F4 Winterville–Mount Bayou tornado, Mississippi, November 24, 2001

1. F040 to 72 mph

   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 mphthis tornado

   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

F4

Date

November 24, 2001

Touchdown

1:55 AM CST (07:55 UTC)

Path length

30.3 miles (48.8 km)

Path width

880 yards (805 m)

Deaths

0

Injuries

48

Property damage

$4.1 million

Counties

Washington and Bolivar counties

Touchdown point

33.470, -91.100

Lift-off point

33.870, -90.720

Record number

973

A supercell thunderstorm moved out of Chicot County Arkansas into northern Washington County, Mississippi. The storm produced a violent tornado that touced down 2.5 miles southwest of Winterville, or along the northern edge of Lake Ferguson. The tornado had a width of up to one half mile and moved through the town of Winterville, causing extensive damage. It then continued northeast into southern Bolivar county about 2 miles northeast of Winterville. The total path length in Washington County was 4.8 miles. The tornado entered southern Bolivar County about 3.5 miles southwest of Stringtown. It travelled northeast 25.5 miles through mostly rural areas of Bolivar County and lifted one mile southeast of Mound Bayou. In Washington County, the tornado caused 12 injuries, mainly in the community of Winterville. In Bolivar County, 36 people were injured, including one 7 year old boy who was critically injured. In Washinton County, a total of six houses, five mobile homes, and two businesses were totally destroyed. Additionally, extensive damage was done to 34 houses and six businesses. Minor damage occurred to over 30 houses and several mobile homes. Total damage to the county was estimated to be around $3.5 million. In Bolivar County, the tornado destroyed ten houses, two mobile homes, and four businesses. Extensive damage occurred to 21 houses, one mobile home, and one business. Minor damage occurred to over 20 houses and around 20 mobile homes. The tornado caused extensive damage to the Bolivar County Detention Center, and hit an electric power substation. The substation was totally destroyed it. At the substation, the tornado blew over a tranformer that weighed approximately 25 tons, and slid another transformer sideways three feet. Total damage in Bolivar County was estimated at around $6 million.

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

13 minutes of warning. NWS JAN issued a tornado warning for this county at 07:42 UTC, 13 minutes before the tornado touched down, in force until 08:30 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 Slight Risk. The outlook in force was issued at 07:01 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 2001 tornado in MississippiEvery tornado in Mississippi since 1950Warnings in force in Mississippi nowThe forecast where you are

57 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.