User:Hoguert/sandbox
Clockwise from top: A CCTV still of the wedge tornado in Holly Springs, Mississippi, EF3 damage to a church in Holly Springs, Mississippi. | |
| Meteorological history | |
|---|---|
| Formed | December 23, 2015, 5:10 pm EDT (UTC−05:00) |
| Dissipated | December 23, 2015, 6:25 pm EDT (UTC−05:00) |
| Tornado outbreak | |
| Maximum rating | EF4 tornado |
| Duration | 1 hour 15 minutes |
| Highest winds | 170 mph (270 km/h) |
| Overall effects | |
| Fatalities | 9 |
| Injuries | 36 |
| Damage | $10.9 million (2024 USD) |
Part of the Tornadoes of 2015 and Tornado outbreak of December 23-25, 2015 | |
The 2015 Holly Springs–Ashland, Mississippi was a large, powerful, and deadly late-season tornado that impacted the communities of Chulahoma, Holly Springs, Ashland in Mississippi and Selmer, Tennessee on the evening of December 23, 2015. This tornado resulted in nine fatalities and injured 36 people. This was the only violent tornado of the Tornado outbreak of December 23–25, 2015 and was the strongest, deadliest, and longest-tracked tornado of the outbreak and the third violent tornado of the 2015 tornado season.
The tornado touched down near Tyro and crossed into Marshall County, intensifying to low-end EF3 strength south of Chulahoma, leveling a couple of homes and blowing away mobile homes. A Tornado emergency was issued for Holly Springs. The tornado caused major damage in the southern parts of Holly Springs; demolishing a church, damaging or destroying multiple homes, and overturning numerous vehicles. A raceway suffered major damage. The wedge tornado continued to cause high-end EF3 damage in Benton County, killing many people in the county. In northeast Benton county, the tornado became violent as it swept away a large home near Hamilton.
Meteorological Synopsis
[edit]
On December 23, 2015, the Storm Prediction Center discussed the probabilities for severe weather to materialize in the Mississippi Valley, encompassing regions in northern Louisiana, eastern Arkansas, northwestern Mississippi, western Tennessee, the Missouri Bootheel, and extreme southwestern Kentucky. A cold front ejecting from the Texas Panhandle and a warm front coming from the lower Ohio River valley, intersected by a stationary front placed over western Kansas, led to the creation of a triple point over northwestern Missouri. This set up the environment for an atmosphere conductive to severe weather. As the evening progressed, further certainty arose for the possibility for an outbreak, as Convective Available Potential Energy values of around 1,000–2,000 J/kg and effective wind shear were present for the aforementioned areas of the upper Mississippi Valley. Daylight heating in these areas gave way for effective buoyancy in the area, further improving the conditions for supercells and to develop. Given the favorable parameters, the SPC, alongside its Convective outlook, introduced a 15% hatched area for tornadoes, indicating the probability for a few strong tornadoes to occur, as discrete supercell thunderstorms were expected to develop in the area.[1] As such, the SPC issued a PDS tornado watch, the first of multiple tornado watches that day, for northern Louisiana, western Arkansas, northwestern Mississippi, and western Tennessee, highlighting the elevated threat for strong tornadoes in the area.[2] At 2000 UTC, the SPC introduced an increased area for the concern of strong tornadoes, extending the existent area to reach central Tennessee, northwestern Alabama, and central portions of Kentucky.[3]
Tornado summary
[edit]Tate and Marshall Counties
[edit]The tornado touched down north of Tyro near Pearl Smith Road in Tate County. Minor roof damage was reported in Tyro before the tornado exited Tate County and entered Marshall County. The tornado did $5,000 in damages in Tate County and no causalities.[4]
The tornado began to rapidly intensify. The tornado approached Tyro Road south of Chulahoma where it intensified to a mid-range EF2 tornado, a single-wide trailer home was blown away and destroyed. Five occupants in the home were injured and a 12-year-old child was blown away 300 ft (91 m). Further up the road, another single-wide manufactured home was obliterated at 127 mph (204 km/h). The tornado intensified further to a low-end EF3 tornado as a poorly-constructed block foundation home was leveled at 145 mph (233 km/h) and another home nearby experienced losses to their exterior walls. In total, nine homes on Tyro Road were heavily damaged or destroyed.[5][6] The large tornado passed west of Chulahoma, crossing Highway 4, where the Mount Gillie Community Church was was destroyed at high-end EF2 strength.[7] A building nearby suffered minor damage.[6] The tornado continued through the rural parts of Marshall County north of Galena. The tornado crossed Yarbrough Chapel Road where it slightly strengthened to high-end EF2 intensity where exterior walls for a home collapsed at 132 mph (212 km/h).[6] The wedge tornado crossed Old Highway 4 where it rapidly intensified to high-end EF3 with maximum estimated wind speeds of 160 mph (260 km/h). The Beverly Chapel CME Church was obliterated and leveled and surrounding trees were downed.[8][9] A poorly-built home nearby the church sustained major damage as it almost collapsed, leaving a few interior walls standing.[6] Around this time, the National Weather Service office in Memphis, Tennessee issued a Tornado emergency for Holly Springs and others counties.[10]
...TORNADO EMERGENCY FOR HOLLY SPRINGS...
...A TORNADO WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 445 PM CST FOR NORTHWESTERN LAFAYETTE...MARSHALL...SOUTHEASTERN TATE AND NORTHEASTERN PANOLA COUNTIES...
AT 416 PM CST...A CONFIRMED LARGE AND DESTRUCTIVE TORNADO WAS LOCATED NEAR MARIANNA...OR 8 MILES WEST OF WALL DOXEY STATE PARK...MOVING NORTHEAST AT 55 MPH.
TORNADO EMERGENCY FOR HOLLY SPRINGS. TAKE COVER NOW. THIS IS A
PARTICULARLY DANGEROUS SITUATION.
The tornado brushed the southeastern edge of Holly Springs, leveling multiple homes and flipping many vehicles at EF2-EF3 intensity, killing a 7-year-old boy along Highway 7 and injuring several others, an 80-year-old elderly woman was also killed when her mobile home was heavily damaged.[9][11] Holly Springs Motorsports suffered catastrophic damage. An RV was flipped onto one of the track's bathrooms, sections of grandstands and a trailer was wrapped around a tree, and the track managers' home was destroyed.[12] The tornado eventually left Marshall County, resulting in $6 million in damages and two fatalities, as well as thirty injuries.[9]
Benton and Tippah Counties
[edit]
The tornado entered Benton County and initially stayed in rural, forested area. The tornado passed northeast of Ashland, rapidly intensifying to high-end EF3 strength with windspeeds up to 165 mph (266 km/h). A home along Lamar Road was leveled, injuring one person inside. Multiple trees were snapped and uprooted, another house along the road lost large sections of their roof and a car was left mangled.[6] The tornado continued at the same intensity as it crossed Country Church Road, a wooden framed home was completely swept away, killing two people in this location and leaving one missing and another injured.[13][6] Three days after the tornado, the body of the missing person was found.[14] The tornado crossed Highway 5, weakening to low-end EF2 intensity. A metal building sustained significant damage and a metal roof for a church were ripped off.[6] The tornado crossed Hunt Road north of the rural community of Black Jack. A one story home had large portions of their roof ripped away and another home along the road sustained major damage to their exterior walls.[6] After crossing a small body water, the tornado reached its peak intensity near the small community of Hamilton. A large, well built home was swept away at low-end EF4 intensity, with estimated wind speeds up to 170 mph (270 km/h). Multiple softwood trees nearby were shredded and debarked.[6] The tornado left Benton County, resulting in six fatalities and one injury and a $1.96 million loss.[15] The tornado weakened down to EF3 intensity as it entered Tippah County, damaging multiple homes and mobile homes, killing a 61-year-old woman.[6] Near the Mississippi and Tennessee border, a metal building collapsed along Highway 15.[6]
Hardeman and McNairy Counties
[edit]Aftermath
[edit]See also
[edit]- 2015 Garland tornado –Another large and violent tornado that occurred three days later in Texas.
References
[edit]- ^ "Dec 23, 2015 Day 1 1300UTC Convective Outlook". Storm Prediction Center. Retrieved March 9, 2022.
- ^ "Tornado Watch 559". Storm Prediction Center. Retrieved March 9, 2022.
- ^ "Dec 23, 2015 Day 1 2000UTC Convective Outlook". Storm Prediction Center. Retrieved March 9, 2022.
- ^ "Tate County Storm Events Database - Event Details | National Centers for Environmental Information". www.ncdc.noaa.gov. Retrieved 2024-12-25.
- ^ "Mississippi residents empathize with recent tornado victims". FOX13 Memphis. 2021-12-13. Retrieved 2024-12-25.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k "ArcGIS Web Application". apps.dat.noaa.gov. Retrieved 2024-12-25.
- ^ Arthur, Shay (December 27, 2015). ""There will be glory': Church holds first services since its building was destroyed by tornado". WREG.com.
- ^ Stein, Letitia (December 25, 2015). "Mississippi family loses home, survives Christmastime storms". Reuters.
- ^ a b c "Storm Events Database - Event Details | National Centers for Environmental Information". www.ncdc.noaa.gov. Retrieved 2024-12-25.
- ^ akrherz@iastate.edu, daryl herzmann. "KMEG Tornado (Particularly Dangerous Situation) Emergency #16". Iowa Environmental Mesonet. Retrieved 2024-12-25.
- ^ Rufener, Katie (December 23, 2015). "Tornado leaves behind massive damage in Holly Springs". wreg.com.
- ^ Wolf, Andrew (2015-12-24). "BREAKING: Holly Springs Motorsports Destroyed By Deadly Tornado". Dragzine. Retrieved 2024-12-25.
- ^ Lampkin, Eric (2015-12-24). "Benton County Sheriff Releases Names of Tornado Fatalities and Missing". Home - WCBI TV | Telling Your Story. Retrieved 2024-12-25.
- ^ Staff, WMCActionNews5 com; Jones, Sasha; Bolton, Felicia; Askin, Jerry (2015-12-27). "Copy-MEMA: 2 missing people found dead in Benton County". https://www.wlbt.com. Retrieved 2024-12-25.
{{cite web}}: External link in|website= - ^ "Storm Events Database - Event Details | National Centers for Environmental Information". www.ncdc.noaa.gov. Retrieved 2024-12-25.