Major Tornado in SCIPP region - How Rare Was It?

This past Saturday, April 24, 2010, a major tornado event unfolded across much of the southern and southeast United States, including a significant portion of the area covered by the Southern Climate Impacts Planning Program (SCIPP).

One of the most widely publicized aspects of this tornado outbreak included an exceptionally long-track tornado that touched down in far northeastern Louisiana and continued northeastward through most of Mississippi - a tornado which has been labeled the "Yazoo City tornado." Latest National Weather Service damage assessments indicate that the Yazoo City tornado had a continuous track of 149 miles. Tornadoes of this length, while quite rare, have been observed in the historical record. A quick review of tornado information dating back to 1950 reveals that this tornado likely ranks within the top 5 longest continuous track tornadoes to occur in the SCIPP region (which includes Oklahoma, Texas, Arkansas, Louisiana, Tennessee, and Mississippi) during the past 60 years. Other notable tornadoes include:

  • March 22, 1953: 234.7 miles (Louisiana, Arkansas, and Mississippi)
  • March 4, 1966: 202.5 miles (Mississippi and Alabama)
  • February 21, 1971: 202.1 miles (Mississippi and Tennessee)
  • April 30, 1970: 170.5 miles (Oklahoma)

The recent Yazoo City tornado occurred in an area that has seen several long track tornadoes in the past as shown in the image below which includes tornadoes of length 150 miles or greater (Image Source: NOAA Storm Prediction Center).



For more information on this recent event and related damage survey please visit the National Weather Service Jackson, MS office here.