Tornadoes · United States · Mississippi · 2007

EF1 tornado, Petal, Mississippi, April 14, 2007

Name: EF1 tornado, Petal, Mississippi, April 14, 2007
Start: 2007-04-14T16:41:00.000Z
End: 2007-04-14T16:42:00.000Z
Location: Petal, Mississippi

This EF1 tornado ran 0.5 miles across Forrest County on April 14, 2007, touching down at 11:41 AM CDT and reaching 50 yards wide. It killed nobody, and did $200,000 of property damage.

The rating scale

Tracks are drawn in the color of the rating. The Enhanced Fujita scale rates the damage rather than measuring the wind: the speeds are what that damage is taken to imply.

EF065 to 85 mph
Light damage. Surface peeled off some roofs, gutters and siding damaged, branches broken, shallow-rooted trees pushed over.
EF186 to 110 mphthis tornado
Moderate damage. Roofs badly stripped, mobile homes overturned or badly damaged, exterior doors lost, windows broken.
EF2111 to 135 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.
EF3136 to 165 mph
Severe damage. Whole stories of well-built houses destroyed, large buildings badly damaged, trains overturned, trees debarked, heavy cars lifted and thrown.
EF4166 to 200 mph
Devastating damage. Well-built houses leveled, structures with weak foundations moved some distance, cars thrown and large missiles generated.
EF5over 200 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.
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: EF1
Date: April 14, 2007
Touchdown: 11:41 AM CDT (16:41 UTC)
Lifted: 11:42 AM CDT (16:42 UTC)
On the ground: 1 minutes
Path length: 0.5 miles (0.8 km)
Path width: 50 yards (46 m)
Deaths: 0
Injuries: 0
Property damage: $200,000
County: Forrest County
Touchdown point: 31.322, -89.192
Lift-off point: 31.320, -89.184
Record number: 0704141041-01

What the Weather Service recorded

A potent upper level disturbance lifted northeast across the Southern Plains and into the Ohio Valley. As this system evolved and tracked northeast, severe weather broke out across a large portion of the region between April 13th and 14th. Many reports of large hail, damaging winds and a few isolated tornadoes were received.

This tornado briefly touched down in the Country Park Drive area east of the Sunrise Community. One home was significantly damaged as the enclosed carport was destroyed, several windows were blown out and some siding was blown off along with other roof damage. Numerous trees were snapped and uprooted with one power pole snapped.

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

The forecast that day

The Storm Prediction Center had this point in a Slight Risk, with a 0.10 chance of a tornado within 25 miles. The outlook in force was issued at 16:31 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.

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before the tornado touched down, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.

NWS Jackson, MS wrote its last area forecast discussion before the tornado touched down at Apr 14, 4:32 AM CDT, 7 hours 9 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Apr 14, 4:32 AM CDT, 7 hours 9 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION...CORRECTION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE JACKSON MS
432 AM CDT SAT APR 14 2007

...SEVERE WEATHER EVENT TO LAST THROUGH MOST OF THE DAY...

.SHORT TERM...BIGGEST CONCERN IN THE SHORT TERM OFCOURSE IS THE
SEVERE WEATHER IN THE FIRST 12 TO 18 HRS. TORNADO WATCH IS CURRENTLY
IN EFFECT FOR OUR WRN ZONES ACROSS NE LA...SE AR...AND THE FIRST
TIER OF MS COUNTIES TILL 13Z. THERE WILL BE ADDITIONAL WATCHES
ACROSS CNTRL AND SRN MS TODAY. SFC LOW AT 7Z WAS OVER NRN LA AND
PRESSURES WERE FALLING PRETTY GENEROUSLY ACROSS THE LOWER MS
VALLEY...AROUND 2-4MB IN 3HR. THESE TYPE OF PRESSURE FALLS AT NIGHT
ARE IMPRESSIVE AND ARE REALLY HELPING TO PULL THE MOISTURE NORTH
INTO THE CWA WITH +60 DEWPOINTS NOW OVER MORE THAN HALF OF THE AREA.
AT 7Z...THE SQUALL LINE WAS LOCATED NE TO SW FROM THE ARKLAMISS
BORDER TO JUST WEST OF BEAUMONT...TX. LOOK FOR THE SQUALL LINE TO BE
MOVING INTO SWRN MS IN THE NEXT FEW HRS BUT CONVECTION WILL HAVE A
VERY HARD TIME DEVELOPING AHEAD OF IT AS THERE IS A VERY STRONG CAP
IN PLACE OVER CNTRL AND SRN MS.

AFTER SUNRISE THE SEVERE WEATHER RISK LOOKS TO BE THE GREATEST ALONG
AND SOUTH OF I 20 AND ESPECIALLY IN THE SE. THAT SAID ALL OF ERN MS
EAST OF I 55 WILL STILL BE UNDER THE GUN FOR SOME TYPE OF SEVERE
POTENTIAL. WITH PRESSURE FALLS GREATEST ACROSS CNTRL AND NRN MS THIS
WILL LIKELY BE WHERE THE SFC LOW TRACKS. THIS SHOULD ALLOW THE
BETTER LL MOISTURE TO WORK NORTH ACROSS ERN MS. DEWPOINTS OF AT
LEAST MID 60S SHOULD BE OVER A GOOD PORTION OF ERN MS BY 14/15Z BUT
THERE COULD BE SOME UPPER 60S DEWPOINTS IN THE SE. WITH A STRONG CAP
IN PLACE WE WILL NOT SEE ANYTHING OVER ERN AND ESPECIALLY SERN MS
DURING THE MID MORNING HRS BUT AS SOME SUN COMES OUT THE SE THAT
AREA WILL BEGIN TO WARM UP AND HELP ERODE THIS CAP. WITH THIS RICH
BL MOISTURE MOVING IN...ML CAPES OF AROUND 1000J/KG WILL LIKELY
DEVELOP IN THE SE. MID LEVEL LAPSE RATES STILL ARENT THE BEST I
HAVE BUT 6.5-6.75 KM ISNT TOO BAD. ALOFT...DIVERGENCE WILL BE
INCREASING WHICH IS ALREADY EVIDENT ON SAT AND THIS WILL ALSO HELP
STORMS BECOME MORE NUMEROUS BY MIDDAY AS THE CAP ERODES. AS FOR
SHEAR...0-1KM BULK SHEAR OF AROUND 40KTS AND 0-6KM OF 50KTS ARE MORE
THAN ENOUGH. 0-3KM HELICITY AROUND 300M2/S2 THROUGH THE MORNING WILL
ALSO BE IN PLACE WITH THE HIGHEST VALUES IN THE SE. THIS DOES
SUGGEST THE GREATEST POTENTIAL FOR SUPERCELL ACTIVITY ALONG WITH
TORNADO POTENTIAL IN THE SE WITH ANY STORMS AHEAD OF THE SQUALL
LINE. NOW IF THE CAP HOLDS ON THEN THE TORNADIC RISK WILL
DECREASE...AND DAMAGING STRAIGHT LINE WINDS AND LARGE HAIL WILL BE
THE PRIMARY CONCERN WITH THE SQUALL LINE. THAT SAID EVEN WITH THOSE
TYPE OF HELICITIES...ISLTD TORNADOES IN THE SQUALL LINE WILL STILL
BE POSSIBLE.

IN ADDITION TO SEVERE WEATHER...HEAVY RAIN WILL BE POSSIBLE. PWS
APPROACHING 2...K INDEX VALUES IN THE UPPER 30S TO LOWER 40S...AND
H85 THETA E AIR OF 335-340K SUGGEST VERY EFFICIENT SHRA AND TSRA.
SOME OF THESE STORMS WILL LIKELY BE PRODUCING HRLY RAINFALL RATES OF
2-3 INCHES AND WITH THAT NUMEROUS LOCATIONS TODAY WILL PROBABLY SEE
RAIN OF 2 INCHES OR MORE. THE CONCERN THEN BECOMES IF THERE IS ANY
TRAINING OF CELLS IN WHICH SOME LOCALIZED AREAS COULD RECEIVE UP TO
4-5 INCHES. THIS WOULD POSSIBLY CREATE SOME LOCALIZED FLASH FLOODING
BUT OVERALL FLOODING PROBLEMS SHOULD BE RATHER MINIMAL THANKS TO HOW
DRY IT HAS BEEN.

MOST OF THE RAIN WILL MOVE OUT TONIGHT BUT THERE WILL STILL BE AN
AREA OF LIGHT RAIN/SPRINKLES/DRIZZLE DURING THE EVN AS THE COLD
FRONT CONTINUES TO PUSH THROUGH AND CAA TAKES OVER. THE S/W WILL
JUST BE MOVING THROUGH AT THIS TIME AND THAT WILL ALSO HELP TO
SQUEEZE OUT SOME LIGHT RAIN. WITH THAT I HAVE CONTINUED TO HOLD ON
TO CHC POPS IN THE EAST THROUGH THE EVN. WINDS WILL ALSO BE AN
ISSUE. STRONG SFC PRESSURE RISES...CAA IN BOTH THE MID AND LOW
LEVELS...AND STRONG LL WINDS SUGGEST A BREEZY NIGHT. WINDS WILL
CONTINUE TO BE BREEZY THROUGH SUN. A LAKE WIND ADV WILL LIKELY BE
NEEDED DURING THESE TIME FRAMES. ALL PRECIP SHOULD BE OUT OF THE
AREA BEFORE SUNRISE SUN MORNING. SUN WILL BE A RATHER COOL
DAY...APROXIMATELY 15 DEGREES OR SO BELOW NORMAL. /CAB/

.LONG TERM...OVERALL...NOT A GREAT DEAL OF CHANGE DURING THE LONG
TERM PERIOD. TODAYS SYSTEM WILL BECOME A SIG UPPER LOW ACROSS THE NE
US WHICH WILL PLACE OUR AREA UNDER UPPER AND SFC RIDGING. THIS WILL
RESULT IN DRY/COOL CONDITIONS MON-TUE. MON MORNING LOOKS TO BE QUITE
COOL AND HAVE USED GUID WITH A FEW TWEAKS DOWNWARD FOR A FEW SITES.
UPPER/MID 30S LOOK TO BE COMMON AS PERFECT RAD COOLING CONDITIONS
WILL EXIST. WET SOILS MAY PLAY A ROLE AND KEEP SOME AREAS OUT OF THE
LOWER/MID 30S.

NEXT SYSTEM IS PROGGED FOR TUE AFTERNOON/TUE NIGHT. MOISTURE TRIES
TO PUSH N...BUT THE LACK OF A STRONG SYSTEM WILL KEEP THE GOOD JUICE
TO OUR SOUTH. HOWEVER...PLENTY OF LIFT WILL OCCUR AND THE ATMS WILL
LIKELY MAKE THE MOST OF MOISTURE DOES EXIST. VERY LARGE HEIGHT FALL
OF 130-140 METERS LOOK TO OCCUR TUE N AND THIS SHOULD BE MORE THAN
ENOUGH DYNAMICS TO GET PRECIP. BEST CHANCES WILL BE ALONG AND S OF
I-20. GUID POPS WERE PRETTY GOOD...BUT HAVE RAISED THE S TO 80%.

BY WED...UPPER/SFC RIDING MOVE BACK IN. EXPECT ANOTHER BUNCH OF DAYS
WITH COOL MORNINGS AND PLEASANT DAYS. AIRMASS MODERATION SHOULD
OCCUR BY FRI WITH WARMER TEMPS RETURNING FOR FRI-SAT.  /CME/

&&

.PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS...
JACKSON       70  43  63  38 / 100  30   0   0
MERIDIAN      73  43  61  35 / 100  47   1   0
VICKSBURG     67  46  65  39 / 100  16   0   0
HATTIESBURG   74  47  66  36 / 100  42   0   0
NATCHEZ       70  45  62  38 /  89  22   0   0
GREENVILLE    63  42  62  38 /  87  17   0   0
GREENWOOD     65  41  61  37 / 100  28   0   0

&&

.JAN WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
MS...NONE.
LA...NONE.
AR...NONE.
&&

SHORT TERM: CAB
LONG TERM: CME

Hazardous weather outlook, Apr 14, 10:46 AM CDT, 55 minutes before

HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE JACKSON MS
1046 AM CDT SAT APR 14 2007

ARZ074-075-LAZ007>009-015-016-023>026-MSZ018-019-025>066-072>074-
151546-
ADAMS-ASHLEY-ATTALA-BOLIVAR-CARROLL-CATAHOULA-CHICOT-CHOCTAW-
CLAIBORNE-CLARKE-CLAY-CONCORDIA-COPIAH-COVINGTON-EAST CARROLL-
FORREST-FRANKLIN LA-FRANKLIN MS-GRENADA-HINDS-HOLMES-HUMPHREYS-
ISSAQUENA-JASPER-JEFFERSON-JEFFERSON DAVIS-JONES-KEMPER-LAMAR-
LAUDERDALE-LAWRENCE-LEAKE-LEFLORE-LINCOLN-LOWNDES-MADISON LA-
MADISON MS-MARION-MONTGOMERY-MOREHOUSE-NESHOBA-NEWTON-NOXUBEE-
OKTIBBEHA-RANKIN-RICHLAND-SCOTT-SHARKEY-SIMPSON-SMITH-SUNFLOWER-
TENSAS-WARREN-WASHINGTON-WEBSTER-WEST CARROLL-WINSTON-YAZOO-
1046 AM CDT SAT APR 14 2007

THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR CENTRAL MISSISSIPPI...
NORTHEAST LOUISIANA...AND EXTREME SOUTHEAST ARKANSAS

.DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT...

...THUNDERSTORMS...
SEVERE WEATHER WILL CONTINUE TO BE POSSIBLE OVER THE EASTERN
PORTIONS OF THE OUTLOOK AREA THROUGH EARLY AFTERNOON AS A MAJOR
STORM SYSTEM MOVES EAST ACROSS THE LOWER MISSISSIPPI RIVER
VALLEY. THE COMBINATION OF STRONG WIND SHEAR AND
INSTABILITY...AND THE PASSAGE OF A STRONG LOW PRESSURE
SYSTEM...WILL RESULT IN SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS SPREADING EASTWARD
INTO EASTERN MISSISSIPPI LATE THIS MORNING AND THIS AFTERNOON.
THE MAIN AREAS OF CONCERN WILL BE ALONG THE INTERSTATE 59
CORRIDOR. LARGE HAIL...DAMAGING WINDS...AND ISOLATED TORNADOES
WILL BE POSSIBLE.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...SUNDAY THROUGH FRIDAY...

NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME.

.SPOTTER CALL TO ACTION STATEMENT...
THE ACTIVATION OF STORM SPOTTERS...HAM RADIO OPERATORS...AND
EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT PERSONNEL IN SUPPORT OF SEVERE WEATHER
OPERATIONS...WILL LIKELY BE NEEDED LATE TONIGHT AND SATURDAY.
OTHERWISE...ACTIVATION IS NOT EXPECTED THROUGH NEXT FRIDAY APRIL
20TH.

FOR MORE INFORMATION PLEASE VISIT OUR WEBSITE AT
WWW.SRH.NOAA.GOV/JAN. THIS INCLUDES THE GRAPHICAL HAZARDOUS
WEATHER OUTLOOK.

In the hours before

Local storm report, Apr 14, 10:47 AM CDT, 54 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE JACKSON MS
1047 AM CDT SAT APR 14 2007

..TIME...   ...EVENT...      ...CITY LOCATION...     ...LAT.LON...
..DATE...   ....MAG....      ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
            ..REMARKS..

1046 AM     HAIL             N LAUREL                31.69N 89.14W
04/14/2007  E0.88 INCH       JONES              MS   COUNTY OFFICIAL

            NICKEL SIZE HAIL IN SHADY GROVE COMMUNITY NORTH OF
            LAUREL.

&&

ENTRE

Local storm report, Apr 14, 10:52 AM CDT, 49 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE JACKSON MS
1052 AM CDT SAT APR 14 2007

..TIME...   ...EVENT...      ...CITY LOCATION...     ...LAT.LON...
..DATE...   ....MAG....      ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
            ..REMARKS..

1005 AM     TSTM WND DMG     8 S COLUMBIA            31.14N 89.83W
04/14/2007                   MARION             MS   LAW ENFORCEMENT

            TREES DOWN NEAR PINEBUR 8 MILES SOUTH OF COLUMBIA.
            POSSIBLE TORNADO.

&&

ENTRE

Local storm report, Apr 14, 11:00 AM CDT, 41 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE JACKSON MS
1100 AM CDT SAT APR 14 2007

..TIME...   ...EVENT...      ...CITY LOCATION...     ...LAT.LON...
..DATE...   ....MAG....      ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
            ..REMARKS..

1045 AM     TSTM WND DMG     8 S HATTIESBURG         31.20N 89.31W
04/14/2007                   FORREST            MS   LAW ENFORCEMENT

            CONSTRUCTION SITE REPORTS DEBRIS BLOWN 1/2 MILE FROM SITE
            IN THE DIXIE COMMUMITY SOUTH OF HATTIESBURG.

&&

ENTRE

Local storm report, Apr 14, 11:01 AM CDT, 40 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE JACKSON MS
1101 AM CDT SAT APR 14 2007

..TIME...   ...EVENT...      ...CITY LOCATION...     ...LAT.LON...
..DATE...   ....MAG....      ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
            ..REMARKS..

1045 AM     TSTM WND GST     HATTIESBURG             31.31N 89.31W
04/14/2007  M43 MPH          FORREST            MS   LAW ENFORCEMENT

&&

ENTRE

Local storm report, Apr 14, 11:22 AM CDT, 19 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE JACKSON MS
1122 AM CDT SAT APR 14 2007

..TIME...   ...EVENT...      ...CITY LOCATION...     ...LAT.LON...
..DATE...   ....MAG....      ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
            ..REMARKS..

1050 AM     TSTM WND DMG     PETAL                   31.34N 89.25W
04/14/2007                   FORREST            MS   EMERGENCY MNGR

            TREES AND POWER LINES DOWN...HALF OF A ROOF BLOWN OFF OF
            A HOUSE...AND DAMAGE TO A TRAILER...POSSIBLE TORNADO.

&&

TARVER

Local storm report, Apr 14, 11:28 AM CDT, 13 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE JACKSON MS
1128 AM CDT SAT APR 14 2007

..TIME...   ...EVENT...      ...CITY LOCATION...     ...LAT.LON...
..DATE...   ....MAG....      ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
            ..REMARKS..

1115 AM     FLASH FLOOD      W HATTIESBURG           31.31N 89.31W
04/14/2007                   FORREST            MS   EMERGENCY MNGR

            FIVE HOUSES ON BRIDGES CIRCLE IN WEST HATTIESBURG
            FLOODED.

&&

ENTRE

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.

Slidell Radar S, LA (KSIL), 12:00Z

4.7 hours before the tornado, 129 km from the path. April 14, 2007.

Skew-T log-p

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.

Hodograph

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: 800 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -31 J/kg
Surface CAPE: 816 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 659 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 46 kt
0-1 km bulk shear: 29 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 141 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 182 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.7
Supercell composite: 3.0
0-3 km lapse rate: 4.5 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The surface observations

Hattiesburg Municipal (HBG), 9 km from the path, in the two hours either side.

Time (UTC)	Temp (°F)	Dew point (°F)	Wind	Gust (kt)	Pressure (mb)	Weather
00:00 UTC

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

The radar

The Mobile radar (KMOB), 115 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 16:43 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.

This ground now

The live radar over the track Every 2007 tornado in Mississippi Every tornado in Mississippi since 1950 Warnings in force in Mississippi now The forecast where you are

The other tornadoes of April 14, 2007

13 more were confirmed in the United States that day.

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Injuries	Damage
April 14	10:10 AM CDT	EF0	Marion, MS	0.3	30		$1,000
April 14	10:35 AM CDT	EF0	Jones, MS	0.3	25
April 14	1:33 PM CDT	EF1	Monroe, AL	1.1	200		$750,000
April 14	4:00 PM CDT	EF0	Crenshaw, AL	0.5	40		$100,000
April 14	5:12 PM CDT	EF1	Conecuh, AL	0.3	50		$150,000
April 14	6:11 PM CDT	EF1	Bullock, AL	3.2	100		$10,000
April 14	5:05 PM PDT	EF0	Santa Clara, CA	0.2	30		$1,000
April 14	7:05 PM CDT	EF1	Dale, AL	5.8	150		$250,000
April 14	9:45 PM EDT	EF0	Calhoun, GA	0.8	50		$10,000
April 14	10:30 PM EDT	EF1	Lee, GA	2.5	100		$500,000
April 14	1:23 AM EDT	EF1	Dodge, GA	4.5	100	2	$350,000
April 14	1:45 AM EDT	EF2	Laurens, GA	6.0	200	3	$400,000
April 14	1:50 AM EDT	EF0	Laurens, GA	5.9	50		$50,000

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.