Tornadoes · United States · Mississippi · 2018
EF1 tornado, Le Tourneau to Vicksburg Arpt, Mississippi, April 6, 2018
From Le Tourneau to Vicksburg Arpt, this EF1 tornado ran 2.8 miles across Warren County on April 6, 2018, touching down at 8:12 PM CDT and reaching 75 yards wide. It killed nobody, and did $15,000 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 mphthis tornado
Moderate damage. Roofs badly stripped, mobile homes overturned or badly damaged, exterior doors lost, windows broken.
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.
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
- EF1
- Date
- April 6, 2018
- Touchdown
- 8:12 PM CDT (01:12 UTC)
- Lifted
- 8:22 PM CDT (01:22 UTC)
- On the ground
- 10 minutes
- Path length
- 2.8 miles (4.5 km)
- Path width
- 75 yards (69 m)
- Deaths
- 0
- Injuries
- 0
- Property damage
- $15,000
- County
- Warren County
- Touchdown point
- 32.220, -90.964
- Lift-off point
- 32.222, -90.915
- Record number
- 1804061912-01
The damage survey
4 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 90 mph.
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 warm front was stretched across the region on April 6th. As a disturbance rode along this stalled front, it brought copious amounts of rain to the region thanks to ample moisture in place. As daytime heating occurred, some storms developed which brought severe weather to the region.
This tornado began just west of the Mississippi River over a heavily wooded area before moving over Glass Road where numerous large branches and a few small trees were snapped. The tornado reached peak intensity right as it crossed Highway 61, where multiple hardwood trees were snapped. The tornado dissipated over a wooded area just east of Highway 61. The estimated winds with this tornado were 90mph.
From NOAA NCEI's Storm Events Database, the narrative the local forecast office wrote for Storm Data.
The warnings
3 minutes of warning. NWS JAN issued a tornado warning for this county at 01:09 UTC, 3 minutes before the tornado touched down, in force until 01:45 UTC.
The county was under a tornado watch, issued at 20:20 UTC and running to 03:30 UTC.
| Issued (UTC) | Expired | Product | Office |
|---|---|---|---|
| 18:00 UTC | 05:26 UTC | Flash Flood Watch | JAN |
| 20:20 UTC | 03:30 UTC | Tornado Watch | JAN |
| 22:57 UTC | 23:23 UTC | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | JAN |
| 23:57 UTC | 01:00 UTC | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | JAN |
| 00:18 UTC | 03:15 UTC | Flash Flood Warning | JAN |
| 01:00 UTC | 02:00 UTC | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | JAN |
| 01:09 UTC | 01:45 UTC | Tornado Warning | JAN |
| 01:13 UTC | 04:00 UTC | Flash Flood Warning | JAN |
| 01:30 UTC | 01:30 UTC | Flood Warning | JAN |
| 04:02 UTC | 10:00 UTC | Flood 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 Enhanced Risk, with a 0.05 chance of a tornado within 25 miles. The outlook in force was issued at 00:59 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.
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
1.2 hours before the tornado, 82 km from the path. April 7, 2018.
- Mixed-layer CAPE
- 877 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -1 J/kg
- Surface CAPE
- 1276 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 706 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 31 kt
- 0-1 km bulk shear
- 31 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 212 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 369 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.8
- Supercell composite
- 5.0
- 0-3 km lapse rate
- 6.4 K/km
Jackson, MS (KJAN), 12:00Z
10.8 hours after it, 82 km from the path. April 7, 2018.
- Mixed-layer CAPE
- 2 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- 0 J/kg
- Surface CAPE
- 9 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 434 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 49 kt
- 0-1 km bulk shear
- 8 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 45 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 119 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 0.0
- 0-3 km lapse rate
- 4.5 K/km
The surface observations
Vicksburg (VKS), 2 km from the path, in the two hours either side.
| Time (UTC) | Temp (°F) | Dew point (°F) | Wind | Gust (kt) | Pressure (mb) | Weather |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 23:15 UTC | 69.8 | 64.4 | 170° 11 kt | 17 | 1006.1 | |
| 23:35 UTC | 69.8 | 66.2 | 170° 10 kt | 15 | 1006.1 | |
| 23:55 UTC | 69.8 | 66.2 | 160° 9 kt | 1005.8 | ||
| 00:15 UTC | 69.8 | 66.2 | 6 kt | 13 | 1006.1 | |
| 00:35 UTC | 69.8 | 66.2 | 340° 13 kt | 20 | 1007.1 | |
| 00:55 UTC | 64.4 | 62.6 | 5 kt | 19 | 1006.4 | BR |
| 01:15 UTC | 66.2 | 64.4 | 190° 19 kt | 39 | 1005.1 | BR |
| 01:20 UTC | 64.4 | 64.4 | 270° 13 kt | 35 | 1005.4 | BR |
From the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of airport observations.
The radar
The Jackson/Brandon,MS radar (KDGX), 90 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 01:14 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 22:13 UTC | HAIL 1 | 11 Sw Utica | Claiborne, MS | |
| 23:06 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | 3 Ne Crystal Springs | Copiah, MS | COPIAH COUNTY EM REPORTED A POWER LINE DOWN. |
| 00:24 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | 6 Ne Vicksburg | Warren, MS | CORRECTS PREVIOUS ERRONEOUS FLASH FLOOD REPORT FROM 6 NE VICKSBURG. TREE WAS BLOCKING A ROAD NEAR THE OPENWOOD PLANTATION AREA. |
| 00:24 UTC | FLASH FLOOD | 6 Ne Vicksburg | Warren, MS | TREE BLOCKING A ROAD NEAR THE OPENWOOD PLANTATION AREA. |
| 00:31 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | 5 Ne Bolton | Hinds, MS | TREE AND POWER LINE DOWN AT N NORRELL RD AND JIMMY WILLIAMS RD. |
| 00:47 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | 8 W Edwards | Warren, MS | A FEW TREES UPROOTED WITH LARGE LIMBS SNAPPED ALONG I-20 IN EASTERN WARREN COUNTY. |
| 01:12 UTC | TORNADO | 9 Sw Vicksburg | Warren, MS | THIS TORNADO BEGAN JUST WEST OF THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER OVER A HEAVILY WOODED AREA BEFORE MOVING OVER GLASS ROAD WHERE NUMEROUS LARGE BRANCHES AND A FEW SMALL TREES WERE SNAPPED. THE TORNADO REACHED PEAK INTENSITY RIGHT AS |
| 01:15 UTC | FLASH FLOOD | 1 Nw Vicksburg | Warren, MS | NUMEROUS ROADS ARE CLOSED IN VICKSBURG DUE TO FLASH FLOODING. |
| 01:24 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | 8 S Vicksburg | Warren, MS | SMALL TREE SNAPPED ALONG REDBONE ROAD. |
| 02:24 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | 2 Sw Pattison | Claiborne, MS | METAL ROOF PEELED OFF A HOME NEAR PATTISON. REPORTED VIA SOCIAL MEDIA. POSSIBLE TORNADO. |
| 02:27 UTC | TORNADO | 10 Se Port Gibson | Claiborne, MS | THIS EF-1 TORNADO TOUCHED DOWN IN A WOODED AREA AROUND A MILE WEST OF TILLMAN ROAD AND FOREST GROVE ROAD. IT CAUSED SOME TREE DAMAGE WITH THE OUTER FRINGES OF THE CIRCULATION AS IT FIRST CROSSED PATTISON TILLMAN ROAD AND |
| 02:32 UTC | TORNADO | 12 Se Port Gibson | Claiborne, MS | THIS EF-1 TORNADO TOUCHED DOWN ON MOSS DOWN LANE. IT CONTINUED ALONG AROUND A 3-4 MILE PORTION OF HIGHWAY 547. THIS TORNADO BEGAN TO WIDEN AND CAUSED WIDESPREAD TREE DAMAGE ALL ALONG THE PATH, ESPECIALLY ALONG HIGHWAY 54 |
| 02:35 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | 14 Se Port Gibson | Claiborne, MS | TREES DOWN ALONG HWY 547, POSSIBLE TORNADO. |
| 02:46 UTC | TORNADO | 18 W Hazlehurst | Copiah, MS | THIS EF-1 TORNADO TOUCHED DOWN ALONG JUST WEST OF BARLOW ROAD. IT CONTINUED NEAR THE INTERSECTION OF BARLOW AND HENNEBERRY ROAD BEFORE CROSSING HAWKINS ROAD. MANY LARGE LIMBS AND TREES WERE SNAPPED AND UPROOTED ALONG THE |
| 02:50 UTC | FLASH FLOOD | Raymond | Hinds, MS | FLOODING ON THE HINDS CC CAMPUS ON SCIENCE DR AND BILL OAKS DR AT HINDS BLVD. |
| 03:00 UTC | FLASH FLOOD | 2 N Vicksburg | Warren, MS | FLOODING CAUSED A DIRT SLIDE ON N WASHINGTON ST BETWEEN THE KLONDYKE TRADING POST AND THE ENTRANCE TO THE PORT OF VICKSBURG. |
| 03:39 UTC | FLASH FLOOD | 2 Ssw Vicksburg | Warren, MS | PICTURE OF A VEHICLE STALLED/PARTIALLY SUBMERGED IN FLOOD WATERS. |
From the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service local storm reports.
This ground now
The live radar over the trackEvery 2018 tornado in MississippiEvery tornado in Mississippi since 1950Warnings in force in Mississippi nowThe forecast where you are
The other tornadoes of April 6, 2018
12 more were confirmed in the United States that day.
| Date | Time | Rating | Where | Path (mi) | Width (yd) | Deaths | Injuries | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| April 6 | 6:05 PM CDT | EF0 | Madison Parish, LA | 1.1 | 25 | |||
| April 6 | 6:40 PM CDT | EF0 | Richland Parish, LA | 7.8 | 50 | $15,000 | ||
| April 6 | 7:31 PM CDT | EF2 | Red River Parish, LA | 10.1 | 1,800 | $225,000 | ||
| April 6 | 7:51 PM CDT | Unrated | Burnet, TX | 0.6 | 50 | |||
| April 6 | 8:03 PM CDT | EF0 | Rankin, MS | 2.6 | 25 | $15,000 | ||
| April 6 | 9:14 PM CDT | EF1 | Natchitoches Parish, LA | 0.7 | 50 | $6,000 | ||
| April 6 | 9:27 PM CDT | EF1 | Claiborne, MS | 1.2 | 360 | $25,000 | ||
| April 6 | 9:32 PM CDT | EF1 | Claiborne, MS | 5.8 | 880 | $200,000 | ||
| April 6 | 9:46 PM CDT | EF1 | Copiah, MS | 2.4 | 700 | $20,000 | ||
| April 6 | 11:01 PM CDT | EF1 | Jefferson Davis, MS | 4.7 | 350 | $25,000 | ||
| April 6 | 11:18 PM CDT | EF1 | Jefferson Davis, MS | 2.9 | 440 | $60,000 | ||
| April 6 | 11:33 PM CDT | EF1 | Covington, MS | 1.7 | 125 | $30,000 |
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.