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Displaying AFOS PIL: PNSJAN Received: 2011-05-05 18:37 UTC

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