EF4 Holly Springs–Ashland tornado, Mississippi and Tennessee, December 23, 2015

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 mph

   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 mphthis tornado

   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

EF4

Date

December 23, 2015

Touchdown

4:10 PM CST (22:10 UTC)

Lifted

5:25 PM CST (23:25 UTC)

On the ground

75 minutes

Path length

75.1 miles (120.8 km)

Path width

1,300 yards (1189 m)

Deaths

9

Injuries

36

Property damage

$11 million

Counties

Tate, Marshall, Benton, Tippah, Hardeman and McNairy counties

Touchdown point

34.596, -89.706

Lift-off point

35.150, -88.567

Record number

1512231610-01

39 damage points were recorded along this path by NWS MEG, in the Damage Assessment Toolkit the survey teams carry. The strongest indicator was rated EF4. The highest wind the damage implies is 170 mph.

• single wide trailer blown away. 5 occupants were injured. 12 year old thrown 300 ft
• small one story brick home. Low end 152mph, high end 170 mph.
• Homes were brick veneer one story.
• southeast Tate County 2 miles south of Wyatt. Road is Wyatt-Tyro.

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

Strong surface low pressure tracked from the Plains into the Mississippi River Valley while a strong cold front pushed into the Mid-South on December 23, 2015. A very moist and unstable airmass moved into the area as a warm front lifted north through the region during the early morning hours. A potent upper level disturbance help to trigger thunderstorms along and in advance of the approaching cold front. The necessary ingredients were in place for storm to rapidly intensify. Three tornadoes touched down across North Mississippi including an EF-4 that caused severe damage.

Strong surface low pressure tracked from the Plains into the Mississippi River Valley while a strong cold front pushed into the Mid-South on December 23, 2015. A very moist and unstable airmass moved into the area as a warm front lifted north through the region during the early morning hours. A potent upper level disturbance help to trigger thunderstorms along and in advance of the approaching cold front. The necessary ingredients were in place for storm to intensify to severe limits. There were several reports of large hail, damaging winds and flash flooding across West Tennessee during the late afternoon. A violent long track tornado moved from into parts of Hardeman and McNairy Counties from North Mississippi during the early evening.

The tornado developed over Southeast Tate County. The tornado caused minor roof damage to a house in Tyro before moving into Marshall County.

The tornado tracked into Marshall County from Tate County. As it moved into Marshall County the tornado heavily damaged several homes along Highway 4. The tornado produced damage to a church and surrounding trees southwest of Holly Springs that approached EF-4. The tornado moved across the southeastern edge of Holly Springs causing EF-2 to EF-3 damage. Numerous trees were uprooted or snapped. About 200 homes were damaged in Marshall County. Two fatalities occurred in Marshall County along with at least 30 injuries. The tornado then tracked into Benton County.

The tornado crossed from Marshall County into Benton County near Highway 4 west of Ashland. The tornado appeared to strengthen as it entered Benton County. Several houses west-northwest of Ashland has damage approaching EF-4 with EF-4 damage observed in Northeast Benton County. Six fatalities occurred in Benton County. Eighty-five structures were affected in Benton County. Seventeen homes and fifteen mobile homes were destroyed. Fifteen homes and three mobile homes suffered major damage. Twenty homes and seven mobile homes had minor damage. Many acres of timber were also damaged or destroyed. The tornado then continued into Tippah County.

The tornado crossed from Benton County Mississippi into Tippah County. The tornado moved across far northwestern Tippah County damaging several homes in the Three Forks Community. One fatality occurred in Tippah County. Over 100 houses were affected and about 45 homes were destroyed. The tornado then crossed the Tennessee state line into Hardeman County.

The tornado crossed from Tippah County into Hardeman County. As it crossed over the state line it destroyed a large metal agricultural building. A couple of houses and businesses were also damaged. The tornado then moved into McNairy County.

The tornado moved into McNairy County from Hardeman County and began weakening. Around 15 homes were damaged or destroyed south of Selmer. The last observed damage was near Highway 45 on the southeast edge of Selmer.

The deaths

9 direct deaths are recorded for this tornado, each with what Storm Data knows of it.

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

17 minutes of warning. NWS MEG issued a tornado warning for this county at 21:53 UTC, 17 minutes before the tornado touched down, in force until 22:45 UTC.

The county was under a tornado watch, issued at 17:59 UTC and running to 23:11 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 19:37 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 Memphis radar (KNQA), 85 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 22:12 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 2015 tornado in MississippiEvery tornado in Mississippi since 1950Warnings in force in Mississippi nowThe forecast where you are

30 more were confirmed in the United States that day.

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.