EF1 tornado, Adams to Raymond Williams Arp, Mississippi, April 30, 2017

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 30, 2017

Touchdown

8:10 AM CDT (13:10 UTC)

Lifted

8:17 AM CDT (13:17 UTC)

On the ground

7 minutes

Path length

6.1 miles (9.8 km)

Path width

300 yards (274 m)

Deaths

0

Injuries

0

Property damage

$115,000

County

Hinds County

Touchdown point

32.165, -90.574

Lift-off point

32.221, -90.493

Record number

1704300710-01

54 damage points were recorded along this path by NWS JAN, in the Damage Assessment Toolkit the survey teams carry. The strongest indicator was rated EF1. The highest wind the damage implies is 110 mph.

• trees down, power lines down
• St Thomas Rd blocked, trees and lines.
• many snapped trees, minor roof dmg to home
• 2 broke wooden pole. numerous trees down/snapped.

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

During the early morning hours of April 30th, a squall line of severe thunderstorms developed across central Louisiana and pushed eastward across the ArkLaMiss. The line intensified as it approached the Mississippi River and caused wind damage and tornadoes. As the convective system evolved into Mississippi, numerous tornadoes developed along the advancing line, with the most prolific damage occurring along the track of a large meso-scale convective vortex (MCV). This feature tracked roughly from Claiborne County through western Hinds/Madison, eastern Yazoo, eastern Holmes, southeastern Carroll, Montgomery, and northwestern Webster counties. This corridor is where the most significant damage occurred, as well as one fatality. Flash flooding, hail, and other wind damage occurred as these storms moved through.

This tornado touched down just southwest of the intersection of Adams Station Road and Old Adams Station Road. Here, heavy tree damage was noted as dozens of trees were snapped and uprooted. A power line was down here as well. The tornado then crossed Learned Road, just south of Learned, and damaged dozens of trees. The tornado continued northeast and crossed Holiday Road where tree damage was noted. The tornado tracked over some pasture and farm land and dissipated as it crossed Oakley Road. The maximum wind speed with this tornado was 110 mph.

This tornado started just south of Hwy 80 just to the west of Edwards where large tree branches were broken and a few trees uprooted. The tornado traveled north and reached its peak intensity and width as it crossed I-20 in Warren County, where hardwood trees were uprooted. The tornado continued north across Armory Road and Freetown Road snapping additional large tree branches before dissipating on the north side of Freetown Road. The total path length was 2.75 miles and total width was 900 yards. Maximum wind speeds for this tornado was 94 mph.

This tornado touched down south of Bolton along Houston Road. The tornado quickly intensified as it crossed Raymond-Bolton Road where numerous trees were damaged. Heavy tree damage again was noted as the tornado crossed Airplane and St. Thomas Roads. The roads were blocked by numerous trees and two power poles were snapped along Airplane Road. The tornado then moved to just east of Bolton where it crossed the Bolton Cemetery, where numerous trees were damaged. A home sustained minor roof damage here and a metal tractor shed was destroyed. More trees were downed on the Frontage Roads along I-20 and a large billboard was damaged. The tornado then moved across fields west of West Northside Drive. One mobile home had part of the tin roof torn off. More heavy tree damage was observed on Edwards Road and then again as it crossed Jimmy Williams Road. Here the tornado intensified and reached its widest point. Additional tree damage occurred across Lorance Road and then again across Clinton-Tinnin Road. The tornado downed about 30 large trees across Kennebrew Road as it crossed into southern Madison County. Damage was noted on Shady Grove Road and near the petrified forest area before it moved into Flora. The tornado caused minor structural damage in downtown Flora. It also caused damage to the old water tower in Flora. Tree damage was noted on the north side of Flora as well. The tornado dissipated as it exited the Flora city limits to the north. The total path length was 20.79 miles. The maximum estimated winds were 110 mph, which occurred in Hinds County.

This tornado started just west of the intersection of Anderson Road and Askew Road where large limbs were snapped and a few trees uprooted. The tornado crossed Anderson Road again as it continued moving northeast. The tornado widened as it crossed Narrow Gauge Road where hardwood and softwood trees were snapped and uprooted. The tornado paralleled Farr Road where additional limbs were snapped and trees uprooted. The tornado reached its peak intensity along Farr road, near the intersection of John Warren Road, where numerous hardwood trees were snapped and uprooted. The tornado then took a slight northwest turn and continued to parallel Farr Road, causing more tree damage before dissipating shortly after crossing Halifax Road. The maximum wind speed with this tornado was 107 mph.

This weak tornado touched down along Volley Campbell Road and moved across some personal property. A couple of trees were uprooted along with many large limbs broken. A Metal shed had most of the roof off and a couple walls damaged. A horse trailer was rolled and the brick home had some siding torn off. This tornado moved through a wooded area before dissipating as it cross Tank Road. Here, large limbs were broken off trees and a power pole was left leaning. A brief tornadic debris signature was noted. The maximum wind speed with this tornado was 90 mph.

This tornado touched down along St. Thomas Road and peaked as it crossed I-20 on the west side of the Norrell Road exit. The heaviest tree damage was along both Frontage Roads where numerous trees were snapped/uprooted. A semi-truck was turned over here as well. The tornado downed trees across the railroad and for another half mile in the woods west of Williamson Road. The maximum wind speed with this tornado was 100 mph.

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

42 minutes of warning. NWS JAN issued a tornado warning for this county at 12:28 UTC, 42 minutes before the tornado touched down, in force until 13:30 UTC.

The county was under a tornado watch, issued at 12:34 UTC and running to 16:57 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 Enhanced Risk, with a 0.10 chance of a tornado within 25 miles. The outlook in force was issued at 13:00 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.

Raymond (JVW), 17 km from the path, in the two hours either side.

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

The Jackson/Brandon,MS radar (KDGX), 53 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 13:09 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 2017 tornado in MississippiEvery tornado in Mississippi since 1950Warnings in force in Mississippi nowThe forecast where you are

42 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.