Tornadoes · United States · Mississippi · 2014

EF2 tornado, Williamsburg to Hot Coffee, Mississippi, April 7, 2014

Name: EF2 tornado, Williamsburg to Hot Coffee, Mississippi, April 7, 2014
Start: 2014-04-07T07:02:00.000Z
End: 2014-04-07T07:26:00.000Z
Location: Williamsburg to Hot Coffee, Mississippi

From Williamsburg to Hot Coffee, this EF2 tornado ran 16.5 miles across Covington and Jones counties on April 7, 2014, touching down at 2:02 AM CDT and reaching 600 yards wide. It killed nobody and injured 8, and did $12 million 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 mph
Moderate damage. Roofs badly stripped, mobile homes overturned or badly damaged, exterior doors lost, windows broken.
EF2111 to 135 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.
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: EF2
Date: April 7, 2014
Touchdown: 2:02 AM CDT (07:02 UTC)
Lifted: 2:26 AM CDT (07:26 UTC)
On the ground: 24 minutes
Path length: 16.5 miles (26.5 km)
Path width: 600 yards (549 m)
Deaths: 0
Injuries: 8
Property damage: $12 million
Counties: Covington and Jones counties
Touchdown point: 31.672, -89.657
Lift-off point: 31.789, -89.394
Record number: 1404070102-01

The damage survey

26 damage points were recorded along this path by NWS JAN, in the Damage Assessment Toolkit the survey teams carry. The strongest indicator was rated EF2. The highest wind the damage implies is 125 mph.

Several large limbs broken, few tops of trees snapped.
Multiple trees snapped and uprooted. minor damage to a mobile home and house. 4 power lines/poles down. Tin scattered about.
Multiple trees snapped & uprooted, home with part of the roof off.
a few dozen trees snapped & uprooted. a few car ports destroyed with some minor damage to a few homes & mobile homes.

Survey points are preliminary and are the raw material the published rating was built from. Source: NWS Damage Assessment Toolkit.

What the Weather Service recorded

A cold front moved through the region on April 4th and stalled along the northern Gulf Coast. Over the next several days, moisture increased over the region ahead of a strong upper level system. Beginning in the early morning hours of the 6th, bands of showers and thunderstorms moved north across the ArkLaMiss region. This continued through the day as heavy rain fell over some already saturated ground. During the late afternoon and evening hours of the 6th, the stalled front started to move slowly north as a warm front. This occurred as a surface low developed across the Texas coast and began to track northeast. This was able to bring mid 60 degree dew points into the region to just north of the Highway 84 corridor and allow for storms to become more surface based which brought a threat for damaging winds, large hail, and tornadoes.||The most significant impact from this weather system was from the prolonged heavy rainfall. Rainfall totals ranged from a widespread 2-4 inches with a few swaths of 5 to 7 inches. This sort of rainfall produced many instances of flash flooding along with significant river flooding after the rains ended. Multiple roads were washed out in some locations from the copious amounts of rain that fell along with many other roads covered with water. The Strong River at D'Lo, in Simpson County, crested at a record flood stage of 34.3 feet. Due to its close proximity to U.S. Highway 49, flood waters crept across the road and forced closure for a few days. Tallahala Creek at Laurel rose to major flood stage, cresting at 19.36 feet on April 8th.

This tornado touched down just to the west of Sunset-Williamsburg Rd. Several trees were snapped at this location. The tornado moved northeast where it crossed Sunset Rd and Rock Hill Rd. Snapped & uprooted trees were the main damage. As the tornado neared and crossed Highway 49, the intensity increased to a high end EF-1.||Multiple power lines were downed along with numerous trees, two homes had minor damage along Rock Hill Rd. A home had a portion of the roof removed along Highway 49. As the tornado crossed Byrd Town Rd, more high end tree damage occurred with some minor damage to a home and a couple mobile homes. Several sheds and carports were destroyed here as well. The tornado increased in intensity to a low end EF-2 as it crossed George Speed Rd. Here significant tree damage was noted with hundreds of snapped or uprooted pines and hardwoods. A few homes had minor damage as they were on the edges of the tornadic circulation. The tornado weakened some as it moved just north of Jones Chapel Rd and across Highway 532. The tornado increased and reached peak intensity, EF-2 (125 mph), as it crossed Vester Pickering Rd. Three mobile homes were destroyed with one well-built brick home having the roof entirely removed. Heavy tree damaged was noted here with power poles and power lines down. Just to the north of Hot Coffee, a large church was heavily damaged with part of the roof removed and some outer brick fallen off the outer wall. Five other brick buildings had minor/major roof damage along with the windows blown out. Dozens of trees were snapped and uprooted here and along Highway 35.||The tornado continued to the northeast toward the Leaf River where more trees were snapped and downed. The tornado dissipated just inside Jones County where some trees were damaged. Total path length was 16.5 miles. Maximum winds were around 125 mph.

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

The warnings

15 minutes of warning. NWS JAN issued a tornado warning for this county at 06:47 UTC, 15 minutes before the tornado touched down, in force until 07:30 UTC.

The county was under a tornado watch, issued at 06:16 UTC and running to 11:21 UTC.

Issued (UTC)	Expired	Product	Office
23:57 UTC	06:16 UTC	Tornado Watch	JAN
06:16 UTC	11:21 UTC	Tornado Watch	JAN
06:47 UTC	07:30 UTC	Tornado Warning	JAN
08:45 UTC	09:30 UTC	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	JAN

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 General Thunderstorms Risk. The outlook in force was issued at 05:59 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 6, 7:20 PM CDT, 6 hours 42 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Apr 6, 7:20 PM CDT, 6 hours 42 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION...UPDATED
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE JACKSON MS
720 PM CDT SUN APR 6 2014

.UPDATE...UPDATED GRIDS TO INCLUDE NEWLY ISSUED TORNADO WATCH NUMBER
65. LATEST ANALYSIS SHOWING QUASI-STATIONARY BOUNDARY FROM KHEZ-KJAN-
KCBM WITH WIDESPREAD ISENTROPIC LIFT TO THE NORTH OF THIS BOUNDARY.
MEANWHILE...SURFACE LOW HAS MOVED INLAND OVER SOUTH LA AND HAS PUSHED A
WARM FRONT AS FAR INLAND AS KBTR-KMOB. EXPECT THIS WARM FRONT TO
CONTINUE PUSHING NORTH ALLOWING CONVECTION TO BECOME ROOTED AT THE
SURFACE AND TORNADO POTENTIAL TO INCREASE GIVEN AVAILABLE SHEAR./26/

&&

.AVIATION...THE AERODROME WILL CONTINUE TO EXPERIENCE WIDESPREAD
IFR/LIFR CEILINGS AND VISIBILITIES OVERNIGHT AS SHOWERS AND
THUNDERSTORMS CONTINUE TO DEVELOP. CONDITIONS LOOK TO IMPROVE AFTER
12Z AS THE SYSTEM BEGINS TO PULL AWAY WITH MVFR CEILINGS AND VFR
VISIBILITIES. VFR CONDITIONS LOOK TO RETURN AFTER 18Z./26/

&&

.PREV DISCUSSION... /ISSUED 347 PM CDT SUN APR 6 2014/

SHORT TERM...IN GENERAL...EXPECTATIONS REMAIN THE SAME IN TERMS OF
THIS EVENT BEING A FLOODING EVENT WITH THE POTENTIAL FOR SOME
LOCATIONS TO SEE SIGNIFICANT FLOODING. VERY STRONG MOISTURE TRANSPORT
CONTINUES TO COMBINE WITH A STAGNANT FRONTOGENETIC ZONE WHICH
CONTINUES TO FOCUS PRECIP WITHIN THE I-20 CORRIDOR. EXPECTATIONS ARE
THAT RAINFALL RATES WILL ONLY INCREASE INTO THE EVENING/OVERNIGHT AS
STRONG DEEP LAYER ASCENT MOVES INTO THE REGION AND UTILIZES ANOMALOUS
PW (1.75 IN) AIR WITH A LOW LEVEL THETA E SOURCE OF 335-340K. THE
DYNAMIC SYSTEM WILL MAKE THE MOST OF THIS MOISTURE IN THE FORM OF
EFFICIENT PRECIP PRODUCING CONVECTION. LOOK FOR MOST AREAS TO SEE 2-3
INCHES OF PRECIP WITH LOCALLY HIGHER AMOUNTS OF 4+. ADD THIS TO THE
TOTALS SO FAR...AND MOST OF THE CWA WILL SEE 3-5 INCHES WITH LOCALLY
6+ POSSIBLE. BASED OFF PREVIOUS 18HR RAINFALL FOCUSED WITHIN THE I-20
CORRIDOR AND THE MAIN BRUNT OF THE NEXT 12HR RAINS FALLING IN THE
SAME GENERAL AREA...THE I-20 CORRIDOR WILL BE THE FOCUS AREA FOR
FLASH FLOODING WITH SOME POTENTIAL HIGHER END FLOODING LATER TONIGHT.

AS FOR THE SVR STORM RISK. THE MAIN CHALLENGE IS IF THE JUICY AIR
WILL MAKE IT INTO THE CWA AND HOW FAR N WITH IT GET. AS IS TYPICALLY
THE CASE IN SUCH SITUATIONS...THE MODELS ARE OFTEN MORE AGGRESSIVE
THAN WHAT ACTUALLY OCCURS. THAT HAS BEEN THE CASE SO FAR AND THE
MORE RECENT NEAR TERM GUIDANCE IS STARTING TO CATCH UP AND KEEPING
THE HIGHER DEW PT AIR (65-68) MORE TO THE SOUTH AND SLOWER TO MOVE
NORTH. WHAT IS CONCERNING IS HOW DYNAMIC THIS SYSTEM IS AND THE
PROXIMITY OF THE QUALITY AIR. SUCH SYSTEM CAN EASILY PUSH SUCH
MOISTURE QUICKLY WHEN STRONG SFC CYCLOGENESIS IS OCCURRING...LIKE WE
ARE SEEING JUST TO OUR WEST. SFC PRESSER FALLS ARE PUSHING 5-6MB
AROUND MLU AND POINTING OUT THE TRACK OF THE SFC LOW FOR LATER
TONIGHT. WHAT SHOULD LIMIT THE NORTHWARD PUSH IS THE RAIN COOLED
BOUNDARY ALONG I-20. MY EXPECTATIONS ARE THAT THE HIGH MOISTURE AIR
(WHICH WILL SUPPORT SFC INSTABILITY) WILL MAKE A RUN AT I-20 AND
LIKELY FALL JUST SHORT. THINGS WILL BECOME ORIENTED MORE SW TO NE SO
I CAN SEE THE DELINEATION OF THE INSTABILITY SETTING UP FROM NEAR
NATCHEZ TO BRANDON TO POSSIBLY DEKALB LATER THIS EVENING AND TOWARD
MIDNIGHT. LOOK FOR LOCATIONS ALONG THAT AXIS AND POINTS SOUTH TO
MAKE USE OF 700-1100 J/KG OF SBCAPE ALONG WITH STRONG LOW LEVEL
SHEAR AND SRH. DAMAGING WIND AND TORNADOES WILL BE THE PRIMARY
THREAT. WE ALSO CAN'T RULE OUT A STRONG TORNADO OR TWO. THIS WILL
HIGHLY DEPEND ON WHERE THAT 68-70 DEWPT AIR CAN MAKE IT. ALSO...LOOK
FOR LEAD ACTIVITY TO BREAK OUT AS STRONGER ASCENT GETS CLOSER WITH
WILL HELP WITH THE MULTIPLE ROUNDS OF PRECIP. A FEW STRONGER STORMS
MAY OCCUR WITH THIS WITH SOME SMALL HAIL POSSIBLE. THIS COULD BE
POSSIBLE FROM LATE AFTERNOON INTO PART OF THE EVENING.

THE GRAPHICS HAVE BEEN MODIFIED TO REFLECT THE LATEST EXPECTATIONS
FOR BOTH THE FLOODING AND SVR RISKS.

AS FOR SPECIFIC FORECAST ELEMENTS...TEMPS WERE VERY TRICKY FOR
TONIGHT AS COOLER VALUES DURING EARLY EVENING COULD BE THE OVERNIGHT
LOW...THEN WARM A GOOD BIT BEFORE FALLING AGAIN BETWEEN 11-14Z. DUE
TO THIS...LOWS WERE LOWER A BIT. ON MON...CAA WILL EXIST ALL DAY AND
CLOUDS WILL HANG TIGHT. DUE TO THIS...TEMPS WILL COOL DURING THE
DAY...ESPECIALLY OVER THE E-HALF. GENERALLY...HIGHS WERE LOWERED A
FEW DEGREES.

LASTLY...A VERY ANOMALOUS PATTERN WILL EVOLVE FOR TUE. A DEEP
TROUGH WILL DIG OVER THE AREA AND BRING VERY COLD TEMPS ALOFT THAT
WILL COMBINE WITH LINGERING SFC MOISTURE. SFC DEWPTS LOOK TO BE
AROUND 50 DEGREES WITH TEMPS REACHING THE LOWER TO MID 60S. WHAT
WILL RESULT WILL BE STEEP LAPSE RATES AND INSTABILITY TO SUPPORT
THUNDERSTORMS. THE THERMODYNAMIC ENVIRONMENT WILL BE A COLD/UNSTABLE
ONE WHICH IS VERY RARE FOR THIS REGION. ALL IN ALL...STRONG LIFT
WILL EXIST WITH DIGGING SYSTEM AND COMBINE WITH INSTABILITY WHICH
LOOKS TO RANGE FROM 500-800 J/KG. WITH LOW WBZ AND FREEZING
LEVELS...HAIL WILL EASILY MAKE IT TO THE GROUND. THE BIG QUESTION
IS...WITH THE HAIL BE OF SVR CALIBER. BASED ON WHAT I'VE SEE...VERY
POSSIBLE. HOWEVER...WILL HOLD OFF ON MENTIONING THIS IN THE
HWO/GRAPHICS DUE TO THE CURRENT SYSTEM IMPACTING THE REGION. THE
REGION WILL ALSO SEE BREEZY TO WINDY CONDITIONS AND THIS WILL HAVE
TO BE WATCHED FOR SOME SORT OF ADV. STAY TUNED... /CME/

&&

.AVIATION...
IFR CONDITIONS DUE TO CEILINGS WILL SPREAD IN FROM THE
SOUTH THROUGH MIDDAY TO EARLY AFTERNOON AS A WARM FRONT GRADUALLY
LIFTS NORTH FROM THE COAST. AFTER CONDITIONS SWITCH TO IFR EXPECT
THEM TO MAINLY REMAIN THERE THROUGH TONIGHT...WAITING UNTIL TOMORROW
MORNING TO IMPROVE FROM WEST TO EAST. VISIBILITY REDUCTIONS WILL
ALSO BE FOUND ALONG WITH CEILING LIMITATIONS...MAINLY DUE TO
WIDESPREAD HEAVY RAIN AND THUNDERSTORMS...PARTICULARLY AT
HKS/JAN/GLH/GWO. SOME THUNDERSTORMS WILL BE QUITE POTENT AND CAPABLE
OF MODERATE TO EXTREME TURBULENCE. OTHERWISE...ANTICIPATE WINDS OF 5
TO 15 MPH WITH A GENERAL EAST VECTOR ACROSS THE REGION TODAY
ALTHOUGH EXACT VECTORS WILL BE ERRATIC DUE TO LIFTING FRONTAL
BOUNDARY. BY THIS EVENING ALONG AND SOUTH OF THE I-20 CORRIDOR THE
WINDS COULD BE SE AND A LITTLE GUSTY. /BB/

&&

.PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS...
JACKSON       58  68  44  66 / 100  25  33  71
MERIDIAN      63  75  44  65 / 100  46  31  74
VICKSBURG     55  66  44  68 / 100  15  32  63
HATTIESBURG   66  76  51  70 / 100  51  24  58
NATCHEZ       57  70  47  65 / 100  18  27  51
GREENVILLE    53  63  47  63 / 100   9  34  65
GREENWOOD     55  62  44  65 / 100  15  30  68

&&

.JAN WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
MS...FLASH FLOOD WATCH UNTIL 7 AM CDT MONDAY FOR MSZ018-019-025>066-
     072>074.

LA...FLASH FLOOD WATCH UNTIL 7 AM CDT MONDAY FOR LAZ007>009-015-016-
     023>026.

AR...FLASH FLOOD WATCH UNTIL 7 AM CDT MONDAY FOR ARZ074-075.

&&

/

Hazardous weather outlook, Apr 6, 7:35 PM CDT, 6 hours 27 minutes before

HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK...UPDATED
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE JACKSON MS
735 PM CDT SUN APR 6 2014

ARZ074-075-LAZ007>009-MSZ018-019-025>029-034>036-040-041-072030-
ASHLEY-CHICOT-MOREHOUSE-WEST CARROLL-EAST CARROLL-BOLIVAR-
SUNFLOWER-LEFLORE-GRENADA-CARROLL-MONTGOMERY-WEBSTER-WASHINGTON-
HUMPHREYS-HOLMES-ISSAQUENA-SHARKEY-
735 PM CDT SUN APR 6 2014

THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF SOUTHEAST
ARKANSAS...NORTHEAST LOUISIANA...CENTRAL MISSISSIPPI...NORTH
CENTRAL MISSISSIPPI...NORTHWEST MISSISSIPPI...AND WEST CENTRAL
MISSISSIPPI.

.DAY ONE...TONIGHT AND MONDAY

FLOODING
RISK...HIGH
TIMING...TONIGHT

A FRONTAL SYSTEM WILL MOVE THROUGH THE REGION THROUGH TONIGHT
BRINGING WIDESPREAD AND LOCALLY HEAVY RAIN. TOTAL RAINFALL AMOUNTS
RANGING FROM 2 TO 5 INCHES ARE EXPECTED AND SIGNIFICANT FLOODING
WILL BE POSSIBLE. A FLASH FLOOD WATCH IS IN EFFECT THROUGH TONIGHT.

(WWW.SRH.NOAA.GOV/GRAPHICAST.PHP?SITE=JAN&GC=2)

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...MONDAY NIGHT THROUGH SATURDAY

THE PROBABILITY FOR WIDESPREAD HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS LOW.

.SPOTTER CALL TO ACTION STATEMENT...
THE ACTIVATION OF STORM SPOTTERS...HAM RADIO OPERATORS...AND
EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT PERSONNEL IN SUPPORT OF SEVERE WEATHER
OPERATIONS MAY BE NEEDED FOR PORTIONS OF THE REGION TONIGHT.

LAZ015-016-023-025-MSZ030>033-037>039-042>051-053-072030-
RICHLAND-MADISON LA-FRANKLIN LA-TENSAS-CLAY-LOWNDES-CHOCTAW-
OKTIBBEHA-ATTALA-WINSTON-NOXUBEE-YAZOO-MADISON MS-LEAKE-NESHOBA-
KEMPER-WARREN-HINDS-RANKIN-SCOTT-NEWTON-CLAIBORNE-
735 PM CDT SUN APR 6 2014

THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF NORTHEAST
LOUISIANA...CENTRAL MISSISSIPPI...NORTHEAST MISSISSIPPI...AND
SOUTHWEST MISSISSIPPI.

.DAY ONE...TONIGHT AND MONDAY

TORNADOES
RISK...LIMITED
TIMING...TONIGHT

SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS
RISK...ELEVATED
TIMING...TONIGHT

FLOODING
RISK...HIGH
TIMING...TONIGHT

A FRONTAL SYSTEM WILL MOVE THROUGH THE REGION THROUGH TONIGHT
BRINGING WIDESPREAD AND LOCALLY HEAVY RAIN. TOTAL RAINFALL AMOUNTS
RANGING FROM 3 TO 5 INCHES ARE EXPECTED WITH LOCALLY HIGHER AMOUNTS
POSSIBLE. SIGNIFICANT FLOODING IS A POSSIBILITY. A FLASH FLOOD WATCH
IS IN EFFECT THROUGH TONIGHT.

IN ADDITION...CONFIDENCE IS HIGH IN THE OCCURRENCE OF SEVERE
THUNDERSTORMS TONIGHT WITH THE MAIN RISKS BEING WIND GUSTS TO 60
MPH...QUARTER TO GOLFBALL SIZE HAIL AND THE POTENTIAL TO PRODUCE A
FEW TORNADOES.

(WWW.SRH.NOAA.GOV/GRAPHICAST.PHP?SITE=JAN&GC=1
WWW.SRH.NOAA.GOV/GRAPHICAST.PHP?SITE=JAN&GC=2)

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...MONDAY NIGHT THROUGH SATURDAY

THE PROBABILITY FOR WIDESPREAD HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS LOW.

.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 FOR PORTIONS OF THE REGION TONIGHT.

LAZ024-026-MSZ052-054>066-072>074-072030-
CATAHOULA-CONCORDIA-LAUDERDALE-COPIAH-SIMPSON-SMITH-JASPER-CLARKE-
JEFFERSON-ADAMS-FRANKLIN MS-LINCOLN-LAWRENCE-JEFFERSON DAVIS-
COVINGTON-JONES-MARION-LAMAR-FORREST-
735 PM CDT SUN APR 6 2014

THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF NORTHEAST
LOUISIANA...CENTRAL MISSISSIPPI...EAST CENTRAL MISSISSIPPI...AND
SOUTH CENTRAL MISSISSIPPI.

.DAY ONE...TONIGHT AND MONDAY

TORNADOES
RISK...ELEVATED
TIMING...TONIGHT

SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS
RISK...ELEVATED
TIMING...TONIGHT

FLOODING
RISK...HIGH
TIMING...TONIGHT

A FRONTAL SYSTEM WILL MOVE THROUGH THE REGION THROUGH TONIGHT
BRINGING LOCALLY HEAVY RAIN. TOTAL RAINFALL AMOUNTS RANGING FROM 2
TO 5 INCHES ARE POSSIBLE AND THERE IS POTENTIAL FOR SIGNIFICANT
FLOODING TO OCCUR. A FLASH FLOOD WATCH IS IN EFFECT THROUGH TONIGHT.

IN ADDITION...CONFIDENCE IS HIGH IN THE OCCURRENCE OF SEVERE
THUNDERSTORMS THIS EVENING INTO TONIGHT WITH THE MAIN RISKS BEING
WIND GUSTS TO 60 MPH OR GREATER..QUARTER TO GOLFBALL SIZE HAIL AND
THE POTENTIAL TO PRODUCE TORNADOES.

(WWW.SRH.NOAA.GOV/GRAPHICAST.PHP?SITE=JAN&GC=1
WWW.SRH.NOAA.GOV/GRAPHICAST.PHP?SITE=JAN&GC=2)

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...MONDAY NIGHT THROUGH SATURDAY

THE PROBABILITY FOR WIDESPREAD HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS LOW.

.SPOTTER CALL TO ACTION STATEMENT...
THE ACTIVATION OF STORM SPOTTERS...HAM RADIO OPERATORS...AND
EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT PERSONNEL IN SUPPORT OF SEVERE WEATHER
OPERATIONS IS LIKELY FOR PORTIONS OF THE REGION TONIGHT.

26

&&

...HAZARD LEGEND...

*FLOODING*
EXTREME...CONFIDENT IN SIGNIFICANT FLOODING.
HIGH...SIGNIFICANT FLOODING POSSIBLE.
ELEVATED...CONFIDENT IN FLOODING.
LIMITED...FLOODING POSSIBLE.

*TORNADOES*
EXTREME...CONFIDENT IN STRONG TORNADOES WITH RATINGS EF2 OR
 GREATER.
HIGH...STRONG TORNADOES POSSIBLE WITH RATINGS EF2 OR GREATER.
ELEVATED...CONFIDENT IN TORNADOES.
LIMITED...TORNADOES POSSIBLE.

*SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS*
EXTREME...CONFIDENT IN SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WITH WIND GUSTS OF
 75 MPH OR GREATER AND/OR 2 INCH DIAMETER OR LARGER HAIL.
HIGH...SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS POSSIBLE WITH WIND GUSTS OF 75 MPH
 OR GREATER AND/OR 2 INCH DIAMETER OR LARGER HAIL.
ELEVATED...CONFIDENT IN SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WITH WINDS GUSTS OF
 60 MPH OR GREATER AND/OR 1 INCH DIAMETER OR LARGER HAIL.
LIMITED...SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS POSSIBLE WITH WIND GUSTS OF 60
 MPH OR GREATER AND/OR 1 INCH DIAMETER OR LARGER HAIL.

...USEFUL WEATHER WEB PAGES (URLS)...

NWS JAN HOME PAGE...
   WWW.WEATHER.GOV/JAN
STAY AWARE, STAY SAFE NWS JAN BRIEFING PAGE...
   WWW.SRH.NOAA.GOV/JAN/?N=SAFE
FIND NWS JAN ON FACEBOOK...
   WWW.FACEBOOK.COM/US.NATIONALWEATHERSERVICE.JACKSONMS.GOV
FOLLOW NWS JAN ON TWITTER...
   @NWSJACKSONMS

...ADDITIONAL URLS FOR FLOODING ISSUES...

LOWER MISSISSIPPI RIVER RFC HOME PAGE...
   WWW.SRH.NOAA.GOV/LMRFC/
NWS SIGNIFICANT RIVER FLOOD OUTLOOK...
   WWW.HPC.NCEP.NOAA.GOV/NATIONALFLOODOUTLOOK/INDEX.HTML
WPC DAY 1 THROUGH 3 EXCESSIVE RAINFALL...
   WWW.HPC.NCEP.NOAA.GOV/QPF/EXCESS_RAIN.SHTML
WPC EXCESSIVE RAINFALL DISCUSSION...
   WWW.HPC.NCEP.NOAA.GOV/DISCUSSIONS/QPFERD.HTML
WPC DAY 1 THROUGH 7 QPF...
   WWW.HPC.NCEP.NOAA.GOV/QPF/QPF2.SHTML
WPC QPF DISCUSSION...
   WWW.HPC.NCEP.NOAA.GOV/DISCUSSIONS/QPFHSD.HTML
NWS JAN OBSERVED PRECIPITATION IMAGES...
   WWW.SRH.NOAA.GOV/JAN/?N=PRECIPMAPS

...ADDITIONAL URLS FOR SEVERE WEATHER ISSUES...

STORM PREDICTION CENTER (SPC)...
   WWW.SPC.NOAA.GOV/
SPC...MESO ANALYSIS...
   WWW.SPC.NOAA.GOV/EXPER/MESOANALYSIS/NEW/#
SPC...DAY 1 THROUGH 3 OUTLOOKS...
   WWW.SPC.NOAA.GOV/PRODUCTS/OUTLOOK/
SPC...STORM REPORTS...
   WWW.SPC.NOAA.GOV/CLIMO/
NWS JAN CURRENT SVR/TOR WATCHES...
   WWW.SRH.NOAA.GOV/RTIMAGES/JAN/WATCH/TOASVA.PNG

   PLEASE CONVERT ALL WEB ADDRESSES TO LOWER CASE BEFORE ENTERING!

In the hours before

Local storm report, Apr 7, 12:48 AM CDT, 1 hour 14 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE JACKSON MS
1248 AM CDT MON APR 07 2014

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

1247 AM     HEAVY RAIN       2 NNE FLORENCE          32.18N 90.12W
04/07/2014  M7.73 INCH       RANKIN             MS   PUBLIC

            CURRENT RUNNING ACCUMULATION SINCE YESTERDAY MORNING. 24
            HOUR RAINFALL TOTAL OF 6.89 INCHES FOR SUNDAY AND UP TO
            0.84 INCHES CURRENTLY FOR MONDAY.

&&

DCOX

Local storm report, Apr 7, 1:01 AM CDT, 1 hour 1 minute before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE JACKSON MS
101 AM CDT MON APR 07 2014

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

0101 AM     FLASH FLOOD      FLORENCE                32.15N 90.13W
04/07/2014                   RANKIN             MS   LAW ENFORCEMENT

            REPORTS OF FLOODING ON WILLIAMS ROAD IN FLORENCE.

&&

DCOX

Local storm report, Apr 7, 1:04 AM CDT, 58 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE JACKSON MS
104 AM CDT MON APR 07 2014

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

0103 AM     FLASH FLOOD      PUCKETT                 32.08N 89.78W
04/07/2014                   RANKIN             MS   LAW ENFORCEMENT

            REPORT OF FLOODING ACROSS HIGHWAY 18 IN PUCKETT.

&&

DCOX

Local storm report, Apr 7, 1:12 AM CDT, 50 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE JACKSON MS
112 AM CDT MON APR 07 2014

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

0110 AM     FLASH FLOOD      4 SE MORTON             32.31N 89.62W
04/07/2014                   SCOTT              MS   LAW ENFORCEMENT

            REPORT OF WATER ON I-20 AT MILE MARKER 80. ALSO SOME
            FLOODING IS OCCURRING ON BACK ROADS IN THE COUNTY.

&&

DCOX

Special weather statement, Apr 7, 1:35 AM CDT, 27 minutes before

MSZ062-070705-
LINCOLN MS-
135 AM CDT MON APR 7 2014

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE JACKSON MS
135 AM CDT MON APR 7 2014

A STRONG THUNDERSTORM CAPABLE OF PRODUCING PEA TO DIME SIZE HAIL AND
40 TO 50 MPH WINDS WAS LOCATED OVER WEST LINCOLN AT 136 AM CDT...
MOVING NORTHEAST AT 55 MPH.

VERY HEAVY RAIN ALONG WITH CONTINUOUS CLOUD TO GROUND LIGHTNING ARE
ALSO POSSIBLE WITH THIS STORM.

PEOPLE IN LINCOLN COUNTY SHOULD MONITOR THIS STORM CLOSELY.

LAT...LON 3140 9064 3157 9063 3170 9035 3163 9025
      3154 9025 3137 9061
TIME...MOT...LOC 0636Z 234DEG 47KT 3151 9056

JC

Local storm report, Apr 7, 1:50 AM CDT, 12 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE JACKSON MS
150 AM CDT MON APR 07 2014

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

0130 AM     FLASH FLOOD      UNION                   32.57N 89.12W
04/07/2014                   NEWTON             MS   LAW ENFORCEMENT

            REPORTS OF MULTIPLE ROADS FLOODED IN UNION.

&&

DCOX

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), 00:00Z

7.0 hours before the tornado, 84 km from the path. April 7, 2014.

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: 50 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -316 J/kg
Surface CAPE: 0 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 458 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 71 kt
0-1 km bulk shear: 43 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 686 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 870 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.0
Supercell composite: 8.8
0-3 km lapse rate: 3.5 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

Jackson, MS (KJAN), 12:00Z

5.0 hours after it, 84 km from the path. April 7, 2014.

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

Mixed-layer CAPE: 30 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -67 J/kg
Surface CAPE: 17 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 442 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 75 kt
0-1 km bulk shear: 17 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 67 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 22 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.0
Supercell composite: -0.1
0-3 km lapse rate: 4.1 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The radar

The Jackson/Brandon,MS radar (KDGX), 75 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 07:01 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)	Report	Where	County	Remark
06:03 UTC	FLASH FLOOD	Puckett	Rankin, MS	REPORT OF FLOODING ACROSS HIGHWAY 18 IN PUCKETT.
06:30 UTC	TSTM WND DMG	Prentiss	Jefferson Davis, MS	REPORTS OF POWERLINES DOWN ON HIGHWAY 13 SOUTH IN PRENTISS.
06:48 UTC	TSTM WND DMG	Prentiss	Jefferson Davis, MS	REPORTS OF POWERLINES DOWN ON HIGHWAY 13 SOUTH IN PRENTISS.
07:00 UTC	FLASH FLOOD	Raleigh	Smith, MS	NUMEROUS SECONDARY ROADS WERE FLOODED ACROSS ALL OF SMITH COUNTY
07:02 UTC	TORNADO 2	6 Wnw Collins	Covington, MS	* 8 INJ * THIS TORNADO TOUCHED DOWN JUST W OF SUNSET WILLIAMSBURG RD AND TRACKED NE ACROSS N COVINGTOG CO INTO FAR NW JONES CO BEFORE DISSIPATING. HUNDREDS OF TREES WERE DAMAGED ALONG THE PATH WITH MULTIPLE HOMES SUS
07:02 UTC	TORNADO 2	6 Wnw Collins	Covington, MS	* 8 INJ * THIS TORNADO TOUCHED DOWN JUST W OF SUNSET WILLIAMSBURG RD AND TRACKED NE ACROSS N COVINGTOG CO INTO FAR NW JONES CO BEFORE DISSIPATING. HUNDREDS OF TREES WERE DAMAGED ALONG THE PATH WITH MULTIPLE HOMES SUS
07:06 UTC	TORNADO	4 Sse Mount Olive	Covington, MS	REPORTS OF DEBRIS ON ROCK HILL ROAD NORTHWEST OF COLLINS.
07:06 UTC	TORNADO	5 Nw Collins	Covington, MS	REPORTS OF TREES AND DEBRIS DOWN ON HIGHWAY 49 NORTHWEST OF COLLINS. TIME BASED ON RADAR.
07:06 UTC	TORNADO	5 Wnw Collins	Covington, MS	REPORTS OF POWERLINES DOWN ON JERRY DRIVE NEAR SUNSET ROAD.
07:10 UTC	TORNADO	4 S Taylorsville	Covington, MS	REPORT THAT BASH BLACKWELL ROAD IS COMPLETELY BLOCKED BY DEBRIS.
07:10 UTC	TORNADO	4 S Taylorsville	Covington, MS	REPORT THAT NEW HOPEWELL CHURCH HAS BEEN HEAVILY DAMAGED ON NEW HOPEWELL CHURCH ROAD.
07:10 UTC	TORNADO	5 Ese Mount Olive	Covington, MS	REPORTS OF DAMAGED HOMES AROUND THE 700 WILLIAM WARREN RIVER ROAD. TIME ESTIMATED BASED UPON RADAR.
07:10 UTC	TORNADO	5 Nne Collins	Covington, MS	REPORT OF TREES DOWN ON SALEM SCHOOL ROAD AND SALEM CHURCH ROAD.
07:10 UTC	TORNADO	6 Ssw Taylorsville	Covington, MS	REPORTS OF DOWNED TREES AND DEBRIS BLOCKING GILMER ROAD.
07:10 UTC	TORNADO	9 Nne Collins	Covington, MS	REPORTS OF ROADS BLOCKED BY TREES AND POWERLINES ON VESTER PICKERING ROAD AND THEODORE CROSBY ROAD. DAMAGE TO NUMEROUS HOUSES AND MOBILE HOMES. CONFIRMED INJURIES ON VESTER PICKERING ROAD.

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

This ground now

The live radar over the track Every 2014 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 7, 2014

5 more were confirmed in the United States that day.

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Injuries	Damage
April 7	1:55 PM EDT	EF1	Irwin, GA	1.9	165		$70,000
April 7	3:49 PM EDT	EF2	Beaufort, NC	4.7	300	5	$1.0 million
April 7	4:00 PM EDT	EF1	Hyde, NC	1.3	200		$50,000
April 7	5:23 PM EDT	EF0	Leon, FL	0.5	50
April 7	9:50 PM EDT	EF0	Spalding, GA	0.9	150	3	$100,000

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.