National Weather Service United States Department of Commerce

NWS Survey Finds EF-1 Tornado in Southeast Wayne County


...NWS DAMAGE SURVEY FOR 13 JANUARY 2013 TORNADO ACROSS SOUTHEASTERN
WAYNE COUNTY MISSISSIPPI...


.OVERVIEW...AN ISOLATED SEVERE THUNDERSTORM DEVELOPED AHEAD OF A
STRONG COLD FRONT AND TRACKED FROM NORTHERN PERRY COUNTY AND EXTREME
NORTHWEST GREENE COUNTY INTO SOUTHEASTERN WAYNE COUNTY. THE STORM
INTENSIFIED AS IT APPROACHED HIGHWAY 45 NEAR BUCKATUNNA AND PRODUCED
A SHORT TRACKED TORNADO JUST EAST OF HIGHWAY 45 AND NORTH OF
BUCKATUNNA.


.DENHAM PROGRESS ROAD TORNADO...

RATING:                 EF-1
ESTIMATED PEAK WIND:    86-110 MPH
PATH LENGTH /STATUTE/:  3.3 MILES
PATH WIDTH /MAXIMUM/:   200 YARDS
FATALITIES:             0
INJURIES:               0


START DATE:             JAN 13 2013
START TIME:             615 PM CST
START LOCATION:         NEAR ODELL CHAMBERS DRIVE
START LAT/LON:          31.5899, -88.5258


END DATE:               JAN 13 2013
END TIME:               620 PM CST
END LOCATION:           0.4 MILES EAST OF DENHAM PROGRESS ROAD
END_LAT/LON:            31.6265, -88.4884


SURVEY SUMMARY: THE INITIAL TORNADO TOUCHDOWN WAS LOCATED NEAR
ODELL CHAMBERS DRIVE WHERE IT PRODUCED SPORADIC TREE DAMAGE. THE
TORNADO CONTINUED NORTHEASTWARD...INTENSIFYING TO EF-1 INTENSITY
AND WIDENING TO 200 YARDS AS IT MOVED ACROSS OSCAR JORDAN ROAD. IN
THIS AREA...SIGNIFICANT TREE DAMAGE WAS OBSERVED. NUMEROUS PINE
TREES WERE SNAPPED AND SEVERAL LARGE OAK TREES WERE UPROOTED.
THE TORNADO CONTINUED NORTHEAST...PRODUCING STRUCTURAL DAMAGE
NEAR THE INTERSECTION OF JOHN PETTIS DRIVE AND JORDAN SUMRALL
ROAD. ONE MODULAR HOME AND ONE MOBILE HOME SUFFERED THE LOSS OF THEIR
ROOFS. ADDITIONAL TREE DAMAGE WAS NOTED WITH PINE TREES SNAPPED
AND OAK TREES UPROOTED. THE DAMAGE WAS CONSISTENT WITH EF-1 INTENSITY.
THE TORNADO CONTINUED NORTHEAST TO DENHAM PROGRESS ROAD WHERE
ONE LARGE CHICKEN HOUSE WAS DESTROYED AND ANOTHER EXPERIENCED MAJOR
DAMAGE. THE TORNADO WEAKENED AND LIFTED JUST TO THE EAST OF DENHAM
PROGRESS ROAD IN A WOODED AREA.



EF SCALE: THE ENHANCED FUJITA SCALE CLASSIFIES TORNADOES INTO THE
FOLLOWING CATEGORIES.


EF0...WEAK......65 TO 85 MPH
EF1...WEAK......86 TO 110 MPH
EF2...STRONG....111 TO 135 MPH
EF3...STRONG....136 TO 165 MPH
EF4...VIOLENT...166 TO 200 MPH
EF5...VIOLENT...>200 MPH


NOTE:
THE INFORMATION IN THIS STATEMENT IS PRELIMINARY AND SUBJECT TO
CHANGE PENDING FINAL REVIEW OF THE EVENT AND PUBLICATION IN NWS
STORM DATA.