EF1 tornado, Bissell to Eggville, 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

9:53 PM CDT (02:53 UTC)

Lifted

10:19 PM CDT (03:19 UTC)

On the ground

26 minutes

Path length

12.7 miles (20.4 km)

Path width

400 yards (366 m)

Deaths

0

Injuries

0

Property damage

$1.0 million

County

Lee County

Touchdown point

34.233, -88.752

Lift-off point

34.348, -88.579

Record number

2105022053-01

A warm front lifted north into North Mississippi while an upper-level disturbance pushed into the Lower Mississippi Valley. Low topped supercells developed across central Mississippi and lifted north with the warm front. A long-lived supercell tracked from Calhoun County into Itawamba County during the evening hours of May 2nd. Several tornadoes touched down along the track of this supercell resulting in damage, especially in the Tupelo area.

The tornado developed in eastern Pontotoc County and crossed into Lee County. The tornado damaged numerous trees along County Road 900. The tornado���s damage path became intermittent, and the last observed damage was just west of Natchez Trace Parkway. Peak winds were estimated at 90 mph.

The first observed damage was near south Thomas Street in southwest Tupelo. The tornado���s damage path was intermittent through the first part of its track. It caused minor damage to trees and a church roof along Thomas Street and Lawndale Drive. The damage became more continuous as the tornado approached Main Street. Numerous trees were uprooted, with some trunks snapped. Several trees fell onto homes, causing substantial damage. The tornado reached its peak intensity near Veterans Memorial Parkway and Elvis Presley Drive. The tornado damaged several commercial buildings and residences. Two residences suffered partial roof removal. The tornado crossed Interstate 22, and the damage became more sporadic. The tornado uprooted additional trees, with some falling on houses. The last observed damage was near County Road 1451. In total, 76 homes, six businesses, and one public building suffered some level of damage. Peak winds were estimated at 100 mph.

This tornado damaged trees along County Road 1970 and Ita Lee Road then crossed into Itawamba County. Peak winds were estimated at 75 mph.

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

40 minutes of warning. NWS MEG issued a tornado warning for this county at 02:13 UTC, 40 minutes before the tornado touched down, in force until 03:00 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 00:49 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.

Tupelo (TUP), 10 km from the path, in the two hours either side.

From the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of airport observations.

The Columbus AFB radar (KGWX), 54 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 02:52 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.