page_title: 2011 Philadelphia, Mississippi tornado
section_title: Tornado summary
hierarchical_section_title: 2011 Philadelphia, Mississippi tornado / Tornado summary
caption_attribution_description: English: A red car that has been thrown against a stand of trees by an EF5 tornado near Philadelphia, Mississippi on April 27, 2011, one of four EF5 tornadoes that day.
context_page_description: During the afternoon of Wednesday, April 27, 2011, a violent EF5 tornado touched down in eastern Mississippi, killing three people. Part of the historic 2011 Super Outbreak, the largest tornado outbreak on record, this was the first of four EF5 tornadoes to touch down that day and the first such storm in Mississippi since the 1966 Candlestick Park tornado. While on the ground for 30 minutes, it traveled along a near 29-mile path through four counties, leaving behind three deaths, eight injuries, and $1.1 million in damage.
  The supercell thunderstorm that produced this tornado formed around 1:00 p.m. CDT south of Jackson, Mississippi. Traveling briskly to the northeast, it became severe within 25 minutes and potentially tornadic by 1:36 p.m. CDT. A tornado finally touched down at 2:30 p.m. CDT just east of the Philadelphia Municipal Airport. It quickly intensified and began producing EF5 damage by 2:38 p.m. CDT; extreme ground scouring, up to 2 feet deep in places, occurred in northeastern Neshoba County. After crossing into Kemper County, the tornado obliterated a mobile home, killing all three inside.
context_section_description: Around 1:00 p.m. CDT, a supercell thunderstorm developed south of Jackson, Mississippi, and traveled northeast at 55 mph (89 km/h). About 25 minutes later, the intensifying storm became severe and prompted a severe thunderstorm warning—advising residents of damaging winds in excess of 60 mph (97 km/h) and 1-inch (2.5 cm) diameter hail—from the National Weather Service office in Jackson for Leake, Rankin, and Scott counties. The developing storm gradually developed a hook echo signature, and a tornado warning was issued for Leake and Scott counties at 1:36 p.m. CDT, and extended to Neshoba County at 2:03 p.m. CDT. At 2:30 p.m. CDT, the storm produced a small tornado along the northern edge of Philadelphia, just east of Philadelphia Municipal Airport and near an Army National Guard armory. Here, large trees were downed and a building sustained significant damage of this roof. Within minutes, the tornado began producing EF2 damage to homes and other structures. It soon grew to 900 yards (820 m) in diameter and warranted the issuance of a tornado emergency for northeastern Neshoba County at 2:36 p.m. CDT.
  Traveling along and parallel to Highway 21, the tornado leveled and partially swept away a brick home near the intersection with Highway 491, indicative of low-end EF4 damage. A debris ball was apparent on Doppler weather radar imagery by this time. The storm began producing EF5 damage at 2:38 p.m. CDT in northeastern Neshoba County. Tremendous ground scouring took place in the county, including in one field where the tornado dug a large trench into the ground, removing up to 2 feet (0.61 m) of soil in places. Grass was torn out by the roots and in clumps by suction vortices embedded within the tornado. Large trees were entirely uprooted, debarked, defoliated, and thrown up to 20 yards (18 m) as well. Maximum winds in the tornado were estimated at 205 mph (330 km/h). The storm moved through the Pearl River Resort, where it destroyed a historic log cabin, fencing, lighting, and dugouts at two baseball fields. As the storm neared the edge of Neshoba County, the tornado emergency was extended to include northern Kemper County, southeastern Winston County, and all of Noxubee County. The tornado weakened briefly as it passed through the small community of Coy along the Neshoba–Kemper County line. Some trees took some extensive damage and a mobile home was destroyed. Upon leaving the community, the tornado intensified and produced EF5 damage again by 2:47 p.m. CDT. Throughout Neshoba County, the tornado damaged or destroyed 91 structures, leaving about 32 people homeless.
  In Kemper County, a 3,000 sq-ft (280 m²) mini-mart was damaged beyond repair. Eleven people sought refuge inside the building's bathroom when the tornado struck; all escaped without injuries. Along the Kemper-Winston County line, EF5 damage occurred as extremely deep ground scouring took place again and asphalt was ripped from roads. On Green Road, a double-wide mobile home, anchored to the ground, was lofted 300 yards (270 m) and obliterated when it landed in a nearby tree line; debris from the home was scattered hundreds of yards farther. The survey team found no evidence of it having bounced or rolled from where it was picked up to where it impacted the tree line. All three occupants were killed, the sole fatalities from this tornado. Nearby, the tornado weakened to EF3 strength as two brick homes were destroyed with barely any interior walls left standing; two people sustained serious injuries. A well-built frame wood home was nearly swept clean off its foundation and two trailers were destroyed. Cars were hurled hundreds of yards, often bouncing along the way, and some were rendered almost unrecognizable and were wrapped around trees. Continuing through southeastern Winston County, the tornado weakened slightly to EF2 strength but continued to produce extensive tree and property damage. As it crossed Central McDonald Road, it destroyed a single-wide mobile home and leveled a nearby grove of pine trees.
  As the tornado approached the Winston–Noxubee border, i
caption: Remains of a car wrapped around a tree.
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