Tornadoes · United States · Mississippi · 2021
EF0 tornado, Long Beach, Mississippi, June 19, 2021
This EF0 tornado ran 1.2 miles across Harrison County on June 19, 2021, touching down at 2:31 AM CDT and reaching 75 yards wide. It killed nobody, and did $50,000 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 mphthis tornado
Light damage. Surface peeled off some roofs, gutters and siding damaged, branches broken, shallow-rooted trees pushed over.
EF186 to 110 mph
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
- EF0
- Date
- June 19, 2021
- Touchdown
- 2:31 AM CDT (07:31 UTC)
- Lifted
- 2:32 AM CDT (07:32 UTC)
- On the ground
- 1 minutes
- Path length
- 1.2 miles (1.9 km)
- Path width
- 75 yards (69 m)
- Deaths
- 0
- Injuries
- 0
- Property damage
- $50,000
- County
- Harrison County
- Touchdown point
- 30.348, -89.176
- Lift-off point
- 30.364, -89.175
- Record number
- 2106190131-01
The damage survey
9 damage points were recorded along this path by NWS LIX, in the Damage Assessment Toolkit the survey teams carry. The strongest indicator was rated EF0. The highest wind the damage implies is 82 mph.
- roof shingles, chimney and siding torn off. Siding scattered on front side of house and stuck in tree next to neighbors house to the east. Fence blown over facing north and east.
- roof torn on south facing side. fence down. tree branches down everywhere.
- Pergola destroyed in pool, siding ripped off, South-facing double doors blown in, large cedar swing set/tree house blown over, branch impounded on east facing side of shed. Large oak tree uprooted (fell to the north) and hit the house. A large camper in back yard was overturned on other side of fence - rolled to the north and fell into neighbors house on north side (it may have gotten lofted as it didn't completely destroy the fence). The worst damage occurred at this residence.
- most concentrated damage. damage faces to the north and east. Subtle convergent pattern. Car windows blown in. Garage door bashed in from trampoline. Shingles peeled and chimney blown over. Numerous fences blown over from about five different houses. Several fences were just built.
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 tropical wave meandered in the Bay of Campeche for a few days in mid June before slowly tracking northeastward towards the Louisiana coastline. It actually didn't attain tropical storm status until after it made landfall in Terrebonne Parish on the early morning of June 19th. The generally weaker nature of the storm meant that wind and surge were the lesser of impacts. However, a band of very heavy rainfall developed on the east side of the storm and brought several inches to upwards of one foot of rain to the Mississippi coastal Counties. Peak wind gusts across the region barely reached tropical storm strength.
A tornado touched down near Twin Lakes Boulevard where large tree limbs were snapped, a fence was blown over and siding torn off a house. Damage to numerous houses was observed along Periwinkle Lane, including roof (shingles peeled and a chimney toppled over) damage, downed fences, a bent garage door, and car windows that were blown out. ||The tornado continued to produce sporadic damage as it tracked north. The most concentrated damage occurred along Yuca Drive. On one property, a pergola was destroyed, a large oak tree was uprooted, back yard doors were blown in, siding ripped off, and a |camper was overturned. The tornado lifted just north of Mossy Oak Drive.
From NOAA NCEI's Storm Events Database, the narrative the local forecast office wrote for Storm Data.
The warnings
No tornado warning for this county appears in the archive as in force at the moment the tornado touched down. One was issued for the county at another hour that day.
The county was under a tornado watch, issued at 06:40 UTC and running to 11:58 UTC.
| Issued (UTC) | Expired | Product | Office |
|---|---|---|---|
| 18:00 UTC | 17:42 UTC | Coastal Flood Warning | LIX |
| 18:00 UTC | 17:37 UTC | Flash Flood Watch | LIX |
| 02:52 UTC | 03:22 UTC | Flood Advisory | LIX |
| 03:22 UTC | 08:15 UTC | Flash Flood Warning | LIX |
| 04:23 UTC | 04:45 UTC | Tornado Warning | LIX |
| 04:39 UTC | 04:48 UTC | Tornado Warning | LIX |
| 04:40 UTC | 05:44 UTC | Flood Advisory | LIX |
| 05:37 UTC | 06:00 UTC | Tornado Warning | LIX |
| 05:44 UTC | 09:45 UTC | Flash Flood Warning | LIX |
| 05:53 UTC | 06:01 UTC | Tornado Warning | LIX |
| 06:40 UTC | 11:58 UTC | Tornado Watch | LIX |
| 11:12 UTC | 07:48 UTC | Flood Warning | LIX |
| 11:15 UTC | 14:42 UTC | Flood Warning | LIX |
| 13:22 UTC | 00:29 UTC | Flood Warning | LIX |
| 17:39 UTC | 21:00 UTC | Wind Advisory | LIX |
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 Marginal Risk, with a 0.02 chance of a tornado within 25 miles. The outlook in force was issued at 05:55 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.
Slidell Radar S, LA (KSIL), 00:00Z
7.5 hours before the tornado, 52 km from the path. June 19, 2021.
- Mixed-layer CAPE
- 174 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -29 J/kg
- Surface CAPE
- 188 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 572 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 25 kt
- 0-1 km bulk shear
- 30 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 108 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 124 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 0.4
- 0-3 km lapse rate
- 4.6 K/km
Slidell Radar S, LA (KSIL), 12:00Z
4.5 hours after it, 52 km from the path. June 19, 2021.
- Mixed-layer CAPE
- 925 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- 0 J/kg
- Surface CAPE
- 1618 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 506 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 31 kt
- 0-1 km bulk shear
- 25 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 143 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 147 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.4
- Supercell composite
- 3.4
- 0-3 km lapse rate
- 4.6 K/km
The radar
The Mobile radar (KMOB), 97 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 07:28 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 05:37 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | 1 Ne Pass Christian | Harrison, MS | ROOF DAMAGE TO HOUSE ON DEBBIE STREET. TIME ESTIMATED FROM RADAR. |
| 05:37 UTC | TORNADO | 1 Ne Pass Christian | Harrison, MS | CORRECTS PREVIOUS TSTM WND DMG REPORT FROM 1 NE PASS CHRISTIAN. ROOF DAMAGE TO HOUSE ON DEBBIE STREET. TIME ESTIMATED FROM RADAR. |
| 06:32 UTC | FLOOD | 6 Wnw Biloxi | Harrison, MS | ROAD FLOODING OCCURRING NEAR BILOXI. |
| 07:14 UTC | FLASH FLOOD | Kiln | Hancock, MS | NUMEROUS ROADS CLOSED AND IMPASSABLE DUE TO HIGH WATER. A FEW HIGH WATER RESCUES NECESSARY WHERE PEOPLE DROVE AROUND BARRICADES. |
| 07:31 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | 1 Ssw Long Beach | Harrison, MS | NUMEROUS TREES UPROOTED AND SNAPPED BETWEEN WHITE HARBOR RD AND PERIWINKLE LN. TIME ESTIMATED FROM RADAR. |
| 07:31 UTC | TORNADO | 1 Ssw Long Beach | Harrison, MS | CORRECTS PREVIOUS TSTM WND DMG REPORT FROM 1 SSW LONG BEACH. NUMEROUS TREES UPROOTED AND SNAPPED BETWEEN WHITE HARBOR RD AND PERIWINKLE LN. TIME ESTIMATED FROM RADAR. |
| 08:00 UTC | STORM SURGE | 3 Nnw Waveland | Hancock, MS | STORM SURGE FLOODING AT SHORELINE PARK IN BAY ST LOUIS. WYCM6 PEAKED AT 4.43 MHHW. |
| 08:15 UTC | FLASH FLOOD | 4 Wsw Wiggins | Stone, MS | BROADCAST MEDIA RECEIVED PHOTOS ON SOCIAL MEDIA THAT SHOW FLASH FLOODING OVER OLD HWY 26 OFF OF RED CREEK. WATER IS COMING UP TO HOMES (AS HIGH AS CAR HEADLIGHTS). TIME ESTIMATED WITH HEAVIEST RAIN ON RADAR. |
| 08:30 UTC | FLASH FLOOD | 2 Wnw Whites Crossing | Stone, MS | CORRECTS PREVIOUS FLASH FLOOD REPORT FROM 2 WNW WHITES CROSSING FOR TIMING BASED ON RADAR. WATER COVERING ROADWAYS AT INTERSECTION OF BIG FOUR & MARSHAL TAYLOR RD. PHOTO PROVIDED ON SOCIAL MEDIA. |
| 09:00 UTC | STORM SURGE | 2 Wnw Pass Christian | Harrison, MS | STORM SURGE FLOODING AT TIMBER RIDGE IN PASS CHRISTIAN, MS. WYCM6 PEAKED AT 4.43 MHHW. |
| 09:00 UTC | FLASH FLOOD | 4 Nnw Gulfport | Harrison, MS | FLASH FLOODING REPORTED AT THE PALM APARTMENTS IN GULFPORT. |
From the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service local storm reports.
This ground now
The live radar over the trackEvery 2021 tornado in MississippiEvery tornado in Mississippi since 1950Warnings in force in Mississippi nowThe forecast where you are
The other tornadoes of June 19, 2021
11 more were confirmed in the United States that day.
| Date | Time | Rating | Where | Path (mi) | Width (yd) | Deaths | Injuries | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| June 19 | 3:16 AM CDT | EF0 | Mobile, AL | 0.1 | 25 | 1 | ||
| June 19 | 5:08 AM CDT | EF0 | Jackson, MS | 0.5 | 25 | $15,000 | ||
| June 19 | 5:35 AM CDT | EF1 | Jackson, MS | 0.8 | 50 | $5,000 | ||
| June 19 | 7:31 AM CDT | EF2 | Escambia, AL | 22.0 | 650 | 20 | $3.2 million | |
| June 19 | 1:31 PM EDT | EF1 | Early, GA | 29.0 | 400 | $3,000 | ||
| June 19 | 1:12 PM CDT | EF0 | Covington, AL | 0.6 | 25 | |||
| June 19 | 2:05 PM MDT | EF0 | Adams, CO | 0.0 | 25 | |||
| June 19 | 2:17 PM MDT | EF0 | Adams, CO | 0.0 | 25 | |||
| June 19 | 2:26 PM MDT | EF0 | Adams, CO | 0.0 | 25 | |||
| June 19 | 2:34 PM MDT | EF0 | Adams, CO | 0.0 | 25 | |||
| June 19 | 2:43 PM MDT | EF0 | Morgan, CO | 0.0 | 25 |
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.