National Weather Service Raw Text Product

133 
NOUS44 KJAN 051837
PNSJAN

PUBLIC INFORMATION STATEMENT...TORNADO DAMAGE SUMMARY UPDATE
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE JACKSON MS
135 PM CDT THU MAY 5 2011

...TORNADO FROM NESHOBA COUNTY TO NOXUBEE COUNTY ON APRIL 27TH 
UPGRADED TO EF-5 BASED ON ADDITIONAL ANALYSIS OF INFORMATION...

BASED ON A REVIEW OF DAMAGE SURVEY DATA COLLECTED IN NESHOBA... 
KEMPER...WINSTON AND NOXUBEE COUNTIES BY METEOROLOGISTS WITH 
EXPERTISE IN VIOLENT TORNADO DAMAGE ANALYSIS...IT HAS BEEN 
DETERMINED THAT THIS TORNADO SHOULD BE RATED AS AN EF-5. THE BASIS 
FOR THE UPGRADE IS FOUNDED UPON SEVERAL OBSERVATIONS:

IN TWO LOCATIONS...THE TORNADO ACTUALLY GOUGED OUT LARGE SECTIONS OF 
THE GROUND. IN ONE SPOT IN NORTHEAST NESHOBA COUNTY...THE GROUND WAS 
DUG OUT TO A DEPTH OF AROUND 2 FEET OVER AN AREA APPROXIMATELY 25-50 
YARDS WIDE AND A COUPLE OF HUNDRED YARDS LONG. SIMILAR GOUGES... 
ALTHOUGH NOT AS LONG OR DEEP...WERE ALSO OBSERVED IN EXTREME 
NORTHWEST KEMPER COUNTY. WHILE THE EXACT MECHANISM THAT CAUSED THIS 
DAMAGE IS UNCLEAR...INDICATIONS ARE THAT THIS TYPE OF GROUND DAMAGE 
IS TYPICALLY ASSOCIATED WITH THE EXTREME WIND SPEEDS ASSOCIATED WITH 
EF-5 TORNADOES.

IN THE AREA OF NORTHWEST KEMPER COUNTY WHERE THE GROUND GOUGING WAS 
OBSERVED...THERE WAS ALSO AN AREA WHERE PAVEMENT WAS REMOVED FROM 
THE GROUND. WHILE THIS TYPE OF DAMAGE CAN BE CAUSED BY TORNADOES OF 
LESS THAN EF-5 INTENSITY...THE FACT THAT PIECES OF ASPHALT WERE 
FOUND AT A SIGNIFICANT DISTANCE AWAY...BOTH UPWIND AND DOWNWIND OF 
THE ROAD...ARGUES FOR EXTREME WIND SPEEDS. SIMILAR TYPE DAMAGE WAS 
ALSO OBSERVED IN SOUTHWEST NOXUBEE COUNTY.

FINALLY...EXTREME VEHICLE DAMAGE OF THE TYPE NORMALLY ASSOCIATED 
WITH EF-5 TORNADOES WAS OBSERVED.  THIS INCLUDED NEW VEHICLES BEING 
MOVED MORE THAN 100 YARDS FROM WHERE THEY STARTED...AND BEING LEFT 
IN A NEARLY UNRECOGNIZABLE STATE.

THE UPGRADING OF THIS TORNADO TO AN EF-5 MEANS THAT THIS IS THE 
FIRST EF-5 TORNADO IN THE NWS JACKSON SERVICE AREA SINCE THE 
CANDLESTICK PARK TORNADO ON MAY 3...1966. ADDITIONALLY...THIS MARKS 
THE FIRST TIME SINCE STATISTICS HAVE BEEN KEPT THAT TWO EF-5 
TORNADOES HAVE BEEN RECORDED ON THE SAME DAY IN MISSISSIPPI...WITH 
THE TORNADO IN SMITHVILLE ALSO RATED AN EF-5.

FOR MORE INFORMATION ON THIS TORNADO...INCLUDING PICTURES AND VIDEO 
OF THE DAMAGE...PLEASE VISIT OUR WEBSITE AT WWW.SRH.NOAA.GOV/JAN 
(LOWER CASE) AND CLICK ON THE APRIL 25-27TH TORNADO OUTBREAK LINK IN 
THE HEADLINE SECTION AT THE TOP OF THE PAGE.

COUNTY/PARISH: NESHOBA...KEMPER...WINSTON...AND NOXUBEE 
BEGINNING POINT: 1 N PHILADELPHIA AT 230 PM
ENDING POINT: 6 SE MASHULAVILLE AT 300 PM
RATING: EF-5
MAX ESTIMATED WINDS 205 MPH 
PATH LENGTH: 29 MILES
MAXIMUM WIDTH: .5 MILE 
FATALITIES: 3 
INJURIES: 8 (AT LEAST)

SUMMARY OF DAMAGE: 

THIS TORNADO CAUSED A PATH OF EXTENSIVE DAMAGE IN NORTHEAST NESHOBA,
EXTREME NORTHWEST KEMPER, EXTREME SOUTHEAST WINSTON, AND SOUTHWEST
NOXUBEE COUNTIES. THE MOST INTENSE DAMAGE OCCURRED IN A SEVERAL MILE
AREA FROM EXTREME NORTHEAST NESHOBA COUNTY INTO EXTREME SOUTHEAST 
WINSTON COUNTY. THE THREE FATALITIES OCCURRED IN NORTHWEST KEMPER 
COUNTY WHEN A STRAPPED DOWN DOUBLEWIDE MOBILE HOME WAS THROWN A 
DISTANCE OF APPROXIMATELY 300 YARDS INTO A TREELINE, AND THEN 
OBLITERATED WITH THE DEBRIS AND FRAMING SCATTERED MANY HUNDREDS OF 
YARDS DOWN THE PATH. THERE WAS NO INDICATION OF GROUND IMPACTS 
BETWEEN THE ORIGINAL SITE OF THE MOBILE HOME AND WHERE IT ENDED UP 
TO INDICATE THAT THE MOBILE HOME BOUNCED EXTENSIVELY AS IT TRAVELED. 
TWO TRADITIONAL FRAME BRICK HOMES IN SOUTHEAST WINSTON COUNTY WERE 
COMPLETELY LEVELED WITH ONLY A FEW SMALL PARTS OF INTERIOR WALLS 
STANDING. NEW VEHICLES WERE THROWN OR ROLLED HUNDREDS OF YARDS 
BEFORE BEING WRAPPED INTO TREES AND LEFT ALMOST BEYOND RECOGNITION. 
IN PARTS OF NORTHEAST NESHOBA AND NORTHWEST KEMPER COUNTIES, THERE 
WAS VERY HIGH END TREE DAMAGE WITH EXTENSIVE DENUDING AND DEBARKING 
OF TREES, ALONG WITH AREAS WHERE THE GROUND WAS SCOURED OUT TO A 
DEPTH OF TWO FEET IN PLACES, AND ASPHALT WAS SCOURED OFF PAVEMENT.

THE NWS WOULD LIKE TO THANK THE METEOROLOGISTS THAT REVIEWED THE 
DAMAGE INFORMATION TO ASSIST IN MAKING THIS RATING...AND ALSO THE 
EMERGENCY MANAGERS WHO HELPED IN GATHERING ALL OF THIS INFORMATION.

$$

AEG