Tornadoes · United States · Mississippi · 2005

F0 tornado, Brooksville, Mississippi, September 25, 2005

This F0 tornado ran 1.0 miles across Noxubee County on September 25, 2005, touching down at 5:24 PM CDT and reaching 50 yards wide. It killed nobody.

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
September 25, 2005
Touchdown
5:24 PM CDT (22:24 UTC)
Path length
1.0 miles (1.6 km)
Path width
50 yards (46 m)
Deaths
0
Injuries
0
County
Noxubee County
Touchdown point
33.250, -88.620
Lift-off point
33.250, -88.600
Record number
487

What the Weather Service recorded

Spotters witnessed a tornado briefly touching down and moving across a field just northwest of Brooksville.

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

The warnings

44 minutes of warning. NWS JAN issued a tornado warning for this county at 21:40 UTC, 44 minutes before the tornado touched down, in force until 22:34 UTC.

Issued (UTC)ExpiredProductOffice
15:53 UTC16:45 UTCTornado WarningJAN
16:40 UTC17:30 UTCTornado WarningJAN
17:30 UTC18:15 UTCTornado WarningJAN
18:20 UTC19:00 UTCTornado WarningJAN
20:52 UTC21:30 UTCTornado WarningJAN
21:40 UTC22:34 UTCTornado WarningJAN
23:38 UTC00:03 UTCTornado WarningJAN
00:32 UTC01:17 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 0.05 chance of a tornado within 25 miles. The outlook in force was issued at 19:49 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.

Birmingham, AL (KBMX), 12:00Z

10.4 hours before the tornado, 170 km from the path. September 25, 2005.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Birmingham, AL at 12:00Z on 2005-09-25Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel lifted from the surface. Mixed-layer CAPE 126 joules per kilogram, CIN -23, lifted condensation level 767 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, Birmingham, AL at 12:00Z on 2005-09-25The 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 184 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 31 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
126 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-23 J/kg
Surface CAPE
198 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
767 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
31 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
33 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
184 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
245 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.1
Supercell composite
0.4
0-3 km lapse rate
5.1 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

Birmingham, AL (KBMX), 00:00Z

1.6 hours after it, 170 km from the path. September 26, 2005.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Birmingham, AL at 00:00Z on 2005-09-26Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel lifted from the surface. Mixed-layer CAPE 1115 joules per kilogram, CIN -6, lifted condensation level 771 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, Birmingham, AL at 00:00Z on 2005-09-26The 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 310 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 37 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
1115 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-6 J/kg
Surface CAPE
1362 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
771 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
37 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
36 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
310 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
443 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
1.8
Supercell composite
10.0
0-3 km lapse rate
6.4 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The radar

The Columbus AFB radar (KGWX), 76 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 22:25 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
19:38 UTCTORNADO 1StarkvilleOktibbeha, MS*** 7 INJ *** THIS TORNADO TOUCHED DOWN ON THE EASTERN EDGE OF THE SHERWOOD FOREST SUBDIVISION AND TRACKED NE FOR 3.5 MILES. THE TORNADO MOVED THROUGH THE MSU CAMPUS, UPROOTING SEVERAL TREES AND CAUSING SPORADIC DAMAGE T
19:38 UTCTORNADOStarkvilleOktibbeha, MS*** 4 INJ *** DR. MIKE BROWN FROM MSU REPORTED THAT AS THE TORNADO EXITED MSU CAMPUS, THE UNIVERSITY HILLS MOBILE HOME PARK WAS HIT. NUMBEROUS MOBILE HOMES WERE DAMAGED AN DESTROYED. THERE WERE A FEW MINOR INJURIES.
19:38 UTCTORNADOStarkvilleOktibbeha, MSDR. MIKE BROWN FROM MSU REPORTED A VERY CLEAR SOUTHWEST TO NORTHEAST DAMAGE PATH ACROSS THE MSU CAMPUS. TELEPHONE POLES WERE SNAPPED. NUMEROUS TREES WERE UPROOTED OR SNAPPED. MANY CARS DAMAGED BY TREE DEBRIS. ONE RV ROLL
19:50 UTCTSTM WND DMGStarkvilleOktibbeha, MSTREE DOWN ON A POWER LINE REPORTED BY MSU STUDENT.
20:11 UTCTORNADOStarkvilleOktibbeha, MSMSU CLIMATE LAB REPORTED A TORNADO THAT MOVED THROUGH A MOBILE HOME PARK EAST OF STARKVILLE. MANY MOBILE HOMES WERE DESTROYED. THERE WERE INJURIES, HOWEVER THE NUMBER OF INJURIES IS UNKNOWN.
21:14 UTCTORNADO 06 Se MabenOktibbeha, MSTHIS WEAK TORNADO TOUCHED DOWN OFF THOMPSON RD AND TOBE HENRY RD. SEVERAL TREES WERE UPROOTED AND A FEW LARGE LIMBS WERE DOWN.
22:21 UTCTORNADO1 Wnw BrooksvilleNoxubee, MSA BRIEF TORNADO WAS SIGHTED ABOUT ONE MILE WEST NORTHWEST OF BROOKSVILLE.

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

This ground now

The live radar over the trackEvery 2005 tornado in MississippiEvery tornado in Mississippi since 1950Warnings in force in Mississippi nowThe forecast where you are

The other tornadoes of September 25, 2005

44 more were confirmed in the United States that day.

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
September 251:39 AM CDTF0Franklin Parish, LA0.7100$200,000
September 251:43 AM CDTF0Madison Parish, LA4.075$30,000
September 253:17 AM CDTF2Jefferson, MS10.0600$180,000
September 253:37 AM CDTF1Jefferson, MS1.075
September 253:49 AM CDTF2Jefferson, MS5.08001$300,000
September 253:54 AM CDTF2Claiborne, MS2.0800$20,000
September 254:44 AM CDTF0Jefferson, MS4.050$40,000
September 255:00 AM CDTF0Monroe, AL2.250$80,000
September 258:02 AM CDTF1Claiborne, MS0.750$70,000
September 259:21 AM CDTF0Warren, MS1.5100$10,000
September 2512:26 PM CDTF0Warren, MS0.550$30,000
September 251:01 PM CDTF0Lamar, AL0.125$1,000
September 251:55 PM CDTF0Attala, MS2.075$50,000
September 252:04 PM CDTF0Pickens, AL5.230$4,000
September 252:05 PM CDTF0Madison, MS3.075
September 252:22 PM CDTF1Lamar, AL6.2300$140,000
September 252:25 PM CDTF0Smith, MS1.050$30,000
September 252:30 PM CDTF1Marion, AL2.540$10,000
September 252:38 PM CDTF1Oktibbeha, MS3.5757$2.0 million
September 252:47 PM CDTF1Leake, MS1.5100$200,000
September 252:54 PM CDTF0Winston, AL0.850$30,000
September 252:55 PM CDTF0Tuscaloosa, AL1.680$40,000
September 252:57 PM CDTF1Winston, AL2.5150$20,000
September 253:00 PM CDTF0Fayette, AL0.120
September 253:01 PM CDTF0Jasper, MS1.050
September 253:05 PM CDTF0Tuscaloosa, AL0.850$20,000
September 253:06 PM CDTF0Winston, AL0.530$3,000
September 253:28 PM CDTF0Hinds, MS1.075
September 253:39 PM CDTF0Pickens, AL0.325$2,000
September 253:54 PM CDTF0Greene, AL0.125
September 253:55 PM CDTF1Tuscaloosa, AL13.8100$10,000
September 253:55 PM CDTF0Tuscaloosa, AL0.225
September 253:58 PM CDTF1Rankin, MS2.075$400,000
September 254:05 PM CDTF1Tuscaloosa, AL6.71502$250,000
September 254:14 PM CDTF0Oktibbeha, MS1.050
September 254:19 PM CDTF0Tuscaloosa, AL5.8100$20,000
September 254:21 PM CDTF1Lauderdale, MS1.8150$250,000
September 254:24 PM CDTF0Tuscaloosa, AL5.060$10,000
September 255:07 PM CDTF0Rankin, MS1.050$10,000
September 255:37 PM CDTF1Greene, AL6.0250$250,000
September 255:52 PM CDTF0Tuscaloosa, AL1.260$60,000
September 255:59 PM CDTF1Tuscaloosa, AL4.8125$200,000
September 256:14 PM CDTF0Tuscaloosa, AL0.110
September 259:42 PM CDTF0Sumter, AL2.850$20,000

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.