F2 tornado, Yokena to Edwards, Mississippi, December 7, 2004

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 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.

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

F2

Date

December 7, 2004

Touchdown

1:20 AM CST (07:20 UTC)

Path length

26.0 miles (41.8 km)

Path width

400 yards (366 m)

Deaths

0

Injuries

0

Property damage

$550,000

Counties

Claiborne, Warren and Hinds counties

Touchdown point

32.130, -90.920

Lift-off point

32.300, -90.530

Record number

653

This tornado touched down just east of US Highway 61, 3 miles north of the Claiborne county line. As the storm moved northeast, several hundred trees were blown down or uprooted, including many large 2-3 foot diameter trees. Some power lines were also blown down along the path including some minor roof damage to shingles and antennas. The tornado was on the ground for 9 miles in Warren county. The tornado continued northeast across a small portion of Claiborne county and then into Hinds county where it dissipated 5 miles southwest of Bolton. The total path length was 26 miles.

This tornado moved into Claiborne county from Warren county and tracked across the far northeast corner of the county for 4 miles. A few hundred trees were blown down along the southern bank of the Big Black River. The total path length of the tornado was 26 miles across Warren, Claiborne and Hinds county.

This tornado moved into Hinds county from Claiborne county and intensified as it tracked northeast across west-central Hinds county. A few thousand trees were uprooted and snapped along the 13 mile path. Just off State Highway 27, large barn was severely damaged and a home had its roof torn off along Newman Road. On Puckett Road, a home was damaged and the garage had its roof torn off. A few more homes sustained damage as the tornado moved northeast. The tornado dissipated 5 miles southwest of Bolton. The total path length across Warren, Claiborne and Hinds county was 26 miles.

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

No tornado warning for this county appears in the archive as in force at the moment the tornado touched down.

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 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 Jackson/Brandon,MS radar (KDGX), 70 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 07:19 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.

The live radar over the trackEvery 2004 tornado in MississippiEvery tornado in Mississippi since 1950Warnings in force in Mississippi nowThe forecast where you are

11 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.