This is now the second deadliest tornado outbreak in US history. The April 27, 2011, Smithville, Mississippi, EF5 tornado carried a Ford Explorer roughly one-half mile before colliding it with the town's water tower. Here are all of the tornado tracks across the Midsouth. Even during the crisis, amid so many tornadoes, the National Weather Service maintained an average warning lead time of 24 minutes, allowing many peopleto escape or prepare for the disaster. Continuing northeast, the tornado re-intensified as it struck the rural community of Shottsville at high-end EF3 intensity, where homes and mobile homes were destroyed, hundreds of trees were snapped and debarked, and seven more people were killed. Sorry, the location you searched for was not found. [4] A total of 16 people were killed, [5] and 40 people were injured. It lifted up her house, turned it like a spinning coin and then set it down again several feet from the foundation. Twenty-three people were killed by the tornado that went . He called in the cloud sighting and phoned the mayor, who was at the town hall with two employees, and then hurried to the tiny police station. Warnings, however, are issued when severe weather is imminent or already occurring. Preliminary local storm reports for April 27th. We also examine the actions taken upon receiving the warning information. The Weather Companys primary journalistic mission is to report on breaking weather news, the environment and the importance of science to our lives. Ample moisture from the Gulf of Mexico was brought north across the Deep South, leading to daytime high temperatures of 77 to 81F (25 to 27C) and dewpoints of 66 to 72F (19 to 22C). An SUV was thrown a .mw-parser-output .frac{white-space:nowrap}.mw-parser-output .frac .num,.mw-parser-output .frac .den{font-size:80%;line-height:0;vertical-align:super}.mw-parser-output .frac .den{vertical-align:sub}.mw-parser-output .sr-only{border:0;clip:rect(0,0,0,0);height:1px;margin:-1px;overflow:hidden;padding:0;position:absolute;width:1px}12-mile (0.80km) into the top of the Smithville water tower, then bounced off of it, and was hurled an additional 14-mile (400m) before impacting the ground and eventually coming to rest on the opposite side of the city, where it was later found crushed into a tiny ball. Tropical Weather April U.S. tornado counts from 2011 through 2019. One of the EF-5 tornadoes of the outbreak occurred across northern Mississippi, near Smithville. [5][dead link][6] The tornado began producing remarkably intense damage and swept away multiple homes and structures as it moved northeast, following MS 25. A semi truck was torn apart with the only remaining piece found 1.4 miles away. -An SUV was tossed one-half mile into the town's water tower, then blown another one-quarter mile. Officially, 207 tornadoes in 15 states were counted on April 27, 2011, a record for any calendar day in the U.S. Local AHPS The human impacts were horrific, and the damage inconceivable. The stationbroadcasts emergency information on everything from natural disasters to oil spills to public safety concerns, such as AMBER alerts. SKYWARN For a quick comparison, the Super Outbreak of April 3-4, 1974 produced 148 tornadoes. Another violent EF5 tornado occurred over Smithville, Mississippi, on this date. The recovery of the Delta is slowly coming about, but a vast variety of problems still affect businesses, private properties and those who work and reside there. View Storm Report Most residents have moved in with relatives and friends in other towns. But this house and that house yonder were not so lucky. This line of storms had multiple stages of evolution and moved across several states before dissipating. Radar Aviation Education The SPC/NCDC/SDP/NWS list a maximum width of 1,320 yards. A powerful low-pressure system combined with moist and unstable atmospheric conditions to produce this now-infamous tornado outbreak. The significant tornado parameter (STP) uses a combination of both wind shear and instability in lowest levels to diagnose the tornado risk. Sign Up for the Morning Brief - a weekday newsletter infused with your forecast, fun facts, articles and bite-sized nuggets to energize your day. According to the National Weather Service assessment, the average path length of the 15 violent tornadoes was 66 miles. The storms formed into a bow echo, similar to the squall line that moved across the Mid-South on April 4, 2011. Of the 207 tornadoes April 27, 15 were rated violent tornadoes, either EF4 or EF5 on the Enhanced Fujita scale. Local Local Data Additionally, high low level moisture returned to the area in the wake of the morning complex and combined with morning sunshine to cause a very unstable airmass. The worst storm moved over Calhoun, Chickasaw, Monroe, and Itawamba counties, producing two tornadoes that killed 22 people. Conditions cleared up across the Mid-South during the late morning hours on the 26th. It traversed 80.3 miles, passing through the cities of Tuscaloosa and Birmingham, causing 65 fatalities and over 1,000 injuries. With the storm just 30 seconds away, he yelled for people to come inside and sent them to the sturdiest room. Significant April 2011 Tornado Outbreaks: . Hazard Outlook, CURRENT CONDITIONS Smithville High School won two 1A football state championships in 1993 and 1998. [2] The multi-day outbreak culminated on April27 with the most violent day of tornadic activity since the 1974 Super Outbreak. An earlier starting position determined by treefall analysis combined with radar data gives a start time of 3:40 p.m. CDT. Four of those were in the April 27 Super Outbreak in Alabama and Mississippi. She died. Multiple locations were found. The most EF5/F5 tornadoes in a single year werein1974 when theApril 3 super outbreakspawned seven in a 24-hour period. A historic outbreak of severe weather and tornadoes occurred on April 25-27 across the southern and southeast parts of the country. The frequency has ranged from several tornadoes rated this magnitude in a single year to multi-year periods with none. Loss of life during this historic event was staggering. [11] The radar was replaced later in 2011 and the church reopened in a new location. A pair of additional tornado warnings for the NWS-Huntsville's area of responsibility were issued by the NWS office in Jackson, Mississippi, while Huntsville employees themselves took shelter. A protruding anchor bolt from slab with base plate ripped away is shown among the rubble of a destroyed home in Smithville, Mississippi, following an EF5 tornado on April 27, 2011. As some of them looked around, it was hard not to think about the immediate aftermath. All NOAA. Weather Events, LOCAL PROGRAMS To make use of these warnings yourself, pay attention to the severe weather alerts issued over your radio, television, weather radio, and cellular devices. The waterway's Glover Wilkins Lock is located just downstream. One focuses on the Smithville, MS side. Take control of your data. Observations Winter Weather StormReady The first supercells developed across eastern and southern Arkansas at around 3 pm ahead of the same cold front that the previous nights storms formed on. The radar was directly in the path of this wedge tornado as it tracked into Limestone County. There are two summaries detailing the event. About half of the deathsfrom 2000 through 2019 were from tornadoes rated EF4 or EF5. According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 1.6 square miles (4.1km2), of which 1.5 square miles (3.9km2) is land and 0.1 square miles (0.26km2) (8.12%) is water. This storm produced 4 tornadoes over Craighead county. Between April 25 and 28, hundreds of tornadoes violently struck the southeastern United States, resulting in roughly $12billion in damages (2021 dollars) and leaving an estimated 321 people dead. The tornado then crossed the county line and weakened to EF2 strength, where it snapped and uprooted numerous large trees, damaged or destroyed several chicken houses, totaled a car, destroyed a mobile home, tore much of the roof off of a two-story house, and caused significant roof damage to several other homes before dissipating near the town of Hodges at 4:23p.m. CDT (2123 UTC). US Dept of Commerce Customers survived by cowering in the last thing left standing, the walk-in cooler. The remains of a Ford Explorer in Smithville, Mississippi, after an April 27, 2011, tornado. His best friend held the 2-year-old. Hydrology Cordova, Alabama, northwest of Birmingham, was just one unfortunate example. Values of this parameter were virtually off the chart, compared to a more typical severe weather scenario. Probabilistic We crawled our way out of the building, said Mayor Gregg Kennedy, 49. One of the most violent tornadoes in recorded human history tore through several communities in Mississippi and Alabama. The United States experienced a record-breaking tornado outbreak from the morning of April 25th through the early morning hours of April 28th. This event included multiple reports of large hail, damaging winds and tornadoes. the EF4 tornado claimed 65 lives along an 80-mile path, National Weather Service - Jackson, Mississippi, storm survey, massive EF5 tornado that earlier devastated the towns Phil Campbell and Hackleburg. Outlooks US Dept of Commerce Heavy rain again lingered through most of the early to mid morning hours. If you would like to use an image/video in your project or blog, please contact us and we will grant permission if possible. Sorry, the location you searched for was not found. CoCoRaHS Also seen almost one month later in Joplin, Missouri, this tornado crushed cars into almost unrecognizable balls, similar to what you can do with aluminum foil. Dalrymple Family Foundation historical marker at Smithville Town Hall. Mr. Hathcock, 48, and his 24-year-old son, Joshua, were hunched in a bathroom when the tornado arrived. Experiences of Smithville, Mississippi Residents with the 27 April 2011 Tornado Volume 36 Number 2 ~ December 2012 95 it is still not recommended, especially in the Southeast where tornado visibility is reduced (Ashley 2007). Jesse Cox, 85, died in the house, and his wife, Nell Cox, 75, was seriously injured when an EF5 tornado swept through the town on April 27, 2011. At this point, 12 of the tornadoes were violent (EF4, EF5) with most of these having a path length greater than 70 miles. In Smithville, an SUV was lofted and thrown a half mile into the water tower, before being carried even further downwind. More Observations Shrubbery along the perimeters of some homes was shredded and/or stripped as well, and debris from many of the obliterated homes was finely granulated into small pieces. Of this parameter were virtually off the chart, compared to a more typical weather... 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