Tornadoes · United States · Mississippi · 2004

F1 tornado, Collins, Mississippi, May 1, 2004

This F1 tornado ran 0.7 miles across Covington County on May 1, 2004, touching down at 4:02 PM CDT and reaching 75 yards wide. It killed nobody, and did $30,000 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 mph

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

  2. F173 to 112 mphthis tornado

    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
F1
Date
May 1, 2004
Touchdown
4:02 PM CDT (21:02 UTC)
Path length
0.7 miles (1.1 km)
Path width
75 yards (69 m)
Deaths
0
Injuries
0
Property damage
$30,000
County
Covington County
Touchdown point
31.670, -89.670
Lift-off point
31.670, -89.670
Record number
977

What the Weather Service recorded

This is the continuation of the Jefferson Davis county tornado that moved just to the north of the Terrell community and into Covington county. This tornado stayed on the ground for 3 more miles, downing numerous trees, before dissipating 6 miles west southwest of Collins.

This weak tornado briefly touched down 7 miles west northwest of Collins and damaged a mobile home, sheared many trees about 15 feet above the ground and downed several large trees.

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

The warnings

20 minutes of warning. NWS JAN issued a tornado warning for this county at 20:42 UTC, 20 minutes before the tornado touched down, in force until 21:25 UTC.

Issued (UTC)ExpiredProductOffice
20:40 UTC21:25 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WarningJAN
20:42 UTC21:25 UTCTornado WarningJAN
21:25 UTC22:25 UTCTornado WarningJAN

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, with a 0.02 chance of a tornado within 25 miles. The outlook in force was issued at 19:39 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.

Jackson, MS (KJAN), 12:00Z

9.0 hours before the tornado, 82 km from the path. May 1, 2004.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Jackson, MS at 12:00Z on 2004-05-01Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel lifted from the surface. Mixed-layer CAPE 0 joules per kilogram, CIN -83112, lifted condensation level 1278 meters above ground. Wind barbs in knots down the right edge.LCL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°0°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, Jackson, MS at 12:00Z on 2004-05-01The 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 31 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 20 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
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-83112 J/kg
Surface CAPE
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1278 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
20 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
10 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
31 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
16 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.0
0-3 km lapse rate
4.3 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

Jackson, MS (KJAN), 00:00Z

3.0 hours after it, 82 km from the path. May 2, 2004.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Jackson, MS at 00:00Z on 2004-05-02Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel lifted from the surface. Mixed-layer CAPE 0 joules per kilogram, CIN -76159, lifted condensation level 1001 meters above ground. Wind barbs in knots down the right edge.LCL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°0°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, Jackson, MS at 00:00Z on 2004-05-02The 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 -41 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 43 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
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-76159 J/kg
Surface CAPE
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1001 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
43 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
14 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
-41 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
-43 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.0
0-3 km lapse rate
4.1 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The surface observations

Pine Belt Regional Awos (PIB), 39 km from the path, in the two hours either side.

Time (UTC)Temp (°F)Dew point (°F)WindGust (kt)Pressure (mb)Weather
19:15 UTC7766.20° 0 kt1013.2VCTS
19:35 UTC75.266.2120° 7 kt1013.2VCTS
19:55 UTC75.26890° 6 kt1012.5VCTS
20:15 UTC75.26890° 4 kt1011.9
20:35 UTC78.866.2120° 7 kt1011.2
20:55 UTC75.266.290° 6 kt1010.5
21:15 UTC75.26890° 5 kt1010.5
21:35 UTC73.469.8100° 6 kt1010.5VCTS
21:55 UTC73.46890° 5 kt1010.5TS
22:15 UTC73.468310° 7 kt1010.5TS
22:35 UTC66.262.6260° 5 kt151011.2TS
22:55 UTC66.262.60° 0 kt1010.8TS

From the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of airport observations.

The radar

The Jackson/Brandon,MS radar (KDGX), 74 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 21:02 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.

What was reported nearby

Local storm reports within 60 km of the path, in the three hours either side.

Time (UTC)ReportWhereCountyRemark
21:00 UTCHAIL 0.758 N PrentissJefferson Davis, MS
21:20 UTCTSTM WND DMGCollinsCovington, MSHOUSE DAMAGED
21:20 UTCTSTM WND DMGCollinsCovington, MSLARGE TREE ON TOP OF MOBILE HOME.
21:25 UTCTSTM WND DMG5 Se TopekaLawrence, MSDIVINE ROAD BLOCK BY TREE
21:25 UTCHAIL 15 N TopekaLawrence, MS
21:45 UTCTSTM WND DMGPrentissJefferson Davis, MSLARGE TREE ON ROAD ACROSS FROM FIRE DEPARTMENT
21:50 UTCTSTM WND DMGBassfieldJefferson Davis, MS15-20 TREES DOWN ACROSS HIGHWAY 35 AND 42.
21:50 UTCTSTM WND DMGPrentissJefferson Davis, MSTREES DOWN ON HIGHWAY 35 AND 42.
22:00 UTCHAIL 1TaylorsvilleSmith, MS
22:08 UTCTSTM WND DMGTaylorsvilleSmith, MSTREES DOWN OVER MOST OF COUNTY.
22:08 UTCHAIL 0.754 W Bay SpringsJasper, MSNICKEL AND DIME SIZE HAIL ON HWY 528. ALSO TREE DOWN ACROSS HWY 528 IN LAKE COMO AREA.
22:10 UTCHAIL 0.883 W Bay SpringsJasper, MSHAIL REPORTED ON HWY 528 NEAR HOLDERS CHURCH. TREE ACROSS ROAD ON HWY 528.
22:15 UTCTSTM WND DMG5 N LaurelJones, MSTREEMS DOWN 5 NORTH OF LAUREL
22:27 UTCTSTM WND DMGBay SpringsJasper, MSTREES DOWN ON DENTIST OFFICE. RADIO ATTENNA ON BUSINESS BUILDING.
22:30 UTCTSTM WND DMGBay SpringsJasper, MSTREES DOWN ON INTERSTATE 59 AT MARKER 117. TREES DOWN OUTSIDE OF CD OFFICE.
22:35 UTCTSTM WND DMGBay SpringsJasper, MSSOME TREES, POWER LINES, AND PHONE SYSTEMS DOWN. ALSO IN LAKE COMO AREA.
22:40 UTCTSTM WND DMG5 N LaurelJones, MSTREES DOWN ON COUNTY ROAD
22:40 UTCTSTM WND GST 05 N LaurelJones, MSTREES DOWN ON COUNTY ROAD

From the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service local storm reports.

This ground now

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

The other tornadoes of May 1, 2004

9 more were confirmed in the United States that day.

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
May 11:00 AM CDTF0Boone, AR3.525
May 14:24 AM CDTF1Wayne, MO0.250$10,000
May 18:45 AM CDTF1Harris, TX0.5451$280,000
May 19:12 AM CDTF0Harris, TX0.120
May 110:00 AM CDTF0Harris, TX0.120
May 13:10 PM CDTF0Hancock, IA3.050
May 13:43 PM CDTF1Jefferson Davis, MS9.0300$30,000
May 14:03 PM CDTF1Walthall, MS9.0100$70,000
May 14:32 PM CDTF1Jefferson Davis, MS6.0100$10,000

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.