Tornadoes · United States · Georgia · 2011
EF2 tornado, Cannonville to Knott, Georgia, April 27, 2011
From Cannonville to Knott, this EF2 tornado ran 6.7 miles across Troup County on April 27, 2011, touching down at 11:20 PM EDT and reaching 440 yards wide. It killed nobody and injured 6, and did $10 million of property damage.
The rating scale
Tracks are drawn in the color of the rating. The Enhanced Fujita scale rates the damage rather than measuring the wind: the speeds are what that damage is taken to imply.
EF065 to 85 mph
Light damage. Surface peeled off some roofs, gutters and siding damaged, branches broken, shallow-rooted trees pushed over.
EF186 to 110 mph
Moderate damage. Roofs badly stripped, mobile homes overturned or badly damaged, exterior doors lost, windows broken.
EF2111 to 135 mphthis tornado
Considerable damage. Roofs torn off well-built houses, frame homes shifted on their foundations, mobile homes destroyed, large trees snapped or uprooted, cars lifted off the ground.
EF3136 to 165 mph
Severe damage. Whole stories of well-built houses destroyed, large buildings badly damaged, trains overturned, trees debarked, heavy cars lifted and thrown.
EF4166 to 200 mph
Devastating damage. Well-built houses leveled, structures with weak foundations moved some distance, cars thrown and large missiles generated.
EF5over 200 mph
Incredible damage. Strong frame houses swept off their foundations, car-sized missiles thrown more than 100 meters, steel-reinforced concrete badly damaged, high-rise buildings deformed.
Unrated
The survey recorded a tornado but could not put a number on it, most often because it crossed open country and damaged nothing a rating can be read from.
The record
- Rating
- EF2
- Date
- April 27, 2011
- Touchdown
- 11:20 PM EDT (03:20 UTC)
- Lifted
- 11:30 PM EDT (03:30 UTC)
- On the ground
- 10 minutes
- Path length
- 6.7 miles (10.8 km)
- Path width
- 440 yards (402 m)
- Deaths
- 0
- Injuries
- 6
- Property damage
- $10 million
- County
- Troup County
- Touchdown point
- 32.968, -85.030
- Lift-off point
- 33.016, -84.929
- Record number
- 1104272120-01
The damage survey
10 damage points were recorded along this path by NWS BMX and NWS FFC, in the Damage Assessment Toolkit the survey teams carry. The strongest indicator was rated EF2. The highest wind the damage implies is 128 mph.
- End Point of White Plains EF-1 Tornado.
- Metal outbuilding had minor metal roof damage.
Survey points are preliminary and are the raw material the published rating was built from. Source: NWS Damage Assessment Toolkit.
What the Weather Service recorded
A highly diffluent, deep upper trough, centered across Texas, took on a negative tilt and began to rotate northeast during this period. A strong maritime-Pacific (mP) cold front accompanied the upper trough through the mid-south into the southeast from the early morning hours of the 27th to the early morning hours of the 28th. An intense low-level jet with winds in excess of 70 knots was noted in advance of this system and tracked across the mid-south early on the 27th, across north Alabama and north Georgia into the early morning hours of the 28th. West-southwest winds aloft were highly diffluent and near 200 mph across this same region. The strong low-level jet brought unseasonably, warm, moist Gulf air northward in advance of the mP cold front. Dewpoints in the 70s and maximum temperatures in the 80s combined with the extremely strong low-level and upper jets to create an almost perfect environment for severe thunderstorms and large devastating tornadoes. Indeed, the tornado outbreak that affected much of the eastern U.S., but particularly the south central and southeastern U.S. during this period, was unprecedented and likely the largest recorded in U.S. history. The tornado outbreak that accompanied this combination of weather features has been termed the 2011 Super Outbreak, an outbreak even worse than the 1994 and 1974 super tornado outbreaks across the eastern U.S. The outbreak affected the South Central, Southeast, Midwest, and even the usually less tornado prone Northeastern United States. Over 330 tornadoes were reported during this outbreak which began on April 25th and continued into the 28th affecting 21 states from Texas to New York. Even isolated tornadoes were noted in Canada. Nearly 350 people died from these tornadoes, of which over 230 of these were in Alabama alone. Four tornadoes on April 27th in Alabama and Mississippi were ranked EF5, the highest tornado damage rating on the Enhanced Fujita Scale. On average, there is only one EF5 tornado per year in the entire U.S.||Widespread and destructive tornadoes occurred on each day of the outbreak, but April 27th was clearly one of the most prolific and destructive tornado days in U.S. history, probably only surpassed by the Tri-State outbreak of 1925 and the Tupelo-Gainesville outbreak of 1936. The 24-hour period from 8 am April 27th to 8 a.m. April 28th is listed by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) as the fourth deadliest tornado outbreak in U.S. history, with the 24 hours commencing April 28th at 8 a.m. as the fifth deadliest tornado day in U.S. history. It has also been determined to be the costliest tornado outbreaks and one of the costliest natural disasters in the U.S., even after adjustments for inflation, with total damages estimated to exceed $10 billion. ||Georgia was heavily impacted by this tornado outbreak, especially the northwest part of the state which bore the brunt of the massive supercell thunderstorms producing killer tornadoes that tracked east-northeast from northern Alabama during the late evening. All together, there were 15 tornadoes affecting 28 counties within the Peachtree City, Georgia 96-county warning area (CWA) of North and Central Georgia. All of these occurred within a 24-hour period commencing at 8 am April 27th. One of these tornadoes was rated an EF4, the first EF4 tornado in Georgia since the Palm Sunday outbreak in 1994. In addition, there were also four EF3 tornadoes. Fifteen tornado-related deaths were observed in north and central Georgia, the most tornado-related deaths within the Peachtree City, Georgia forecast area since its inception in 1994. The previous highest tornado-related death total was 12 on March 20, 1998, when a tornado struck Gainesville, Georgia.||Finally, it should be noted that while the most significant period of severe weather during this outbreak for Georgia was from the afternoon of the 27th through the early morning hours of the 28th, there was an initial round of severe weather across northwest Georgia early on the 27th as a decaying line of severe thunderstorms moved into the region from northeast Alabama. Widespread wind damage and even a few brief weaker tornadoes accompanied this system into the northwest counties of the state.
A damage survey conducted by the National Weather Service Forecast Office in Peachtree City, Georgia confirmed that a second tornado touched down in Troup county, approximately five miles south of LaGrange and then traveled approximately seven miles to the northeast before lifting six miles east of LaGrange. This tornado was an EF2, had a maximum path width of 1/4 mile, with maximum winds estimated to be 120 mph. The tornado did cross Interstate-185 east of LaGrange. Fifteen homes were destroyed along the path of the tornado and another 50 homes sustained minor to moderate damage. The most significant damage occurred along Georgia Highway 219 and Murphy Road near the beginning of the tornado's path, or about two miles south of the LaGrange city limits. About 12 homes were destroyed in this area. One home in this neighborhood was picked up and thrown 50 feet while its sun room was thrown 300 yards. A well built log cabin on a hillside was completely destroyed as it was blown off its foundation in the opposite direction of the tornado's movement. While no fatalities occurred admist all of this damage, there were six injuries resulting from debris and damaged homes. Thousands of trees and many power lines were also down along the path of the tornado.||A total of 41 residential or commercial structures in Troup county were either destroyed, suffered major damage, or sustained minor to moderate damage from the two tornadoes this evening.||It should be noted that the same thunderstorm that spawned this tornado continued on to spawn yet another tornado that tracked across northeast Meriwether into western Spalding and southern Henry county shortly after this event and then later spawned additional tornadoes in east central Georgia as the night continued.||[04/27-04/28/11: Tornado #9, County #1-1, EF2, Troup, 2011:018].
From NOAA NCEI's Storm Events Database, the narrative the local forecast office wrote for Storm Data.
The forecast that day
The Storm Prediction Center had this point in a Moderate Risk, with a 0.15 chance of a tornado within 25 miles, in the hatched area where significant tornadoes were expected. The outlook in force was issued at 00:50 UTC.
SPC's Day 1 convective outlook as it stood when the tornado began, read at the touchdown point. The same archive is on the radar archive.
What forecasters said that day
The local office's own words before the tornado touched down, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.
NWS Atlanta, GA wrote its last area forecast discussion before the tornado touched down at Apr 27, 10:06 PM EDT, 1 hour 14 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Apr 27, 10:06 PM EDT, 1 hour 14 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION...UPDATED NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PEACHTREE CITY GA 1006 PM EDT WED APR 27 2011 .UPDATE... SENDING AN UPDATE MAINLY TO REFRESH WORDING...HAVE MADE SOME MINOR ADJUSTMENTS TO POPS AND WX GRIDS. EXPECT SEVERE THREAT TO CONTINUE THROUGH THE OVERNIGHT HOURS WITH SBCAPES AT OR ABOVE 2000 J/KG FOR A LARGE PORTION OF WEST GEORGIA...EXTENDING UP TO THE METRO AREA...WITH AT LEAST 500 SBCAPES EVERYWHERE. 0-1KM HELICITY 300-500 M2/S2 ALONG AND AHEAD OF THE FRONT...WHICH STRETCHES FROM EAST CENTRAL TENNESSEE INTO NORTHERN ALABAMA AT AFD TIME. SPC HAS EXPANDED THE HIGH RISK TO INCLUDE PORTIONS OF METRO ATLANTA. OVERALL LOOKS LIKE A PRETTY LONG NIGHT AHEAD OF US STILL TEMPS NOT FALLING AS QUICKLY AS FORECAST WITH THE FRONT STILL HANGING BACK...SO HAVE UPDATED HOURLY TRENDS. NO MAJOR CHANGES TO MIN TEMPS AT THIS TIME. UPDATE WILL BE OUT SHORTLY. TDP && .PREV DISCUSSION... /ISSUED 730 PM EDT WED APR 27 2011/ PREV DISCUSSION... /ISSUED 505 PM EDT WED APR 27 2011/ SHORT TERM /TONIGHT THROUGH FRIDAY NIGHT/... THE STRONG SOUTHERLY FLOW CONTINUES TO BRING A VERY WARM AND MOIST AIR MASS INTO THE AREA...HELPING TO CREATE A VERY UNSTABLE AIR MASS. THIS ENVIRONMENT HAS THE POTENTIAL OF PRODUCING STRONG TO SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS...DAMAGING WINDS...LARGE HAIL AND EVEN TORNADOES OUT AHEAD OF THE APPROACHING COLD FRONT. THIS WILL CONTINUE INTO THE EVENING FOR MUCH OF THE AREA...SPREADING SOUTH AND EAST DURING THE OVERNIGHT HOURS INTO THURSDAY MORNING WHEN THE ASSOCIATED COLD FRONT IS EXPECTED TO NEAR THE GEORGIA COAST. A LARGE AREA OF HIGH PRESSURE MOVING ACROSS THE SOUTHERN PLAINS WILL USHER IN A DRIER AIR MASS DURING THE DAY THURSDAY. THE DRY CONDITIONS WILL CONTINUE THROUGH FRIDAY. LONG TERM /SATURDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY/... THE HIGH WILL PROGRESS THROUGH THE TENNESSEE VALLEY TO THE MID ATLANTIC REGION SATURDAY WHILE KEEPING THE DRIER AIR OVER THE AREA. A STORM SYSTEM OVER THE GREAT LAKES AND EASTERN CANADA WILL PUSH TO THE NORTHEAST AND THE TRAILING COLD FRONT WILL STRETCH TO THE MID MISSISSIPPI RIVER VALLEY SUNDAY NIGHT. THE FRONT WILL APPROACH NORTHERN GEORGIA MONDAY POSING THE NEXT THREAT OF MORE SHOWERS INTO TUESDAY NIGHT. FAIR WEATHER TO BECOME DOMINATE WEDNESDAY AS HIGH PRESSURE RETURNS...BRINGING IN A DRIER AIR MASS. FIRE WEATHER... WILL CONTINUE WITH FIRE DANGER STATEMENT ACROSS CENTRAL GA...ALTHOUGH WINDS ACROSS SC/SE/EC SECTIONS MARGINAL. FUELS REMAIN DRY IN THIS AREA AS THERE HAS BEEN LITTLE WIDESPREAD RAIN IN RECENT WEEKS. 37 AVIATION... 00Z UPDATE... SUPERCELLS TO THE WEST WILL MOVE INTO THE ATL CSG AREA BY 04Z AND INTO MCN/AHN AREA BETWEEN 05Z AND 06Z. WILL ADD WIND GUSTS TO 40KTS WITH THE TSRA IN ATL/CSG WITH SLIGHTLY WEAKER WINDS IN AHN/MCN. THE COLD FRONT WILL SWEEP ACROSS THE CWA AND THIS WILL BRING THE CONVECTION TO AN END. WINDS WILL REMAIN GUSTY OUT OF THE SOUTH SOUTHWEST AHEAD OF THE FRONT...SHIFTING TO THE WEST NORTHWEST BEHIND THE FRONT. SPEEDS WILL DIMINISH AFTER FROPA...BUT INCREASE TO 15G25KT BY 17Z THU. CIGS WILL BECOME MVFR/IFR TONIGHT...MAINLY WITH THE TSRA AND INCREASE TO VFR BY LATE THURSDAY MORNING. //ATL CONFIDENCE... 00Z UPDATE... MEDUIM TO HIGH ON ALL ELEMENTS 17 && .PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS... ATHENS 62 75 47 79 / 90 20 10 5 ATLANTA 58 72 50 76 / 90 10 5 5 BLAIRSVILLE 55 70 44 73 / 100 10 10 5 CARTERSVILLE 58 70 43 77 / 100 10 5 5 COLUMBUS 65 75 50 80 / 90 20 5 5 GAINESVILLE 59 73 50 77 / 100 10 10 5 MACON 67 79 46 81 / 90 20 10 5 ROME 55 72 45 78 / 100 10 5 5 PEACHTREE CITY 61 71 42 78 / 90 10 5 5 VIDALIA 70 82 55 79 / 50 30 10 5 && .FFC WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... TORNADO WATCH UNTIL 2 AM EDT THURSDAY FOR THE FOLLOWING ZONES: BANKS...BARROW...BARTOW...BUTTS...CARROLL...CATOOSA... CHATTAHOOCHEE...CHATTOOGA...CHEROKEE...CLARKE...CLAYTON...COBB... COWETA...CRAWFORD...DADE...DAWSON...DEKALB...DOUGLAS...FANNIN... FAYETTE...FLOYD...FORSYTH...GILMER...GORDON...GREENE... GWINNETT...HALL...HARALSON...HARRIS...HEARD...HENRY...JACKSON... JASPER...LAMAR...LUMPKIN...MADISON...MARION...MERIWETHER... MONROE...MORGAN...MURRAY...MUSCOGEE...NEWTON...NORTH FULTON... OCONEE...OGLETHORPE...PAULDING...PICKENS...PIKE...POLK... PUTNAM...ROCKDALE...SCHLEY...SOUTH FULTON...SPALDING...STEWART... TALBOT...TAYLOR...TOWNS...TROUP...UNION...UPSON...WALKER... WALTON...WEBSTER...WHITE...WHITFIELD. &&
Hazardous weather outlook, Apr 27, 6:28 AM EDT, 16 hours 52 minutes before
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PEACHTREE CITY GA 628 AM EDT WED APR 27 2011 GAZ001>009-011>016-019>025-027-030>039-041>062-066>076-078>086- 089>098-102>113-281030- BALDWIN-BANKS-BARROW-BARTOW-BIBB-BLECKLEY-BUTTS-CARROLL-CATOOSA- CHATTAHOOCHEE-CHATTOOGA-CHEROKEE-CLARKE-CLAYTON-COBB-COWETA- CRAWFORD-CRISP-DADE-DAWSON-DEKALB-DODGE-DOOLY-DOUGLAS-EMANUEL- FANNIN-FAYETTE-FLOYD-FORSYTH-GILMER-GLASCOCK-GORDON-GREENE- GWINNETT-HALL-HANCOCK-HARALSON-HARRIS-HEARD-HENRY-HOUSTON-JACKSON- JASPER-JEFFERSON-JOHNSON-JONES-LAMAR-LAURENS-LUMPKIN-MACON- MADISON-MARION-MERIWETHER-MONROE-MONTGOMERY-MORGAN-MURRAY- MUSCOGEE-NEWTON-NORTH FULTON-OCONEE-OGLETHORPE-PAULDING-PEACH- PICKENS-PIKE-POLK-PULASKI-PUTNAM-ROCKDALE-SCHLEY-SOUTH FULTON- SPALDING-STEWART-SUMTER-TALBOT-TALIAFERRO-TAYLOR-TELFAIR-TOOMBS- TOWNS-TREUTLEN-TROUP-TWIGGS-UNION-UPSON-WALKER-WALTON-WARREN- WASHINGTON-WEBSTER-WHEELER-WHITE-WHITFIELD-WILCOX-WILKES- WILKINSON- 628 AM EDT WED APR 27 2011 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR NORTH AND CENTRAL GEORGIA. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT NUMEROUS SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS AND TORNADOES LIKELY THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT FOR MUCH OF NORTH GEORGIA. A FEW SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS AND ISOLATED TORNADOES POSSIBLE FOR CENTRAL GEORGIA TONIGHT. .SYNOPSIS... A STRONG STORM SYSTEM WILL BE MOVING INTO THE MID MISSISSIPPI VALLEY THIS AFTERNOON WITH A COLD FRONT TRAILING ALONG THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER. THIS STORM SYSTEM WILL MOVE EASTWARD THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING...MOVING ACROSS GEORGIA OVERNIGHT. .PRIMARY HAZARDS... THE PRIMARY HAZARDS WILL BE TORNADOES...LARGE HAIL...AND WIDESPREAD DAMAGING WINDS FOR MUCH OF NORTH GEORGIA...ESPECIALLY FAR NORTHWEST GEORGIA THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING. A FEW TORNADOES AND SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS ARE ALSO POSSIBLE ACROSS CENTRAL GEORGIA THIS EVENING AND AFTER MIDNIGHT. .DISCUSSION... A VERY WARM AND MOIST AIR MASS WILL BE IN PLACE ACROSS GEORGIA TODAY AHEAD OF THE COLD FRONT WHICH WILL BE MOVING EASTWARD FROM THE MISSISSIPPI VALLEY. THE ATMOSPHERE WILL BE VERY UNSTABLE TODAY AND WIND FIELDS ALOFT WILL BE HIGHLY SHEARED. A LOW LEVEL JET OF 60KT OR MORE IS EXPECTED TO MOVE ACROSS GEORGIA THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING. THIS WILL SUPPORT NUMEROUS SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS AND TORNADOES OVER MUCH OF NORTH GEORGIA THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...THURSDAY THROUGH TUESDAY THERE IS A CHANCE OF THUNDERSTORMS MONDAY...MONDAY NIGHT...AND TUESDAY. OTHERWISE NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTERS SHOULD BE PREPARED FOR ACTIVATION ESPECIALLY FOR THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT ACROSS NORTH GEORGIA.
In the hours before
Local storm report, Apr 27, 10:32 PM EDT, 48 minutes before
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</html>Local storm report, Apr 27, 11:03 PM EDT, 17 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PEACHTREE CITY GA
1103 PM EDT WED APR 27 2011
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
1050 PM TSTM WND DMG WNW MOUNTAIN SCENE 34.86N 83.73W
04/27/2011 TOWNS GA EMERGENCY MNGR
TOWNS COUNTY EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT REPORTS A TREE DOWNED
ONTO A HOUSE ON THE SOUTHERN END OF THE COUNTY.
&&
RGARCIALocal storm report, Apr 27, 11:06 PM EDT, 14 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PEACHTREE CITY GA
1106 PM EDT WED APR 27 2011
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
1049 PM TSTM WND DMG SALACOA VALLEY 34.38N 84.59W
04/27/2011 CHEROKEE GA EMERGENCY MNGR
CHEROKEE COUNTY EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT IS REPORTING SEVERAL
TREES DOWN IN SALACOA VALLEY.
&&
RGARCIAThe air that afternoon
The radiosonde launches on either side of the tornado, from the nearest station that was launching then, drawn and analyzed the way Storm Lab does: the same diagram, the same parcel and shear definitions SPC's mesoanalysis uses.
Peachtre/Fal Fld, GA (KFFC), 00:00Z
3.3 hours before the tornado, 61 km from the path. April 28, 2011.
- Mixed-layer CAPE
- 1215 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -15 J/kg
- Surface CAPE
- 1868 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 1433 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 49 kt
- 0-1 km bulk shear
- 29 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 244 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 408 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 1.6
- Supercell composite
- 15.2
- 0-3 km lapse rate
- 7.6 K/km
Peachtre/Fal Fld, GA (KFFC), 12:00Z
8.7 hours after it, 61 km from the path. April 28, 2011.
- Mixed-layer CAPE
- 0 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -59505 J/kg
- Surface CAPE
- 0 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 1351 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 72 kt
- 0-1 km bulk shear
- 29 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- -167 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 46 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 0.1
- 0-3 km lapse rate
- 4.7 K/km
The surface observations
La_grange (LGC), 9 km from the path, in the two hours either side.
| Time (UTC) | Temp (°F) | Dew point (°F) | Wind | Gust (kt) | Pressure (mb) | Weather |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 00:00 UTC |
From the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of airport observations.
The radar
The Atlanta radar (KFFC), 56 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 03:21 UTC.
Open the radar archive at this moment, over the track
Reflectivity and velocity, decoded from the Level II archive in the browser. Volumes take a few seconds to open the first time.
This ground now
The live radar over the trackEvery 2011 tornado in GeorgiaEvery tornado in Georgia since 1950Warnings in force in Georgia nowThe forecast where you are
The other tornadoes of April 27, 2011
209 more were confirmed in the United States that day.
| Date | Time | Rating | Where | Path (mi) | Width (yd) | Deaths | Injuries | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| April 27 | 1:12 AM CDT | EF1 | Yazoo, MS | 9.7 | 250 | $70,000 | ||
| April 27 | 1:15 AM CDT | EF1 | Leflore, MS | 27.7 | 50 | $50,000 | ||
| April 27 | 1:24 AM CDT | EF1 | Leflore, MS | 3.2 | 100 | $50,000 | ||
| April 27 | 1:36 AM CDT | EF0 | LaSalle Parish, LA | 8.0 | 100 | $40,000 | ||
| April 27 | 1:40 AM CDT | EF2 | Holmes, MS | 12.3 | 1,760 | $100,000 | ||
| April 27 | 1:40 AM CDT | EF3 | Holmes, MS | 23.0 | 1,760 | $700,000 | ||
| April 27 | 1:51 AM CDT | EF2 | Attala, MS | 23.0 | 860 | $553,000 | ||
| April 27 | 1:51 AM CDT | EF0 | Holmes, MS | 1.7 | 50 | $25,000 | ||
| April 27 | 1:59 AM CDT | EF2 | Holmes, MS | 8.8 | 880 | $10,000 | ||
| April 27 | 2:06 AM CDT | EF1 | Grenada, MS | 1.9 | 150 | $60,000 | ||
| April 27 | 2:17 AM CDT | EF2 | Montgomery, MS | 11.7 | 1,760 | $425,000 | ||
| April 27 | 2:20 AM CDT | EF1 | Attala, MS | 0.5 | 50 | $25,000 | ||
| April 27 | 2:25 AM CDT | EF2 | Choctaw, MS | 6.8 | 1,750 | 2 | $350,000 | |
| April 27 | 2:29 AM CDT | EF1 | Winston, MS | 4.2 | 150 | $85,000 | ||
| April 27 | 2:29 AM CDT | EF3 | Choctaw, MS | 58.7 | 1,800 | 25 | $5.4 million | |
| April 27 | 2:37 AM CDT | EF2 | Webster, MS | 13.3 | 1,320 | 1 | 5 | $605,000 |
| April 27 | 2:47 AM CDT | EF1 | Winston, MS | 7.3 | 200 | $60,000 | ||
| April 27 | 3:20 AM CDT | EF1 | Noxubee, MS | 6.2 | 150 | $300,000 | ||
| April 27 | 3:43 AM CDT | EF2 | Tishomingo, MS | 9.3 | 150 | 1 | $500,000 | |
| April 27 | 4:01 AM CDT | EF1 | Lauderdale, AL to TN | 9.2 | 200 | $1,000 | ||
| April 27 | 4:03 AM CDT | EF2 | Kemper, MS to AL | 35.2 | 1,410 | $3.2 million | ||
| April 27 | 4:19 AM CDT | EF1 | Lauderdale, AL | 1.8 | 100 | 1 | ||
| April 27 | 4:27 AM CDT | EF2 | Pickens, AL | 14.4 | 1,232 | $1.8 million | ||
| April 27 | 4:41 AM CDT | EF3 | Pickens, AL | 22.5 | 704 | $741,000 | ||
| April 27 | 5:03 AM CDT | EF1 | Fayette, AL | 7.3 | 176 | 4 | $1.4 million | |
| April 27 | 5:17 AM CDT | EF3 | Tuscaloosa, AL | 20.3 | 200 | $9.3 million | ||
| April 27 | 5:18 AM CDT | EF3 | Walker, AL | 18.9 | 375 | 20 | $13 million | |
| April 27 | 5:38 AM CDT | EF2 | Lincoln, TN | 25.9 | 400 | |||
| April 27 | 5:40 AM CDT | EF1 | Marshall, TN | 2.9 | 100 | $75,000 | ||
| April 27 | 5:47 AM CDT | EF0 | Rutherford, TN | 2.1 | 50 | $8,000 | ||
| April 27 | 5:48 AM CDT | EF2 | Cullman, AL | 30.3 | 880 | 1 | ||
| April 27 | 5:50 AM CDT | EF1 | Shelby, AL | 3.4 | 100 | $3.7 million | ||
| April 27 | 5:50 AM CDT | EF1 | Lawrence, TN | 2.7 | 150 | 1 | $11,000 | |
| April 27 | 5:52 AM CDT | EF0 | Rutherford, TN | 1.6 | 75 | $50,000 | ||
| April 27 | 5:53 AM CDT | EF2 | Blount, AL | 3.2 | 200 | 3 | $9.3 million | |
| April 27 | 5:54 AM CDT | EF2 | Jefferson, AL | 7.8 | 200 | 20 | $18 million | |
| April 27 | 6:12 AM CDT | EF1 | Blount, AL | 14.8 | 200 | $42,000 | ||
| April 27 | 6:13 AM CDT | EF2 | Moore, TN | 2.0 | 75 | $25,000 | ||
| April 27 | 6:16 AM CDT | EF2 | St. Clair, AL | 3.8 | 200 | 5 | $865,000 | |
| April 27 | 6:20 AM CDT | EF1 | Marshall, AL | 11.0 | 75 | |||
| April 27 | 6:24 AM CDT | EF0 | Smith, TN | 3.4 | 50 | $5,000 | ||
| April 27 | 6:24 AM CDT | EF1 | Marshall, AL | 6.4 | 100 | |||
| April 27 | 6:30 AM CDT | EF2 | Marshall, AL | 20.0 | 880 | |||
| April 27 | 6:30 AM CDT | EF1 | Marshall, AL | 4.6 | 50 | |||
| April 27 | 6:30 AM CDT | EF1 | Marshall, AL | 3.4 | 100 | |||
| April 27 | 6:30 AM CDT | EF1 | Marshall, AL | 5.7 | 50 | |||
| April 27 | 6:32 AM CDT | EF1 | Green, KY | 3.1 | 150 | |||
| April 27 | 6:35 AM CDT | EF1 | Marshall, AL | 4.9 | 100 | |||
| April 27 | 6:35 AM CDT | EF1 | Marshall, AL | 0.3 | 50 | $10,000 | ||
| April 27 | 6:43 AM CDT | EF0 | Marshall, AL | 2.8 | 75 | |||
| April 27 | 6:45 AM CDT | EF0 | Coffee, TN | 1.7 | 50 | $5,000 | ||
| April 27 | 6:45 AM CDT | EF1 | Marshall, AL | 4.8 | 200 | |||
| April 27 | 6:45 AM CDT | EF1 | Marshall, AL | 6.9 | 300 | |||
| April 27 | 6:47 AM CDT | EF1 | Jackson, TN | 3.3 | 100 | $10,000 | ||
| April 27 | 6:49 AM CDT | EF0 | Jackson, TN | 2.0 | 50 | $20,000 | ||
| April 27 | 6:49 AM CDT | EF1 | Marshall, AL | 1.6 | 100 | |||
| April 27 | 6:50 AM CDT | EF1 | Warren, TN | 13.2 | 100 | $100,000 | ||
| April 27 | 6:58 AM CDT | EF1 | DeKalb, AL | 27.9 | 300 | 1 | ||
| April 27 | 7:02 AM CDT | EF1 | Monroe, KY | 5.9 | 550 | |||
| April 27 | 7:10 AM CDT | EF2 | DeKalb, AL | 5.8 | 200 | $30,000 |
What this means
Ratings are the survey's, read off the damage rather than measured; the rating scale is above. Tornado counts rise through the record as reporting improved, so a year in the 1950s is not comparable with one today except for the strongest tornadoes, which were always noticed.
Sources
NOAA Storm Prediction Center tornado database, 1950-2025, the official record kept by NOAA's Storm Prediction Center.