BILOXI, Miss. (WLOX) - After severe storms swept through South Mississippi on Wednesday, April 10, 2024, the National Weather Service (NWS) office out of New Orleans sent crews to survey storm damage.

In a preliminary update on Wednesday, April 17, 2024, the NWS confirms six tornadoes touched down in Hancock county in addition to the EF-1 in Harrison County. More surveys are being done for additional damage reported in Harrison and Jackson Counties.

Hancock County

Tornado 1

The beginning of a long-lived tornado developed near Pearl River, Louisiana, near the intersection of US Highway 11 and LA Highway 41 where numerous tree branches were snapped and tossed east.

A combination of high-resolution satellite and radar imagery analysis indicated that this tornado quickly grew in intensity after it crossed Interstate 59. Widespread tree damage could be seen on true color satellite imagery, growing to a damage path as wide as 500 yards over the Pearl River Basin.

Extensive wind damage could be seen extending outward half a mile south of the tornado path as the tornado approached the Louisiana-Mississippi border. The damage path briefly became more obscure and broad as the tornado to its south occluded into Stennis. Extensive tree damage occurred.

While ground surveying was limited in and around Stennis Space Center, high resolution satellite imagery identified a swath of damage continued northeastward through Texas Flat Road. Numerous snapped softwood trees and a leaning transmission pole were observed.

The damage path gradually became less obvious as the tornado occluded northeast, and the end points are associated with tree damage observed west of Kiln along Kiln Picayune Road.

Tornado 2

High resolution satellite analysis, ground survey, and radar imagery aided in confirming the existence of another tornado that tracked just south of Interstate 12/10 before crossing the Interstate near Military Road and impacting the neighborhoods along Crawford Landing Road.

A localized area of tree damage that aligned along eastbound Exit 83, where branches and trunks were broken or bent east, distinctly separates this damage from the damage path to the north and east.

This damage is being used as the starting point for the second tornado as it aligns with the remainder of the damage path further east. As the tornado tracked east, widespread tree damage was reported across Country Club Boulevard with numerous uproots, a few snaps, and many hardwood branches broken.

Damage was relatively more sporadic as the tornado crossed near the Interstate interchange until damage became more apparent along Lake Village Boulevard and into Crawford Landing Road. Thereafter, the tornado damage path across the Pearl River Wildlife Management Area became increasingly more apparent as the tornado appeared to intensify on high resolution satellite imagery.

The tornado damage path was its widest and most intense just west of Perch Lake where the peak width was measured to be near 250 yards. This coincided with the tornado to the south occluding and dissipating, which appeared to have given it a boost.

After this point, the tornado damage path began to narrow and weaken as the tornado occluded into the tornado to its north. Mostly EF-0 damage points were associated with this damage path as the tornado dissipated entering the property of Stennis Space Center.

Tornado 3

This tornado started fairly large from the start with a swath of damage extending from Leonard Kimble Road and further north along Mainline Road. High resolution satellite imagery indicated the damage path continued eastward where it crossed Texas Flat Road.

Branches were broken and a few snapped trees were observed in a generally confluent pattern. The end point for this tornado is estimated based off high resolution satellite NDVI differencing as it interacted with the parent mesovortex and appeared to dissipate.

Tornado 4

A short-tracked tornado was identified using high resolution satellite imagery NDVI differencing. This tornado tracked over inaccessible rural lands north of Texas Flat Road along Catahoula Creek and Jourdan River before eventually dissipating as it interacted with the parent mesovortex to its east.

No damage could be identified and thus the rating for this tornado is unknown.

Tornado 5

Another embedded tornado following along the backside of the mesovortex was identified using high resolution satellite imagery NDVI differencing where more localized damage to trees and structures were identified via ground survey.

This tornado tracked primarily along MS Highway 43 with the most widespread damage being located along the curve in Cuevas Road. There, satellite imagery and a ground survey appeared to show a swath of damaged trees. This is where the tornado appeared to be at its strongest.

Thereafter, the damage path in NDVI differencing gradually weakens, and the tornado is estimated to have dissipated as it crossed the Silver Creek Acres neighborhood where tree damage was found near Violet Street and Gardenia Street in Kiln.

Tornado 6

High resolution satellite imagery aided in identifying yet another embedded tornado that trailed the parent mesovortex that tracked through the area. More localized tree damage, in addition to an evident damage path on NDVI differencing, helped to confirm the existence of this tornado which tracked from Firetower Road east-southeastward to Old Joe Moran Road. The end point is estimated per satellite imagery which occurred over inaccessible rural lands.

Harrison County

NWS meteorologists found that damage to mobile homes and trees in northwestern Harrison County near Lizana was consistent with an EF-1 tornado.

According to the survey, the tornado touched down near Cleveland Ladner Road and River Road and ripped the metal roofing off several mobile homes and snapping trees. The tornado continued northeast, crossing the Wolf River and damaging another mobile home on Cemetery Road.

It then tracked northeast, crossing Moran Road where it flipped a mobile home and separated the undercarriage from the rest of the unit. The tornado dissipated shortly after, staying on the ground for just over four miles.

The survey says the mobile home had hurricane straps and bolts attached to the ground.

Maximum winds were estimated to be near 110 mph, making it a high-end EF-1 tornado on the Enhanced Fujita scale which rates a tornado’s intensity based on the extent of the damage it produces. The width of the tornado was estimated to be about 265 yards.

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