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EF1 tornado in Madison County, Mississippi

Tornado May 4, 2021 · Madison County, Mississippi

EF1
Rating
30.7 mi
Whole path
500 yd
Path width
$855K
Damage as recorded

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

EF0EF1EF2EF3EF4EF5Unrated

The path drawn at its surveyed width of 500 yards (0.28 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 mesovortex tornado began just past the Farr Road line to the northwest of Brownsville. The tornado surged southeast along North John Warren Road, Alexander Road, Coxs Ferry Road causing tree damage, including large limbs snapped & uprooting trees. More widespread damage occurred in the Brownsville area near Trotter Road and State Highway 22, where a tornado debris signature was observed on radar and the tornado began to strengthen. A shed was destroyed from falling limbs as well near here. The tornado continued southeast along Lorance Road, McGuffee Road, Clinton Tinnin Road, N Ratliff Road and Pinehaven Drive/Highway 49 N. Winds began to strengthen to a high end EF1, nearly 100mph, in this region, where widespread damage to softwood and hardwood trees occurred. Some trees fell on powerlines and a powerpole was broken near Highway 49 N. The tornado continued at this strength southeast over MacLean Road and along W County Line Road, Billy Bell Road, Natchez Trace Parkway and into NW Jackson bordering the Madison County Line. The tornado uprooted and snapped numerous trees, causing damage residential homes and outbuildings in NW Jackson just before crossing Livingston Road, Lakeover road and Watkins Drive/Hwy 220. The tornado then crossed the densely packed residential areas near Beasley Road and Hanging Moss Road, causing widespread tree and damages to residence and near Callaway High School. Winds were estimated at high end EF1, around 100-110mph, in this area. The tornado then cross N State Street, Briarwood Drive and Interstate 55. A tree fell on an 18 wheeler cab, causing major damage. Peeling of metal siding was observed to a business along Briarwood as well. The tornado continues southeast along Ridgewood Road, Old Canton Road, Westbrook Road and Sedgwick Drive/Harrow Drive. In this area the tornado remained intense EF1 around 90-110mph. Tree damage occurred all through this area and quite a few homes were damaged, some major, from falling trees. One home was split in half from a falling tree in this area. A power pole was snapped in this area, leading to some high end EF1 damage. This tornado continued southeast across the Hinds/Rankin County Line and Pearl River bottom before crossing into portions of northern Flowood. Some large limbs were snapped and a few softwood trees fell into homes in the Laurelwood Subdivision. One home was destroyed and split in half from falling tree. High end EF0 damage around 80-85mph was estimated in this region. The tornado continued southeast before turning east-southeast, crossing Flowood Drive, Lakeland Drive and straddling Luckney Road. Some minor tree damage occurred from falling limbs and small trees, with highest winds around high end EF0. A tree was uprooted along Lakeland Drive and Luckney Road intersection, with a few more down along Luckney and Riverbend Drive and lifted shortly before crossing Highway 471. Maximum estimated winds in Madison County were 104 miles per hour. Maximum estimated winds were 110 miles per hour for the tornado, which occurred in northeast Hinds County. Total path length was 30.70 miles and maximum width was 880 yards, which occurred in Hinds County.

The wider storm

An outbreak of severe thunderstorms occurred on May 4th. An initial round of supercell thunderstorms that morning brought several brief tornadoes to the area along with a few instances of damaging winds. The main round of storms occurred during the afternoon in the form of an intense line of storms. Widespread wind damage occurred with embedded swaths of significant damaging winds up to 80 mph. This resulted in numerous downed trees, power lines and infrastructure damage. Seven tornadoes also occurred within the squall line.

Began near Rocky Hill (32.4010, -90.2440).

Other tornadoes from the same storm system

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

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event 959497. Narratives are written by the National Weather Service forecast office that issued the report.

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