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EF2 Tornado — De Soto, Mississippi

2020-01-11 · near Bright, De Soto, Mississippi

$2.6M

Property damage

8.2 mi

Path length

300 yds

Path width

Event narrative

This tornado developed just south of Interstate 269 northeast of Hernando. The tornado initially damaged trees and signs as it crossed I-269. The tornado strengthened as it crossed Craft Road. The tornado heavily damaged a stable and a large metal storage building and then crossed into residential areas east of Craft Road. Numerous homes were damaged, with some sustaining significant damage. The tornado continued northeast, causing minor roof damage, and dissipated near the intersection of Bethel Road and Interstate 22. Strong straight-line winds caused additional damage just south of the tornado track. Peak winds were estimated at 120 mph. A total of 210 homes were damaged by tornadoes and straight-line winds on this date across DeSoto County.

Wider weather episode

A cold season quasi-linear convective system (QLCS) moved across the Mid-South during the overnight and early morning hours Saturday, January 11, 2020. Strong southerly winds drew unseasonably warm, moist air northward into the region ahead of a cold front. Early morning temperatures were in the upper 60s and lower 70s with dewpoints in the upper 60s. This aided in the development of uncapped surface-based instability that was more than sufficient to maintain the QLCS. A strengthening shortwave trough was lifting northeastward across the Ozarks during the event resulting in strengthing wind fields and ample wind shear. The QLCS evolved into a Line Echo Wave Pattern (LEWP) with several persistent mesovortices across north Mississippi and a few transient mesovortices farther north into west Tennessee. Widespread damaging wind was observed across the entire County Warning Area (CWA) along with 13 tornadoes. In addition to the severe weather potential, heavy rainfall was a noted threat. Isolated flash flooding did occur with this system.

View location on OpenStreetMap → (34.8576, -89.9206)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 874723. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.