In fact, the first EF-5 of the outbreak developed near Smithville, Mississippi. The tornado hit Smithville, Mississippi, where it killed at least 14 people, and moved northeast nearly 3 miles toward the Alabama border. We know there is a tremendous amount of debris, and the possibility that the waterways surrounding this area contain human remains, Mr. Barbour said. Most residents have moved in with relatives and friends in other towns. StormReady The school previously vied for the title in 1989, losing to a Mt. . Smithville is located at 3447N 882344W / 34.06861N 88.39556W / 34.06861; -88.39556 (34.068605, -88.395486). Multiple locations were found. The worst storms finally pushed out of the Mid-South by 5:30 pm on April 27th. The Smithville High School softball team has won the 1A state championship in 2008, 2011, and 2012. Nine Ways To Tell The Difference. Smithville, MS, took a direct hit from an EF5 wedge-shaped tornado on April 27, 2011. Smithville, MS April 27, 2011 - Police Department Releases Tornado Video Show more Comments are turned off. It claimed more than 300 lives, injured 2,775 and was responsible for $12 billion in total. Nine Ways To Tell The Difference. Take control of your data. The damage path was 37.3 miles (60.0km) long and 34 mile (1.2km) wide at its widest point, and it killed a total of 23 people along its path. US Dept of Commerce Which City Is the Worst for Fall Allergies This Year? These NWS survey results speak for themselves: -Appliances and plumbing fixtures were found shredded or missing. Warnings, however, are issued when severe weather is imminent or already occurring. Sign Up for the Morning Brief - a weekday newsletter infused with your forecast, fun facts, articles and bite-sized nuggets to energize your day. About 7.1% of families and 11.2% of the population were below the poverty line, including 9.7% of those under age 18 and 18.7% of those age 65 or over. Both the radar and radome encasing the radar were blown off and destroyed, leaving just the tower standing. Fire The tornado reached an estimated maximum width of 3/4 of a mile, (1.2 km) with wind speeds up to 205 mph (330 km/h). [2] An area of low pressure consolidated over Texas on April26 and traveled east while the aforementioned shortwave trough traversed the Mississippi River and Ohio River valleys. However, this system spawned threeEF-5 tornadoes in only a four-day span in addition to 12 EF-4s and 21 EF-3s. Columbus AFB, Climate We've compiled a list of the most jaw-dropping facets of this outbreak that we'll never forget. [11] Fed by a nearby waterway, the tornado churned right along the main street, Highway 25, chewing up houses and businesses, and shaking up the town like a child with a snow globe. His mother, just out of the shower, was covered in a quilt. Der Tornado von Vicksburg, Mississippi aus dem Jahr 1953 war ein tdlicher F5-Tornado, deram Samstag, dem 5. At this point, 12 of the tornadoes were violent (EF4, EF5) with most of these having a path length greater than 70 miles. Submit a Storm Photo After weakening west of town, the tornado strengthened quickly as it moved into Cordova, carving a one-half-mile wide path of damage rated EF3 in the downtown area. study concluded power outages caused by the morning pair of squall lines, including non-functioning outdoor sirens and NOAA weather radio transmitter outages, reduced the ability to get warnings out to the public during the most deadly afternoon and evening supercells in central and northern Alabama. Until April 2011, three years had passed without a single EF-5 tornadothe strongest rating on the Enhanced Fujita scale, associated with winds in excess of 200 mph. But they had little trouble making peace with the tornados path. Local, Weather Safety All NOAA. Air Quality, RIVERS AND LAKES The outbreak challenged and surpassed the records set by almost all previous tornado events, ranking as one of the deadliest and most expensive meteorological disasters on record. Tornado intensity cannot be determined while they are in progress or by their appearance. Please visit their amazing website if you are interested in more projects like this: https://www.tornadotalk.com/All videos portraying the tornado: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL9MqLJg4UDZpb1N85BpwQcrDp_JUfMST2All photos portraying the tornado: https://pastebin.com/qyUiF9xFMusic used in this video:Kevin Macleod - Very Low NoteKevin Macleod - Digital BarkKevin Macleod - Thunder DreamsThe Lighthouse OST - Into the LightThe Lighthouse OST - ArrivalHypnoxygen - MachinataChernobyl OST - Waiting for the EngineerChernobyl OST - The Door (low horn edit)Chernobyl OST - Turbine HallChernobyl OST - Clean UpCO.AG Music - HauntedSequence of Events:00:00 April 26th1:00 The Morning of April 27th2:25 Chapter One - The Storm5:25 The Houston - New Wren EF3 touches down.5:50 Significant damage is inflicted to several homes.7:50 The tornado impacts the community of Anchor.9:30 The tornado impacts the community of Sonora.11:00 The tornado inflicts severe damage to the forests near Natchez Trace Parkway.12:30 The tornado impacts the community of Dixieland.14:00 The tornado impacts the community of Macedonia.15:20 The tornado impacts the community of Buena Vista.15:40 The tornado impacts the community of Pleasant Grove.16:00 The tornado intensifies over County Roads 157 and 159.17:20 The tornado inflicts intense/violent damage near County Road 149.19:00 The tornado strikes Lynn Davis on Highway 45-Alternate.19:15 The tornado impacts the community of Chapel Grove.19:45 The tornado impacts the communities of Wren and New Wren.20:30 The Houston - New Wren EF3 dissipates.22:00 The Smithville EF5 begins to form.23:40 The Smithville EF5 touches down.24:55 The tornado causes extreme ground scouring.25:20 The tornado strikes a small B\u0026B, leading to the first fatality.25:40 An old home has its foundation dislodged.26:00 The tornado enters town.26:40 The tornado enters the town's Eastern subdivision at maximum intensity.27:40 The tornado leaves town.28:15 Violent tree damage is inflicted East of Smithville.29:30 The tornado significantly weakens as it crosses the state line.31:00 The tornado crosses I-22.33:00 The tornado begins to significantly intensify.33:30 The tornado inflicts more violent tree damage.34:00 The tornado begins to dramatically weaken until it dissipates.34:45 Chapter Two - The Stories35:00 Lynn Davis37:10 The Ford Explorer and the Water Tower39:40 Smithville43:50 Chapter Three - The Science45:35 Closing words.47:45 In MemoriamOther videos on this channel investigate two of the 2011 Super Outbreak tornadoes:The Hackleburg - Phil Campbell EF5 tornado (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3vvlw68KGl8).The Tuscaloosa tornado (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EJHdvmVsYC8).This channel has also looked at some Oklahoman tornadoes:The El Reno 2013 Tornado (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4u5cGa9jIXQ)The Moore 2013 EF5 Tornado (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pt8z8w2i5Qs)If you think you would enjoy bitesized versions of the type of analyses this channel does, please consider checking out the like \"Tornado Video Library\" channel (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC9c4E_DWmPMel1MelOBTznw ) By noon on April 27th, all the elements began to come together for an extreme severe weather outbreak. Join the tornado history discussion on our Discord Server! A special report on all of the extreme weather and climate conditions of April 2011 will be released by early summer 2011. We crawled our way out of the building, said Mayor Gregg Kennedy, 49. An oak tree fell next to it and anchored the house, keeping the wind from hauling Mrs. Boyd and her home away. Second, a cold front was moving across central Arkansas. The April 27, 2011 tornado hurled the SUV about one-half mile, into the town's water tower (in the picture background) and continued on . When Darwin Hathcock, the police chief, saw the funnel cloud beyond the tree line just a couple of miles away, he knew that his town would not be spared. 27, 2011. [6][1][5][dead link], The tornado then entered Smithville at maximum intensity, producing EF5 damage as it moved through both commercial and residential areas. Nearby towns have jumped in to help, setting up shelters, serving hamburgers, sending in clothes. The site is secure. This is now the second deadliest tornado outbreak in US history. One of the most violent tornadoes in recorded human history tore through several communities in Mississippi and Alabama. CURRENT HAZARDS Extremely detailed analysis of the damage yields a total path length of 40.49 miles. This allowed the atmosphere to recharge and become unstable again. Submit a Storm Photo Nearly all of the storms produced tornadoes, with many of them long track and significant. The 2011 Smithville, Mississippi tornado was an extremely violent EF5 wedge tornado that devastated areas of rural Mississippi, including the town of Smithville, Mississippi during the afternoon of April 27, 2011, resulting in catastrophic damage and numerous fatalities. This story does not necessarily represent the position of our parent company, IBM. Despite the deadly toll, we'll never truly know how many lives were saved by timely National Weather Service warnings, and the considerable effort of the media to communicate those warnings. One focuses on the Smithville, MS side. Customers survived by cowering in the last thing left standing, the walk-in cooler. The combination that resulted was an extremely rare mix of instability and wind shear. Turned soil from a violent EF5 tornado that destroyed portions of Neshoba, Kemper, Winston, and Noxubee counties in Mississippi on April 27, 2011. Radar loop from 7:01 a.m. to 11:03 p.m. CT, April 27, 2011, illustrating the three rounds of severe t-storms in the Deep South and Tennessee Valley. While the Deep South - Alabama, Mississippi, Georgia and Tennessee - bore the brunt of it, tornadoes were reported as far north as central New York. Local As of the census[9] of 2000, there were 882 people, 365 households, and 243 families residing in the town. Please Contact Us. The frequency has ranged from several tornadoes rated this magnitude in a single year to multi-year periods with none. At this time, roughly 342 people lost their lives, with thousands moreinjured. It is a premium article. Air Quality, RIVERS AND LAKES Rivers/Lakes, Radar 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. StormReady Winter Weather Another violent EF5 tornado occurred over Smithville, Mississippi, on this date. We recognize our responsibility to use data and technology for good. There are two summaries detailing the event. Weather-Ready Nation We gathered information for this event from the SPC and NCDC Databases, the April 2011 Storm Data Publication (SDP), the NWS Memphis, NWS Birmingham, and NWS Huntsville Event Pages, before and after damage photographs, and extremely detailed analysis of aerial and satellite imagery and found the following differences: NCDC Storm Events Database Entry-Monroe County (MS), NCDC Storm Events Database Entry-Itawamba County (MS), NCDC Storm Events Database Entry-Franklin County (AL), NCDC Storm Events Database Entry-Marion County (AL), Mississippi Emergency Management Agency (MEMA). Northern Lights Dance Over National Park In Alaska, New York City Sees First Inch-Plus Snowfall Of The Season, Cold Or Flu? Air Quality As the storm crossed Davis Road South, the ground was deeply scoured in a nearby field, leaving a trench in the ground that was still visible in aerial photographs taken more than a year later. Please select one of the following: Situational Awareness for Everyone (SAFE) Page, Latest Public Information Statement (PNS), National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Specifically, reports that the EF5 tornado had ripped a steel drainage pipe out of the ground were proven to have been fabricated and that road crews had dug up the pipe to ensure vehicular safety as the road was previously declared unsafe.[13]. Smithville is a town in Monroe County, Mississippi. Scientists attribute at least part of the 2011 Super Outbreaks notoriety to chance. The SPC/NCDC/SDP/NWS Huntsville list 4:23 pm CDT as the end time. Since 1950, 59 tornadoes have been rated EF5/F5, an average of less than one per year, according to NOAA's Storm Prediction Center. But this house and that house yonder were not so lucky. Tragically, multiple killer tornadoes occurred during this outbreak. Alone, the state accounted for 69 of the tornadoes and fell victim to the events costliest tornado. The Smithville High School Band has won two state Marching Championships. The Hackleburg/Phil Campbell EF5 tornado was on the ground for132 miles. The vehicle then traveled another quarter . The police station, the town hall, the post office, four of six churches: None of them were left standing. Estimated $12 Billion In Damage. This story does not necessarily represent the position of our parent company, IBM. Questions? This video would be much less comprehensive without their research. A value of 1 is considered an environment capable of at least F/EF2 tornadoes. This scale is an upgraded version of the original Fujita Scale developed in 1971 by Dr. Ted Fujita, a University of Chicago severe storms research scientist. [2], After producing a long-tracked EF3 tornado that passed near New Wren, the same supercell produced this tornado that began 3 miles (4.8km) west-southwest of Smithville along the TennesseeTombigbee Waterway near the Glover Wilkins Lock at 3:42p.m. CDT (2042 UTC), snapping numerous trees near the Smithville Recreation Area. Twenty-three were killed, and roughly 61 injured. The United States experienced a record-breaking tornado outbreak from the morning of April 25th through the early morning hours of April 28th. The term supercellrefers to a rotating thunderstorm that is persistent, on a timescale much longer than a single, ordinary thunderstorm you may see, for instance, in the summer over the Southeast. According to the NWS Memphis, it was 35.1 miles. From this point on, multiple tornadoes developed from multiple supercell storms. Interesting satellite and radar images from this event. Please Contact Us. Each red triangle is the location of a tornado that caused EF5 or F5 damage. Copyright TWC Product and Technology LLC 2014, 2023. see Fig. Severe Weather [4] Another 50tornadoes touched down on this day. Weather Events, LOCAL PROGRAMS The number of F/EF5 tornadoes in the U.S. by year from 1950-2020. The coordinates on the NWS Memphis website put it at 3.35 miles to the WSW of Smithville. Its just the way the Lord done it. Note: The final Apr. The National Weather Service - Jackson, Mississippi, storm surveyreport tells the story. This is the deadliest tornado outbreak since the April 3-4, 1974 Super Outbreak. (AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis) - 2NA1HGE depuis . Wind shear was also strong, so the threat for supercells was high. Prior to the spring of 2011, the record number of tornadoes in a single month was 542, set in May 2004, while the record for April was only 267. The April 25-28, 2011, Super Outbreak was one of the worst tornado outbreaks in U.S. history. The human impacts were horrific, and the damage inconceivable. The tornado produced additional high-end EF3 damage as it continued north of Hamilton, where several mobile homes and frame homes were destroyed, including one frame home at the bottom of a ravine that was swept clean from its foundation (though lack of road access prevented close inspection of the home's construction, precluding a potential higher rating at that location). We recognize our responsibility to use data and technology for good. Not on April 27. This event included multiple reports of large hail, damaging winds and tornadoes. Meteorologists from the National Weather Servicesurvey areas where tornado damage has occurred. Multiple locations were found. Spot Forecast Request Meteorologist and researcher Jon Davies blogged about the rarity of seeing such extreme values of shear and unstable air. One of the four EF5 tornadoes on April 27, 2011, raked through the town of Smithville, Mississippi. County: Monroe, Itawamba (MS)/ Marion, Franklin (AL), SPC Coordinates: Start: 34.0455/-88.4450 End: 34.3226/-87.8924. Local Records As the storm neared, C. J. Thompson, a junior in high school, had huddled with his family in the hallway of his house. A photograph from Phil Campbell, Alabama, levelled by an EF5 tornado on April 27, 2011, was later found in Lenoir City, Tennessee, some 220 miles away. It not uncommon for a morning cluster of severe t-storms to be followed by a more dangerous round of afternoon supercells. Approximately 24 tornadoes, possibly more, caused an estimated 326 fatalities during this tornado outbreak. US Dept of Commerce Pray, pray, pray! shouted his mother, Marcie Pearce, as the tornado hit the house. Local The 20-year average U.S. tornado total from 1999-2018 (189 tornadoes) is shown by the horizontal thin white line. A study by the Centers for Disease Control and the Red Cross found 89.5 percent of the deaths in this outbreak were from these violent tornadoes. Which City Is the Worst for Fall Allergies This Year? Storm motions were fast, generally in the 45 to 70 mph range, according to the NWS assessment, which left much less time to take action. View Storm Report Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Radar composite from 3:40 p.m. to 11:40 p.m. EDT of the supercell responsible for the Tuscaloosa and west Birmingham tornadoes on Apr. Zooming to the neighborhood level will not show the precise path. (Credit: @JamesSt03713090 / Twitter) Recommended Stories Sacramento Bee How much rain and snow fell in. Taylor Ann Boozer walks through the rubble of a demolished home May 15, 2011 in Smithville, Mississippi. The radome and radar from WAFF-TV was gone from its tower, and the nearby Bethel Church of Christ was destroyed on Apr. [3], On April 27, 2011, at approximately 3:45 p.m. CDT, an EF5 tornado struck the town with winds which were estimated to have peaked at 205mph (330km/h). The Super Outbreak and several other tornado outbreaks pushed April 2011's U.S. tornado count to a monthly record of 758, smashing the previous record in any month from May 2003 (542) by over 200 tornadoes. Another sinister aspect to the 2011 Super Outbreak was the repeated rounds of severe thunderstorms and tornadoes. This included some long-track EF3 tornadoes, an intensity somewhat rare for early-morning squall lines. The tornado moved northeast through Itawamba County before it crossed into . Mels Diner, where people settle in for a slice of homemade cake, is a pile of rubble. Sorry, the location you searched for was not found. Winter Weather Additionally, this marks the first time since statistics have been kept that two EF5 tornadoes have been recorded on the same day in Mississippi, with the tornado in Smithville also rated as an EF5. Aerial imagery taken May 4, 2011. Nearby granite tombstones from a cemetery were blown over in the opposite direction of the tornado's passage, and some were broken and thrown. Haley Barbour stopped by Smithville, which is in the northeast corner of the state, to offer assurances that more help was on the way. The average lead time for tornado warnings April 27 among those six NWS offices was found to be from 20-22 minutes. Jackson, Mississippi234 Weather Service Dr.Flowood, MS 39232601-936-2189Comments? Dozens of large, anchor-bolted, well-built brick homes were completely swept away in town, and many large hardwood trees were completely debarked and denuded. Extreme debarking of trees was noted in this area, and pieces of vehicles and structures were strewn long distances throughout the woods. Notice the two water towers in the right image. Tornadoes assigned an EF5/F5rating have historically been rare, but when they do strike, the damage in the affected communities is devastating. Outlook * LOCATION/TIME OF EVENT: SMITHVILLE AT 344 PM CDT ON APRIL 27 2011 * BEGINNING POINT: 34.0455, -88.44497 * ENDING POINT: 34.3129, -87.9231 * RATING: EF-5 * ESTIMATED PEAK WIND: 205 MPH More Observations Recreation Forecast, Current Weather Hispanic or Latino of any race were 0.79% of the population. Extremely detailed analysis of the damage yields a maximum width of 1,260 yards (0.72 miles). The racial makeup of the town is 97.62% White, 1.59% African American, 0.11% Native American, 0.23% Asian, 0.23% from other races, and 0.23% from two or more races. By midday and early afternoon, several discrete supercell thunderstorms were developing across the forecast area. [11] Several additional homes were damaged and a chicken house was destroyed as the tornado approached Franklin County. All NOAA. A semi truck was torn apart with the only remaining piece found 1.4 miles away. Dubbed the Super Outbreak of 2011, these storms took the. Aerial photo of Long Memorial United Methodist Church in Cordova, Alabama, after a pair of tornadoes tore through the town on April 27, 2011. This tornado was rated EF5 and tracked for 29 miles into Noxubee County. Power outages affected Huntsville, Alabama, for several days, affecting everything from gas stations to traffic signals. [3] Ample instability, low-level moisture, and wind shear fueled a significant tornado outbreak from Texas to Tennessee; at least 64tornadoes touched down on this day. About half of the deathsfrom 2000 through 2019 were from tornadoes rated EF4 or EF5. Tropical Weather The human impacts were horrific, and the damage inconceivable. Pickle Funeral Home was reduced to a bare slab as the tornado exited at the northeast side of the city, with the debris scattered and wind-rowed into an adjacent wooded area. Dual Pol Info His best friend held the 2-year-old. Science/Training Get Prepared The other two touched down during May in Joplin, Missouri, and El Reno/Piedmont, Oklahoma. [1] The tornado was a part of the 2011 Super Outbreak, the largest tornado outbreak in United States history. The NWS-Huntsville, Alabama office issued 90 tornado warnings, alone that day. This line was very efficient in producing wind damage as it pushed east. Additional supercell thunderstorms formed well ahead of the dry line in the warm, very moist, unstable, and highly sheared environment present across Mississippi and Alabama. The morning t-storm cluster typically produces damaging winds, flooding rain, perhaps a few tornadoes. Take control of your data. Severe, Forecasts Their ears felt close to bursting. [4] In total, 117 structures were destroyed and 50 more sustained major damage from the storm in Monroe County alone, before the tornado continued into Itawamba County. The first tornado producing storms to move across the Mid-South developed in Southwestern Arkansas during the late afternoon hours of April 25th. According to the SPC and SDP, it was 37.1 miles. These are life-saving announcements and its critical to understand their instructions. National Data Would you like to see more summaries like this one? We are supposed to learn something from it, said Mary Ann Nabors, as she swept the porch of her antique store, the Pink Flamingo, in a building that had been in her family for generations and was once a general store. Storm Reports One supercell, 380 miles, four states. The super tornado outbreak from April 25-28, 2011, resulted in two EF5 tornadoes in Mississippi (Smithville and Philadelphia), 358 tornadoes across the South and 324 deaths.