Tornadoes · United States · Mississippi · 1994

F0 tornado, Red Banks to Victoria, Mississippi, April 26, 1994

From Red Banks to Victoria, this F0 tornado ran 0.5 miles across Marshall County on April 26, 1994, touching down at 7:25 PM CDT and reaching 23 yards wide. It killed nobody, and did $50 to $500 of property damage.

The rating scale

Tracks are drawn in the color of the rating. The Fujita scale rates the damage rather than measuring the wind: the speeds are what that damage is taken to imply.

  1. F040 to 72 mphthis tornado

    Light damage. Surface peeled off some roofs, gutters and siding damaged, branches broken, shallow-rooted trees pushed over.

  2. F173 to 112 mph

    Moderate damage. Roofs badly stripped, mobile homes overturned or badly damaged, exterior doors lost, windows broken.

  3. F2113 to 157 mph

    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.

  4. F3158 to 206 mph

    Severe damage. Whole stories of well-built houses destroyed, large buildings badly damaged, trains overturned, trees debarked, heavy cars lifted and thrown.

  5. F4207 to 260 mph

    Devastating damage. Well-built houses leveled, structures with weak foundations moved some distance, cars thrown and large missiles generated.

  6. F5261 to 318 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.

  7. 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
F0
Date
April 26, 1994
Touchdown
7:25 PM CDT (00:25 UTC)
Path length
0.5 miles (0.8 km)
Path width
23 yards (21 m)
Deaths
0
Injuries
0
Property damage
$50 to $500
County
Marshall County
Touchdown point
34.830, -89.570
Record number
228

What the Weather Service recorded

A tornado briefly touched down near Red Banks. A few trees were knocked down.

A few trees were blown down.

From NOAA NCEI's Storm Events Database, the narrative the local forecast office wrote for Storm Data.

The warnings

No tornado warning for this county appears in the archive as in force at the moment the tornado touched down. One was issued for the county at another hour that day.

Issued (UTC)ExpiredProductOffice
21:19 UTC22:00 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WarningMEG
00:18 UTC01:00 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WarningMEG
00:45 UTC01:30 UTCTornado WarningMEG

Every warning and watch covering the touchdown point that day, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service products. Lead time is measured from the issue of the warning in force to the touchdown time in the database, both of which were recorded to the minute by different people.

The forecast that day

The Storm Prediction Center had this point in a Slight Risk. The outlook in force was issued at 06:20 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.

The 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.

Little Rock, AR (KLZK), 00:00Z

0.4 hours before the tornado, 35 km from the path. April 27, 1994.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Little Rock, AR at 00:00Z on 1994-04-27Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel lifted from the surface. Mixed-layer CAPE 2705 joules per kilogram, CIN -3, lifted condensation level 1210 meters above ground. Wind barbs in knots down the right edge.LCLEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed. The warm shading is its CAPE, the cool shading the inhibition it has to break through.
HodographHodograph, Little Rock, AR at 00:00Z on 1994-04-27The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers as a curve, rings every 10 meters per second labeled in knots. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 62 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 41 knots.193958Sfc1 km3 km6 km9 kmRMLM
The wind turning with height, colored by layer: ground to 1 km, 1 to 3 km, 3 to 6 km, 6 to 10 km. RM and LM are the right and left moving storms Bunkers' method gives; the shaded area is the 0 to 1 km storm-relative helicity.
Mixed-layer CAPE
2705 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-3 J/kg
Surface CAPE
3253 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1210 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
41 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
9 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
62 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
124 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
1.2
Supercell composite
7.2
0-3 km lapse rate
7.0 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

Little Rock, AR (KLZK), 12:00Z

11.6 hours after it, 35 km from the path. April 27, 1994.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Little Rock, AR at 12:00Z on 1994-04-27Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel lifted from the surface. Mixed-layer CAPE 2407 joules per kilogram, CIN -66, lifted condensation level 679 meters above ground. Wind barbs in knots down the right edge.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed. The warm shading is its CAPE, the cool shading the inhibition it has to break through.
HodographHodograph, Little Rock, AR at 12:00Z on 1994-04-27The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers as a curve, rings every 10 meters per second labeled in knots. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 55 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 26 knots.193958Sfc1 km3 km6 km9 kmRMLM
The wind turning with height, colored by layer: ground to 1 km, 1 to 3 km, 3 to 6 km, 6 to 10 km. RM and LM are the right and left moving storms Bunkers' method gives; the shaded area is the 0 to 1 km storm-relative helicity.
Mixed-layer CAPE
2407 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-66 J/kg
Surface CAPE
2556 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
679 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
26 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
13 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
55 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
69 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.4
Supercell composite
2.4
0-3 km lapse rate
5.3 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

This ground now

The live radar over the trackEvery 1994 tornado in MississippiEvery tornado in Mississippi since 1950Warnings in force in Mississippi nowThe forecast where you are

The other tornadoes of April 26, 1994

65 more were confirmed in the United States that day.

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
April 266:03 AM CDTF1Story, IA1.030$5,000 to $50,000
April 2612:00 PM CDTF2Washington, MN5.01,3001$500,000 to $5 million
April 2612:50 PM CDTF0Archer, TX0.120
April 261:03 PM CDTF1Dunn, WI4.01,200$50,000 to $500,000
April 261:05 PM CDTF2Archer, TX9.5150$50,000 to $500,000
April 261:10 PM CDTF2Barron, WI4.01,200$50,000 to $500,000
April 261:30 PM CDTF0Carter, OK0.130
April 262:20 PM CDTF2Price, WI12.01,200$50,000 to $500,000
April 262:40 PM CDTF0Montague, TX0.110
April 262:55 PM CDTF0Wise, TX0.110
April 263:07 PM CDTF0Montague, TX2.8100
April 263:25 PM CDTF1Atoka, OK9.080$500 to $5,000
April 263:30 PM CDTF1Montague, TX5.0200$50,000 to $500,000
April 263:30 PM CDTF0Montague, TX0.110
April 263:37 PM CDTF0Cooke, TX0.110
April 263:45 PM CDTF2Cooke, TX16.02008$5 million to $50 million
April 263:46 PM CDTF1Pittsburg, OK3.073$50 to $500
April 263:50 PM CDTF0Cooke, TX1.0100$50,000 to $500,000
April 263:55 PM CDTF1Vilas, WI4.5150$5,000 to $50,000
April 264:02 PM CDTF1Pushmataha, OK12.080$500 to $5,000
April 264:05 PM CDTF0Cooke, TX0.110$500 to $5,000
April 264:10 PM CDTF0Cooke, TX4.0100$5,000 to $50,000
April 265:10 PM EDTF0Hillsborough, FL0.110$500,000 to $5 million
April 264:20 PM CDTF1Latimer, OK6.050$5,000 to $50,000
April 262:30 PM MSTF0Mohave, AZ3.020
April 264:30 PM CDTF0Grayson, TX0.110
April 264:40 PM CDTF0Grayson, TX0.110
April 264:52 PM CDTF0Comanche, TX0.110
April 265:11 PM CDTF0Comanche, TX0.110
April 265:15 PM CDTF0Grayson, TX0.110
April 266:03 PM CDTF0DeSoto, MS3.050$500 to $5,000
April 266:05 PM CDTF0Erath, TX0.110
April 266:18 PM CDTF1Bryan, OK8.540$50,000 to $500,000
April 266:20 PM CDTF2Bosque, TX1.01001$50,000 to $500,000
April 266:35 PM CDTF0Bryan, OK1.540$500 to $5,000
April 266:50 PM CDTF1Greene, MO0.533$5,000 to $50,000
April 266:55 PM CDTF0Polk, MO2.050
April 267:00 PM CDTF0Fannin, TX0.110
April 267:00 PM CDTF2Lamar, TX6.0100$50,000 to $500,000
April 267:05 PM CDTF0DeSoto, MS1.050$50 to $500
April 267:06 PM CDTF0Bosque, TX0.110
April 267:20 PM CDTF0Fannin, TX0.110
April 267:20 PM CDTF0Fannin, TX0.110$5,000 to $50,000
April 267:22 PM CDTF1Laclede, MO2.550$5,000 to $50,000
April 267:25 PM CDTF0Lamar, TX0.110
April 267:45 PM CDTF1Wright, MO1.050$5,000 to $50,000
April 267:50 PM CDTF0Marshall, MS0.210$50 to $500
April 268:20 PM CDTF0Callaway, MO0.620
April 268:30 PM CDTF0Bosque, TX0.110
April 268:35 PM CDTF0Red River, TX0.110
April 268:50 PM CDTF0Erath, TX0.110$5,000 to $50,000
April 269:30 PM CDTF0Douglas, IL1.0100
April 269:31 PM CDTF1Coles, IL3.0130$500,000 to $5 million
April 269:35 PM CDTF0Jefferson, MO0.330$500 to $5,000
April 269:40 PM CDTF1Lake, IL to IN2.020$5,000 to $50,000
April 269:40 PM CDTF0Will, IL3.020$5,000 to $50,000
April 269:43 PM CDTF1Bosque, TX0.110$50,000 to $500,000
April 269:45 PM CDTF1Iroquois, IL1.020$5,000 to $50,000
April 269:45 PM ESTF0Pulaski, IN0.130
April 269:45 PM ESTF2Pulaski, IN20.0440$50,000 to $500,000

All 66 of them

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.