EF1 tornado, Bowling Green to Carroll, 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

9:38 AM CDT (14:38 UTC)

Lifted

9:49 AM CDT (14:49 UTC)

On the ground

11 minutes

Path length

9.1 miles (14.7 km)

Path width

400 yards (366 m)

Deaths

0

Injuries

0

Property damage

$40,000

Counties

Holmes and Carroll counties

Touchdown point

33.177, -89.986

Lift-off point

33.256, -89.859

Record number

1704300838-01

140 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 115 mph.

• trees up rooted and a few shingles off home
• multiple trees damaged, tin off roof of home
• many trees damaged, tree across rail road
• many trees , shingle dmg to home

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.

The tornado began just to the southwest of Sudbeck Road and downed hardwood trees in this area. It then continued northeast, snapping tree limbs and uprooting a few trees along its path in the northern part of Holmes County. The tornado then crossed into Carroll County and dissipated along Highway 37. The total path length for this tornado was 9.16 miles and the maximum estimated wind speed was 90mph. The maximum width was 400 yards, which occurred in Holmes County.

This tornado touched down just south of County Road 69 and as it tracked north-northeast, it crossed Highway 51. Through the length of its path, it downed softwood and hardwood trees. It finally lifted east of Highway 51, near the railroad. The maximum estimated wind speed with this tornado was 100 mph.

The tornado began just to the southwest of Sudbeck Road and downed hardwood trees in this area. It then continued northeast, snapping tree limbs and uprooting a few trees along its path in the northern part of Holmes County. The tornado then crossed into Carroll County and dissipated along Highway 37. The total path length for this tornado was 9.16 miles. The maximum estimated wind speed was 90mph and the maximum width was 400 yards, both of which occurred in Holmes County.

The tornado began near Hudson Creek in southern Carroll County. As it tracked north northeast toward Beatty, it uprooted trees and downed some powerlines along County Road 33. As it crossed County Road 27, it continued to uproot some softwood trees and tore a few shingles off of a home. The tornado dissipated along Highway 51 north of Beatty. The maximum estimated wind speed with this tornado was 80 mph.

This tornado started on the south side of Vaiden and tracked northeast, dissipating just to the northwest of Kilmichael. Initially, trees were snapped and uprooted along county road 28 and county road 27. The tornado then crossed Highway 51 where numerous trees were snapped or uprooted and power lines were downed. A few homes sustained minor roof damage and one had a large tree down on it. The railroad was blocked by several trees as well. The tornado then crossed Highway 35 where more trees were damaged. It then moved into a wooded area and mostly tracked south of Highway 430. A few damage locations were accessible along CR 9 where more trees were downed, but the road was blocked and the core of the tornado path was inaccessible. The Northwest edge of the tornado began to impact portions of Highway 430 a few miles before the junction with Highway 407. Here numerous trees were damaged. The tornado appeared to peak in intensity and reach its widest point near the Carroll and Montgomery County line and along Highway 407. Here, significant tree damage was noted as the tornado moved across an open field and slammed into a wooded area. Significant tree damage was noted across the field south of the highway and where it crossed Highway 407. Widespread tree damage continued across Herring Loop, Lower Bethlehem Road, and Herring School Road. Some homes were damaged by trees. Along Herring School Road, a couple sheds were destroyed along with several homes sustaining minor roof damage. A large metal I-beam shed was destroyed and thrown nearly 100 yards. As the tornado neared Kindred Road, a turn to the left was noted and it began to track more northerly. Damage to trees continued as it crossed Lewis Creek Road along with a few sheds damaged and shingles off roofs. As it crossed Highway 82 west of Kilmichael, more trees were downed along with a dozen or so power poles. Three homes had roof damage and several sheds had tin off the roof. The tornado continued just a bit farther north and dissipated just past the intersection of Mayfield and Robinson-Thompson Road. The total path length of the tornado was 15.75 miles. The maximum width of the tornado was 1.1 miles, which occurred in Montgomery County, as well as the highest wind speed of the tornado at 115 mph. The maximum estimated wind speed of the tornado in Carroll County was 100 mph.

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

33 minutes of warning. NWS JAN issued a tornado warning for this county at 14:05 UTC, 33 minutes before the tornado touched down, in force until 15:00 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 Slight Risk, with a 0.05 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.

Winona (5A6), 33 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), 104 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 14:40 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.