Tornadoes · United States · Mississippi · 2026
EF1 tornado, Gatesville, Mississippi, April 25, 2026
This EF1 tornado ran 1.1 miles across Copiah County on April 25, 2026, touching down at 2:30 AM CDT and reaching 100 yards wide. It killed nobody.
Preliminary. This is NWS JAN's damage survey, filed in the Damage Assessment Toolkit as Gatesville Tornado. The rating, the path and the casualties are the survey's and can change while it is revised. The Storm Prediction Center compiles the official record of 2026 from these surveys and publishes it in the spring of 2027; this page moves to that tornado's permanent address when it does.
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 mph
Light damage. Surface peeled off some roofs, gutters and siding damaged, branches broken, shallow-rooted trees pushed over.
EF186 to 110 mphthis tornado
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 survey
- Rating, as surveyed
- EF1, preliminary
- Date
- April 25, 2026
- Touchdown
- 2:30 AM CDT (07:30 UTC)
- Lifted
- 2:31 AM CDT (07:31 UTC)
- On the ground
- 1 minutes
- Path length
- 1.1 miles (1.7 km)
- Path width
- 100 yards (91 m)
- Deaths
- 0
- Injuries
- 0
- County
- Copiah County
- Touchdown point
- 32.015, -90.268
- Lift-off point
- 32.009, -90.252
- Highest wind the damage implies
- 90 mph
- Surveyed by
- NWS JAN
- The office's name for it
- Gatesville Tornado
- Survey last edited
- April 25, 2026
- Record number
- None yet. SPC numbers 2026 in the spring of 2027.
What the survey found
This brief tornado began west of Terry Gatesville Rd, downing multiple trees and large tree limbs along its path before lifting beyond the eastern end of Byrd Dr north of the Gatesville community. One tree fell on a house and another fell on a shed.
Written by NWS JAN in the NWS Damage Assessment Toolkit. A survey is revised as better evidence arrives.
The damage survey
23 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 90 mph.
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
Multiple organized QLCSs push across central Mississippi and produced damaging wind gusts and several tornadoes.
This EF-0 tornado began west of Terry Gatesville Road where it downed multiple trees and large tree limbs along its path. It lifted beyond the eastern end of Byrd Drive north of the Gatesville community. One tree fell on a house and another fell on a shed. The estimated maximum wind speed of this tornado was 90 mph.
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.
| Issued (UTC) | Expired | Product | Office |
|---|---|---|---|
| 00:52 UTC | 01:45 UTC | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | JAN |
| 01:30 UTC | 02:30 UTC | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | JAN |
| 01:44 UTC | 02:45 UTC | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | JAN |
| 07:28 UTC | 08:15 UTC | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | JAN |
| 07:58 UTC | 08:45 UTC | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | JAN |
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 General Thunderstorms Risk. The outlook in force was issued at 06:00 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 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.
Jackson, MS (KJAN), 12:00Z
4.5 hours after it, 38 km from the path. April 25, 2026.
- Mixed-layer CAPE
- 0 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -82717 J/kg
- Surface CAPE
- 2 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 1143 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 40 kt
- 0-1 km bulk shear
- 19 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 47 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 130 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 0.0
- 0-3 km lapse rate
- 4.4 K/km
The radar
The Jackson/Brandon,MS radar (KDGX), 39 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 07:30 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 06:38 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | 4 Sse Beechwood | Warren, MS | Trees down near Hwy 27. |
| 06:59 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | 2 Wsw Brownsville | Hinds, MS | Tree limbs and power lines were downed along MS Hwy 22 between Coxs Ferry Rd and Alexander Rd. |
| 07:13 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | 4 Wsw Forest Hill | Hinds, MS | Tree across Springridge Rd near Windy Hill Cove. |
| 07:28 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | 1 E Crystal Springs | Copiah, MS | Multiple trees down around town and east. |
| 07:30 UTC | TORNADO | 5 Ene Crystal Springs | Copiah, MS | This brief EF1 tornado began west of Terry Gatesville Rd, downing multiple trees and large tree limbs along its path before lifting beyond the eastern end of Byrd Dr north of the Gatesville community. One tree fell on a |
| 07:31 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | 1 Ene Pearl | Rankin, MS | A large tree fell on a home along Bruin Ave. |
| 07:31 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | 5 Nnw Hopewell | Copiah, MS | Trees down along Terry-Gatesville road. Possible tornado. |
| 07:33 UTC | TORNADO | Clear Branch | Rankin, MS | This EF1 tornado began near E Tucker Rd and Quicks Cv in the Clear Branch community and tracked southeast across Clear Branch Rd, ending near the intersection of Poplar Springs Rd and Cousins Dr. Along the path, several |
| 07:35 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | 1 S Clear Branch | Rankin, MS | Tree and power line down on Clear Branch Rd. |
| 07:39 UTC | TSTM WND GST 61 | Hawkins Field | Hinds, MS | Observed by the KHKS ASOS. |
| 07:49 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | 5 N Brandon | Rankin, MS | Glenview and Castlewoods, Trees down. |
| 07:50 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | 3 N Brandon | Rankin, MS | Blue Bird Ln and Grants Ferry, trees down. Other locations along Grants Ferry had trees damaged as well. |
| 07:50 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | 3 Ssw Fannin | Rankin, MS | Trees down across Spillway Rd. |
| 07:50 UTC | TORNADO | 2 Wsw Braxton | Simpson, MS | This EF1 tornado began along Holly Grove Cir and tracked eastward across Harrisville Braxton Rd before lifting. Along the path, multiple trees were uprooted and large tree limbs downed. Max wind 90 mph. Path length 1.7 m |
| 07:51 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | 5 S Fannin | Rankin, MS | Trees down LeBourgeois and Napolean. |
| 07:52 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | 2 N Brandon | Rankin, MS | Added to previous tstm wnd dmg report from 2 N Brandon. Several sections of a fencing was blown down in the Cornerstone Subdivision. A few trees were also down along with numerous large limbs broken out of trees with lim |
| 07:52 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | 2 N Brandon | Rankin, MS | Part of a fence was blown down in the Cornerstone Subdivision. |
| 07:53 UTC | TORNADO | 5 Wnw Learned | Hinds, MS | This brief EF1 tornado started near the intersection of Betigheimer Rd and Canada Cross Rd and tracked east-southeast along Bill Strong Rd, dissipating near Old Port Gibson Rd. Many trees were damaged with limbs or tops |
| 07:55 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | 2 Ese Braxton | Simpson, MS | Trees downed on Sawmill Rd. |
| 07:58 UTC | TORNADO | 2 Wsw Merit | Simpson, MS | This EF1 tornado developed near the Strong River and crossed MS Hwy 43 before lifting. Multiple trees were uprooted along the path. Max wind speed 87 mph. Path length 1.7 miles. Max path width 250 yard. |
| 08:04 UTC | TORNADO | 3 Se Merit | Simpson, MS | This EF1 tornado began east of MS Hwy 13 in the Boggan Ridge area, tracking east southeastward across Main St, D and C Farm Dr, Macedonia, Rd, and Lee Boggan Rd before ending around Rials Creek Rd. Along the path, severa |
| 08:08 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | 3 Sw Zion Hill | Simpson, MS | Tree downed on Athens Rd. |
| 08:11 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | 2 Ssw Sanatorium | Simpson, MS | Tree downed on Airport Rd. |
| 08:16 UTC | TORNADO | Magee | Simpson, MS | This EF0 tornado developed over downtown Magee just north of the Magee General Hospital and tracked southeastward crossing from 1st St to 5th St between 4th Ave and 12th Ave. It then crossed MS Hwy 28 and Beulah Rd befor |
| 08:20 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | 3 Wnw Clem | Jefferson Davis, MS | A few trees down. |
| 08:22 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | 3 Nne White Oak | Smith, MS | Several large trees were uprooted and a shed was destroyed along CR 514A and CR 131A. |
From the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service local storm reports.
This ground now
The live radar over the trackEvery 2026 tornado in MississippiEvery tornado in Mississippi since 1950Warnings in force in Mississippi nowThe forecast where you are
The other tornadoes of April 25, 2026
14 more have been surveyed in the United States that day, so far.
| Date | Time | Rating | Where | Path (mi) | Width (yd) | Deaths | Injuries | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| April 25 | 1:53 AM CDT | EF1 | Hinds, MS | 2.6 | 150 | |||
| April 25 | 2:33 AM CDT | EF1 | Rankin, MS | 1.9 | 200 | |||
| April 25 | 2:50 AM CDT | EF1 | Simpson, MS | 1.7 | 300 | |||
| April 25 | 2:58 AM CDT | EF1 | Simpson, MS | 1.7 | 250 | |||
| April 25 | 3:04 AM CDT | EF1 | Simpson, MS | 2.7 | 250 | |||
| April 25 | 3:16 AM CDT | EF0 | Simpson, MS | 2.2 | 100 | |||
| April 25 | 3:59 AM CDT | EF1 | Jasper, MS | 0.2 | 75 | |||
| April 25 | 4:04 AM CDT | EF0 | Jasper, MS | 1.2 | 100 | |||
| April 25 | 6:26 AM CDT | EF1 | Harrison, MS | 3.2 | 200 | |||
| April 25 | 6:29 AM CDT | EF1 | Harrison, MS | 1.5 | 150 | |||
| April 25 | 7:43 PM CDT | EF0 | Jack, TX | 4.4 | 250 | |||
| April 25 | 7:52 PM CDT | EF1 | Jack, TX | 9.5 | 500 | |||
| April 25 | 9:03 PM CDT | EF2 | Wise, TX | 1.7 | 650 | 1 | ||
| April 25 | 9:42 PM CDT | EF1 | Parker, TX | 9.9 | 1,150 |
What this means
Ratings are the survey's, read off the damage rather than measured; the rating scale is above. A survey can be revised, so the rating, the path and the casualties can all still change.
Sources
NWS Damage Assessment Toolkit, the record the survey teams file from the damage, and NOAA Storm Prediction Center storm reports. Neither is the official database for 2026, which SPC publishes in the spring of 2027.