EF2 tornado, Whistler to Denham, Mississippi, April 5, 2022

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 mph

   Moderate damage. Roofs badly stripped, mobile homes overturned or badly damaged, exterior doors lost, windows broken.

3. EF2111 to 135 mphthis tornado

   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

EF2

Date

April 5, 2022

Touchdown

8:14 AM CDT (13:14 UTC)

Lifted

8:18 AM CDT (13:18 UTC)

On the ground

4 minutes

Path length

2.2 miles (3.6 km)

Path width

250 yards (229 m)

Deaths

0

Injuries

0

County

Wayne County

Touchdown point

31.664, -88.812

Lift-off point

31.673, -88.778

Record number

2204050714-01

22 damage points were recorded along this path by NWS JAN and NWS MOB, in the Damage Assessment Toolkit the survey teams carry. The strongest indicator was rated EF2. The highest wind the damage implies is 128 mph.

• Widespread snapped pine trees
• Date uncertain, start point
• Several vortices with high end EF1 damage, many snapped pines and minor home damage
• Significant tree snaps and uproots, weak convergence

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

A very active Spring severe weather season continued in April. A very strong storm system and associated cold front swept across the area during the morning of April 5th. A very unstable atmosphere combined with strong wind shear led to a severe weather outbreak across portions of the deep south. Eight tornado tracks were found along with other areas of wind damage.

The tornado began in a heavily forested area west of Elbert|Mozingo Road and quickly traveled east across Elbert Mozingo Road|causing extensive tree damage to a large pine tree stand. Almost|all of the trees were snapped near the base suggesting upper bound|damage indicator. The tornado then continued east into a|forested area as it weakened briefly. The tornado then rapidly|strengthen again to its peak intensity of 130 mph south of Jim|Pitts Road. This damage was estimated by sentinel satellite data|as an extensive damage scar was noted with almost complete|deforestation occurring similar to other tornadoes that were rated|at 130 mph. The tornado then weakened as it approached Jim Pitts|Road from the south and lifted based off satellite data.

Tornado began west of Maynor Creek Road and south of Jim Pitts|Road estimated by sentinel satellite imagery. Damage was then|noted along Maynor Creek Road where several trees were uprooted|and snapped. A swath of trees snapped along the path that may have|been associated with a secondary vortex south of the main damage|swath. The tornado then continued east across Troy Sanderson Drive|and Dick Sanderson drive where trees were uprooted and snapped. A|couple homes had minor roof damage and a carport was lofted about|40 feet into a tree. The tornado appears to have weakened and|lifted shortly after Dick Sanderson Drive.

A brief but strong EF1 tornado began in the forested area west of|Duncan Hill Road. The tornado then quickly crossed Duncan Hill|Road snapping and uprooting numerous softwood trees. Several trees|fell on a home causing damage to the home. The tornado then|continued into the woods where the path was not able to be|tracked; however, it appears to have lifted somewhere in the|wooded areas east of Duncan Hill Road.

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

3 minutes of warning. NWS MOB issued a tornado warning for this county at 13:11 UTC, 3 minutes before the tornado touched down, in force until 13:47 UTC.

The county was under a tornado watch, issued at 11:52 UTC and running to 15:33 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 12:53 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.

Laurel (LUL), 36 km from the path, in the two hours either side.

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

The Mobile radar (KMOB), 122 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 13:13 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 2022 tornado in MississippiEvery tornado in Mississippi since 1950Warnings in force in Mississippi nowThe forecast where you are

66 more were confirmed in the United States that day.

All 67 of them

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.