F0 tornado, Wiggins, Mississippi, April 24, 2000

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.

Rating

F0

Date

April 24, 2000

Touchdown

2:45 AM CDT (07:45 UTC)

Path length

2.0 miles (3.2 km)

Path width

50 yards (46 m)

Deaths

0

Injuries

0

Property damage

$30,000

County

Stone County

Touchdown point

30.850, -89.130

Lift-off point

30.850, -89.130

Record number

597

It was found from a National Weather Service Storm Survey that two different tornadoes of similar strength, width and distance, tracked east and southeast of Wiggins, MS. (See April 00 Storm Data) The first began in Wiggins near State Highways 29 and 26. The tornado moved northeast crossing State Highway 26 near 4th Street, then moved across Clubhouse Drive and went back into the clouds near McGregor and Big Four Roads. The tornado was a F0, about 50 yards wide and traveled mostly at tree top level, a distance of approximately 2 miles. Almost all of the damage was to trees, except at 4th Street and State Highway 26, where an auto parts store had its windows blown out by debris. High winds then pushed one side of the cinder block store over. An old building near the store, that had been vacant for some time, was blown over.

The second tornado began near King Bee Road just west of Big Level. This tornado also moved northeast, moving across Bond Lott Cemetery and John Willis Roads before lifting back into the clouds near Big Four Road and State Highway 26, near Whites Crossing. As with the first tornado, the track was at tree top level, with damage primarily to trees, except near State Highway 26. Here a business had some tin blown off its sides and roof. Some of the tin blew into a field where a vehicle was damaged and two cows were killed. This tornado was a F0, was about 50 yards wide, and traveled 3.5 miles. No injuries were reported.

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

6 minutes of warning. NWS MOB issued a tornado warning for this county at 07:39 UTC, 6 minutes before the tornado touched down, in force until 08:15 UTC.

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 Storm Prediction Center had this point in a General Thunderstorms Risk. The outlook in force was issued at 06:01 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 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.

The live radar over the trackEvery 2000 tornado in MississippiEvery tornado in Mississippi since 1950Warnings in force in Mississippi nowThe forecast where you are

6 more were confirmed in the United States that day.

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.

NOAA Storm Prediction Center tornado database, 1950-2025, the official record kept by NOAA's Storm Prediction Center.