EF1 Tornado — Jefferson, Mississippi

2021-05-02 · near Brasfield, Jefferson, Mississippi

Event narrative

An EF-1 tornado touched down on the northwest side of Lorman near McDonald Road and the Natchez Trace Parkway, where several tree tops and large branches were snapped off and a pine tree was uprooted. The tornado continued east across US Highway 61 into heavily forested areas north of Red Lick Road and south of Patton Road. It then tracked northeast across a network of winding roads through the Tillman and Pattison areas including Woodvine Road, Warners Road, and Pattison - Tillman Road. Along this part of the track, damage consisted of several uprooted or snapped trees and a consistent pattern of downed small and large tree limbs. The tornado appeared to weaken as it approached and moved along the southeast side of Pattison, where a few large tree limbs were downed and a small tree was uprooted along Saw Mill Road at Barland Creek. The tornado dissipated in the forested areas north and west of the bend in Saw Mill Road. Total path length was 14.03 miles across the two counties. The maximum estimated wind speed was 105 mph. The maximum width through the track was 650 yards.

Wider weather episode

An upper-level shortwave trough moved from East Texas across Arkansas during the afternoon of May 2nd. At the surface, a warm front associated with the system developed and lifted north across Mississippi. Severe thunderstorms developed along and south of the warm front through the afternoon and evening, producing several tornadoes and scattered wind damage extending from the southwestern and west-central Mississippi toward north-central and northeastern portions of the state.

View location on OpenStreetMap → (31.8345, -91.0644)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 959697. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.