EF1 tornado, Puckett to Gunn, Mississippi, April 15, 2011

1. EF065 to 85 mph

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

2. EF186 to 110 mphthis tornado

   Moderate damage. Roofs badly stripped, mobile homes overturned or badly damaged, exterior doors lost, windows broken.

3. 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.

4. 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.

5. EF4166 to 200 mph

   Devastating damage. Well-built houses leveled, structures with weak foundations moved some distance, cars thrown and large missiles generated.

6. 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.

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

EF1

Date

April 15, 2011

Touchdown

1:47 PM CDT (18:47 UTC)

Lifted

1:52 PM CDT (18:52 UTC)

On the ground

5 minutes

Path length

3.8 miles (6.0 km)

Path width

100 yards (91 m)

Deaths

0

Injuries

0

Property damage

$18,000

Counties

Smith and Rankin counties

Touchdown point

32.059, -89.748

Lift-off point

32.072, -89.686

Record number

1104151247-01

A significant severe weather event and tornado outbreak affected portions of central Mississippi, southeastern Arkansas, and northeastern Louisiana on April 15th. This event evolved slowly and brought multiple rounds of severe storms to the region between 3 am and 9 pm. A total of 15 tornadoes occurred during this event with 3 being of the strong variety (EF2 or EF3). In addition, numerous reports of damaging straight-line winds occurred as well as instances of large hail. Some of the strongest storms produced hail from golf ball to baseball size. There were two reports of softball sized hail as well, one in Clarke County and the other in Kemper County. In addition to the severe storms, significant flash flooding occurred over northern portions of central Mississippi.

This tornado touched down just south of Highway 18 near the Rankin/Smith county line. Several trees were snapped on the south side of the highway. On the north side, a large barn had part of the roof blown off. Sporadic damage continued along Highway 18 for a mile before more substantial tree damage occurred just to the west of the White Oak Community. Here several large hardwood trees were uprooted and snapped along Highway 18. The tornado then dissipated just to the east of the Highway 18 and 541 intersection. Maximum winds were around 90 mph. Total path length in Rankin/Smith Counties was 3.7 miles.

This tornado touched down just south of Highway 18 near the Rankin/Smith county line. Several trees were snapped on the south side of the highway. On the north side, a large barn had part of the roof blown off. Sporadic damage continued along Highway 18 for a mile before more substantial tree damage occurred just to the west of the White Oak Community. Here several large hardwood trees were uprooted and snapped along Highway 18. The tornado then dissipated just to the east of the Highway 18 and 541 intersection. Maximum winds were around 90 mph. Total path length in Rankin/Smith Counties was 3.7 miles.

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

35 minutes of warning. NWS JAN issued a tornado warning for this county at 18:12 UTC, 35 minutes before the tornado touched down, in force until 19:00 UTC.

The county was under a tornado watch, issued at 12:39 UTC and running to 19:43 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 Moderate Risk, with a 0.15 chance of a tornado within 25 miles, in the hatched area where significant tornadoes were expected. The outlook in force was issued at 16:17 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 Jackson/Brandon,MS radar (KDGX), 35 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 18:47 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.

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

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

The live radar over the trackEvery 2011 tornado in MississippiEvery tornado in Mississippi since 1950Warnings in force in Mississippi nowThe forecast where you are

74 more were confirmed in the United States that day.

All 75 of them

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.