Tornadoes · United States · Mississippi · 2026

EF0 tornado, Midway to Coopers Wells, Mississippi, May 22, 2026

From Midway to Coopers Wells, this EF0 tornado ran 2.0 miles across Hinds County on May 22, 2026, touching down at 4:37 AM CDT and reaching 175 yards wide. It killed nobody.

Preliminary. This is NWS JAN's damage survey, filed in the Damage Assessment Toolkit as Midway Road 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.

  1. EF065 to 85 mphthis tornado

    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 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.

The survey

Rating, as surveyed
EF0, preliminary
Date
May 22, 2026
Touchdown
4:37 AM CDT (09:37 UTC)
Lifted
4:42 AM CDT (09:42 UTC)
On the ground
5 minutes
Path length
2.0 miles (3.2 km)
Path width
175 yards (160 m)
Deaths
0
Injuries
0
County
Hinds County
Touchdown point
32.197, -90.379
Lift-off point
32.224, -90.366
Highest wind the damage implies
75 mph
Surveyed by
NWS JAN
The office's name for it
Midway Road Tornado
Survey last edited
May 22, 2026
Record number
None yet. SPC numbers 2026 in the spring of 2027.

What the survey found

This weak tornado tracked north northeastward roughly along Midway Road from north of Oakley Palestine Road to Thigpen Road, then lifted near Seven Springs Road. Along the path, several large tree limbs were downed. A tornadic debris signature was observed on radar.

Written by NWS JAN in the NWS Damage Assessment Toolkit. A survey is revised as better evidence arrives.

The damage survey

6 damage points were recorded along this path by NWS JAN, in the Damage Assessment Toolkit the survey teams carry. The strongest indicator was rated EF0. The highest wind the damage implies is 74 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

A few severe storms produced damaging winds which downed trees across portions of central and southern Mississippi. A brief, weak tornado also occurred near Midway Road in Hinds County.

This weak tornado tracked north northeastward roughly along Midway Road from north of Oakley Palestine Road to Thigpen Road, then lifted near Seven Springs Road. Along the path, several large tree limbs were downed. A tornadic debris signature (TDS) was observed on radar. Maximum winds were estimated at 75 mph (EF-0), the track length was 1.98 miles, and the maximum width was 175 yards.

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

The warnings

4 minutes of warning. NWS JAN issued a tornado warning for this county at 09:33 UTC, 4 minutes before the tornado touched down, in force until 09:54 UTC.

Issued (UTC)ExpiredProductOffice
09:33 UTC09:54 UTCTornado WarningJAN
01:34 UTC02:30 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WarningJAN

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 05:59 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), 00:00Z

9.6 hours before the tornado, 30 km from the path. May 22, 2026.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Jackson, MS at 00:00Z on 2026-05-22Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel lifted from the surface. Mixed-layer CAPE 67 joules per kilogram, CIN -41, lifted condensation level 980 meters above ground. Wind barbs in knots down the right edge.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed. The warm shading is its CAPE, the cool shading the inhibition it has to break through.
HodographHodograph, Jackson, MS at 00:00Z on 2026-05-22The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers as a curve, rings every 10 meters per second labeled in knots. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 46 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 21 knots.193958Sfc1 km3 km6 km9 kmRMLM
The wind turning with height, colored by layer: ground to 1 km, 1 to 3 km, 3 to 6 km, 6 to 10 km. RM and LM are the right and left moving storms Bunkers' method gives; the shaded area is the 0 to 1 km storm-relative helicity.
Mixed-layer CAPE
67 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-41 J/kg
Surface CAPE
1432 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
980 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
21 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
11 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
46 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
92 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.2
0-3 km lapse rate
5.9 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

Jackson, MS (KJAN), 12:00Z

2.4 hours after it, 30 km from the path. May 22, 2026.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Jackson, MS at 12:00Z on 2026-05-22Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel lifted from the surface. Mixed-layer CAPE 555 joules per kilogram, CIN -9, lifted condensation level 526 meters above ground. Wind barbs in knots down the right edge.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed. The warm shading is its CAPE, the cool shading the inhibition it has to break through.
HodographHodograph, Jackson, MS at 12:00Z on 2026-05-22The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers as a curve, rings every 10 meters per second labeled in knots. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 268 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 34 knots.193958Sfc1 km3 km6 km9 kmRMLM
The wind turning with height, colored by layer: ground to 1 km, 1 to 3 km, 3 to 6 km, 6 to 10 km. RM and LM are the right and left moving storms Bunkers' method gives; the shaded area is the 0 to 1 km storm-relative helicity.
Mixed-layer CAPE
555 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-9 J/kg
Surface CAPE
1033 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
526 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
34 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
31 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
268 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
253 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.6
Supercell composite
4.7
0-3 km lapse rate
4.6 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The surface observations

Raymond (JVW), 11 km from the path, in the two hours either side.

Time (UTC)Temp (°F)Dew point (°F)WindGust (kt)Pressure (mb)Weather
07:55 UTC69.869.8130° 5 kt1010.5
08:15 UTC69.869.8110° 5 kt1010.2VCTS

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

The radar

The Jackson/Brandon,MS radar (KDGX), 37 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 09:34 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)ReportWhereCountyRemark
08:40 UTCTSTM WND DMG2 Ssw RegantonClaiborne, MS*** 1 INJ *** Tree fell on a car along the Natchez Trace around mile marker 58. Inj person was airlifted. Est winds at this location and time appear be 40 mph or less.
09:38 UTCTORNADO5 Sse RaymondHinds, MSA thin funnel touched down about 1 quarter mile south of Seven Springs Road just east of Midway Road. Tree damage observed. TDS also noted on radar after this.

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 May 22, 2026

11 more have been surveyed in the United States that day, so far.

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
May 229:28 AM CDTEF0Choctaw, AL1.5180
May 2210:33 AM CDTEF1Clarke, AL3.1100
May 2210:43 AM CDTEF1Marengo, AL2.3150
May 2210:47 AM CDTEF0Marengo, AL0.240
May 2210:52 AM CDTEF1Clarke, AL2.2250
May 2212:13 PM CDTEF1Tuscaloosa, AL2.6150
May 2212:57 PM CDTEF1Cullman, AL8.7300
May 225:16 PM CDTUnratedWoodbury, IA0.60
May 225:42 PM CDTUnratedCass, NE0.10
May 226:58 PM EDTEF0Claiborne, TN1.575
May 227:02 PM CDTEF0Butler, KY0.330

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.