EF1 tornado, Valley Park to Fordyke, Mississippi, May 2, 2021

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

May 2, 2021

Touchdown

5:46 PM CDT (22:46 UTC)

Lifted

6:35 PM CDT (23:35 UTC)

On the ground

49 minutes

Path length

30.1 miles (48.5 km)

Path width

300 yards (274 m)

Deaths

0

Injuries

0

Property damage

$505,000

Counties

Issaquena and Yazoo counties

Touchdown point

32.626, -90.717

Lift-off point

32.869, -90.290

Record number

2105021646-02

70 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.

• A few trees snapped along the Yazoo River.
• Irrigation pivot flipped upside down in open field.
• Irrigation pivot flipped upside down.
• Two mobile homes. One shifted off foundation. Both with roof and skirting damage with debris spread across surrounding field

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

An upper-level shortwave trough moved from East Texas across Arkansas during the afternoon of May 2nd. At the surface, a warm front associated with the system developed and lifted north across Mississippi. Severe thunderstorms developed along and south of the warm front through the afternoon and evening, producing several tornadoes and scattered wind damage extending from the southwestern and west-central Mississippi toward north-central and northeastern portions of the state.

This tornado developed over the Yazoo River along the Issaquena/Yazoo county line, snapping some large branches and small trees along the river levy. The tornado moved northeast across mainly open farmland west and then north of Satartia, crossing the Yazoo River two additional times. Several irrigation pivots were overturned along the track. Two mobile homes were damaged along Holly Bluff Satartia Rd. The tornado strengthened to high end EF-1 status after crossing the Yazoo River for the third time, where three farm buildings were completely demolished with debris blown down the path into a stand of trees. Tree damage increased as the tornado crossed out of the Delta across MS Highway 3 near Tinsley, with the path beginning to widen as it crossed Ridge Rd, Center Ridge Rd, and US Highway 49. Another area of high end EF1 damage occurred here where two mobile homes were demolished as they were rolled with some debris scattered downstream. Several other structures in this area were damaged by fallen trees. Considerable tree damage continued as the tornado crossed MS Highway 16 southeast of Yazoo City. Structural damage in this area not resulting from fallen trees was mainly limited to roof and shingle damage. Some outbuildings were also damaged. The tornado began to weaken as it crossed Ingram Rd and Mollett Rd before lifting near Fouche Pit Rd east of Yazoo City. Estimated peak wind speeds in Issaquena County were 70 mph. Maximum tornado width was 300 yards. Maximum wind speed of the entire tornado was 110mph and total path length was 30.15 miles.

This tornado developed over the Yazoo River along the Issaquena/Yazoo county line, snapping some large branches and small trees along the river levy. The tornado moved northeast across mainly open farmland west and then north of Satartia, crossing the Yazoo River two additional times. Several irrigation pivots were overturned along the track. Two mobile homes were damaged along Holly Bluff Satartia Rd. The tornado strengthened to high end EF-1 status after crossing the Yazoo River for the third time, where three farm buildings were completely demolished with debris blown down the path into a stand of trees. Tree damage increased as the tornado crossed out of the Delta across MS Highway 3 near Tinsley, with the path beginning to widen as it crossed Ridge Rd, Center Ridge Rd, and US Highway 49. Another area of high end EF1 damage occurred here where two mobile homes were demolished as they were rolled with some debris scattered downstream. Several other structures in this area were damaged by fallen trees. Considerable tree damage continued as the tornado crossed MS Highway 16 southeast of Yazoo City. Structural damage in this area not resulting from fallen trees was mainly limited to roof and shingle damage. Some outbuildings were also damaged. The tornado began to weaken as it crossed Ingram Rd and Mollett Rd before lifting near Fouche Pit Rd east of Yazoo City. Maximum wind speed was 110mph, which occurred in Yazoo County and total path length was 30.15 miles.

The supercell that produced the Satartia/Yazoo City tornado produced another weak tornado that began along Saxton Rd near the Midway community. Mainly tree and tree limb damage occurred along the path of this tornado, which moved northeastward briefly paralleling MS Highway 433 near the Zeiglerville community, before crossing into Holmes County and ending west of Ebenezer along Ebenezer Coxburg Rd. The total path length was 8.15 miles across the two counties. Peak winds in Yazoo County were estimated to be 85 mph.

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

16 minutes of warning. NWS JAN issued a tornado warning for this county at 22:30 UTC, 16 minutes before the tornado touched down, in force until 22:51 UTC.

The county was under a tornado watch, issued at 21:46 UTC and running to 00:48 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 19:43 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), 50 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), 71 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 22:48 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 2021 tornado in MississippiEvery tornado in Mississippi since 1950Warnings in force in Mississippi nowThe forecast where you are

26 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.