EF1 tornado, Smith to Taylorsville, Mississippi, April 13, 2019

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 13, 2019

Touchdown

9:39 PM CDT (02:39 UTC)

Lifted

9:46 PM CDT (02:46 UTC)

On the ground

7 minutes

Path length

4.1 miles (6.6 km)

Path width

250 yards (229 m)

Deaths

0

Injuries

2

Property damage

$120,000

Counties

Covington and Smith counties

Touchdown point

31.768, -89.506

Lift-off point

31.811, -89.458

Record number

1904132039-01

24 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 100 mph.

• tin, wood piece impailed in ground
• porch torn off, numerous snapped trees

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

During the late afternoon of April 13 and into the evening and overnight, a strong spring storm system pushed across the Lower Mississippi Valley region and brought widespread severe weather, a regional tornado outbreak, and flash flooding. This event started over eastern Texas and steadily pushed eastward into the evening and overnight. Storms associated with this system started as a few line clusters then evolved into a full blown linear complex. Within this line, smaller bowing segments formed and it was these features that supported the regional outbreak of tornadoes. A total of 20 tornadoes occurred across our forecast area, six of which were rated as strong (EF2). In addition to the tornadoes, several reports of large hail were received along with many instances of wind damage. Heavy rainfall was also impactful and multiple inches of rain quickly fell across some locations and caused flash flooding, some of it extensive.

This tornado touched down at the intersection of Boyd Duckworth and Lilly Valley Church Roads. Some broken limbs and a few downed trees were noted along with skirting blown from a mobile home. Heading northeast, limb damage increased along with a few more trees down. The covering from a porch and the tin roof of a mobile home was taken off. This debris was thrown into another mobile home and caused the door to fly open which then debris caused a minor injury. Other minor tin damage occurred to a few mobile homes here. Tree damage increased as it cross Decar Page Drive. with EF1 type tree damage continuing as it neared Gilmer Road and crossed Gilmer Road. One home had shingle damage and had the base of the roof lifted some. As the tornado crossed into Smith County, it reached peak intensity and numerous trees were snapped and uprooted. At the end of Smith County Road 21 D, heavy tree damage was noted. One home had the car port removed and residents said the house shifted. Some of the tin roof was damaged as well. As the tornado moved along Old Gilmer Road, a large metal shed had the roof removed. The tornado dissipated shortly after along Old Gilmer Road. This tornado continued into Smith County. Maximum estimated winds were 100 mph. Total path length was 4.11 miles.

This tornado touched down at the intersection of Boyd Duckworth and Lilly Valley Church Roads. Some broken limbs and a few downed trees were noted along with skirting blown from a mobile home. Heading northeast, limb damaging increased along with a few more trees down. The covering from a porch and the tin roof of a mobile home was taken off. This debris was thrown into another mobile home and caused the door to fly open which then debris caused a minor injury. Other minor tin damage occurred to a few mobile homes here. Tree damage increased as it cross Decar Page Drive. with EF1 type tree damage continuing as it neared Gilmer Road and crossed Gilmer Road. One home had shingle damage and had the base of the roof lifted some. As the tornado crossed into Smith County, it reached peak intensity and numerous trees were snapped and uprooted. At the end of Smith County Road 21 D, heavy tree damage was noted. One home had the car port removed and residents said the house shifted. Some of the tin roof was damaged as well. As the tornado moved along Old Gilmer Road, a large metal shed had the roof removed. The tornado dissipated shortly after along Old Gilmer Road. Maximum estimated winds were 100 mph. Total path length was 4.11 miles.

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

13 minutes of warning. NWS JAN issued a tornado warning for this county at 02:26 UTC, 13 minutes before the tornado touched down, in force until 02:46 UTC.

The county was under a tornado watch, issued at 01:13 UTC and running to 04:58 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 01:00 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.

The Jackson/Brandon,MS radar (KDGX), 72 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 02:38 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 2019 tornado in MississippiEvery tornado in Mississippi since 1950Warnings in force in Mississippi nowThe forecast where you are

35 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.