NWS Jackson, MS November 17-18, 2015 Tornadoes

November 17-18, 2015 Tornadoes

Event Summary

A potent upper level storm system developed and intensified across the Plains on Monday into Tuesday (Nov 16-17) and set the stage for high winds and some severe weather across the ArkLaMiss region. As the storm system tracked across the Plains, it brought fairly rare severe weather to Texas, Oklahoma and Kansas for November late in the evening and overnight hours of the 16th and 17th. Several strong, long track tornadoes occurred across the Plains, which typically doesn’t see events like that except during the spring months. Ahead of the storm system, anomalous moisture for this time of year streamed into the ArkLaMiss region thanks to strong southerly winds. These winds gusted to around 40mph, causing some trees to fall ahead of any thunderstorms on the 17th.

By late afternoon on the 17th, a squall line began to take shape across Louisiana and Arkansas. This line was slow to develop severe weather but some damaging wind gusts occurred across Ashley and Chicot counties as well as portions of the Delta region. Plenty of wind energy was in place, which eventually was tapped into by the time the squall line reached the Interstate 55 corridor. The intensity of the thunderstorms increased as well as additional areas of rotation. As the line tracked across central and east Mississippi through the late evening and early morning hours, 12 tornadoes developed. These tornadoes developed as small areas of rotation occurred on the northern end of bowing segments within the squall line. Many of these tornadoes were short-lived and all were rated EF-0 and EF-1. The squall line cleared the region before dawn on the 18th.

In addition to the damaging winds and tornadoes, heavy rain fell across the region. Many locations received two to five inches of rain, which resulted in some flash flooding. East and southeast Mississippi saw the least amount of rain, but still measured around one to two inches.

Tornado Track Map

Click on map above to see entire event tracks and damage point notation.

Survey Information

Click on the location in the table for additional maps and details

Location	Start/ End Time	Event Type	Fatalities/ Injuries	Path Length	Path Width
Hinds County 2 SE Edwards to 4 ESE Edwards	9:33 PM- 9:35 PM	EF-1 Tornado 100 mph	none	1.19 miles	50 yards
Scott County 5 WNW Morton to 1 ENE Forkville	11:40 PM- 11:50 PM	EF-1 Tornado 110 mph	none	8.7 miles	0.25 miles
Scott County 2 WNW Forkville to 3 N Forkville	11:47 PM 11:51 PM	EF-1 Tornado 90 mph	none	2.5 miles	250 yards
Scott County 6 NNE Forkville to 5 SW Tuscola	11:55 PM- 11:59 PM	EF-1 Tornado 100 mph	none	3.0 miles	200 yards
Leake County 1 SSW Tuscola to 3 WSW Tuscola	12:05 AM 12:06 AM	EF-0 Tornado 75 mph	none	0.6 miles	75 yards
Leake County 4 S Carthage to 3 ENE Carthage	12:05 AM 12:14 AM	EF-1 Tornado 107 mph	none	7.4 miles	400 yards
Leake County 3 E Carthage to 3.5 NW Edinburg	12:14 AM 12:24 AM	EF-1 Tornado 105 mph	none	8.1 miles	0.25 miles
Leake County 2.4 SE Renfroe to 8.2 ENE Renfroe	12:21 AM 12:31 AM	EF-1 Tornado 95 mph	none	7.3 miles	250 yards
Leake/Neshoba/Winston counties 4 SE Zama to 5.3 ESE Zama	12:30 AM 12:34 AM	EF-1 Tornado 100 mph	none	3.0 miles	300 yards
Winston County 13.8 WSW Louisville to 11.6 WSW Louisville	12:41 AM 12:43 AM	EF-1 Tornado 104 mph	none	2.2 miles	300 yards
Winston County 9.9 W Louisville to 8.4 W Louisville	12:45 AM 12:49 AM	EF-1 Tornado 105 mph	none	1.7 miles	150 yards
Lowndes County 2 SE Columbus Air Force Base	3:53 AM 3:56 AM	EF-0 Tornado 85 mph	none	2.2 miles	50 yards