph. Total path length was 4.23 miles.

A well defined, positively-tilted trough existed across the Southern Plains and at the surface, a cold front was progressing across Arkansas and Louisiana, while an intensifying area of low pressure propagated northeast along the boundary. Discrete supercells developed in the morning on December 16 and moved northeast, spawning multiple strong tornadoes over northeast Louisiana and south Mississippi. These storms produced a total of 10 tornadoes.