December 23–25, 2015 tornado outbreak

December 23–25, 2015 tornado outbreak

GOES 13 satellite image of thunderstorms across the Eastern United States on December 23
Type	Tornado outbreak
Duration	December 23, 2015 – December 25, 2015
Tornadoes confirmed	36
Max rating^1	EF4 tornado
Duration of tornado outbreak^2	2 days, 14 hours, 32 minutes
Highest winds	90–100 mph (140–160 km/h) near Black Gnat, Kentucky on December 23
Largest hail	2.75 in (70 mm) – Craighead County, Arkansas on December 23 Hinds County, Mississippi on December 24
Casualties	18 fatalities (13 tornado-related)
Areas affected	Mississippi, Tennessee, Indiana, Illinois, Alabama
^1Most severe tornado damage; see Enhanced Fujita scale ^2Time from first tornado to last tornado

On December 23, 2015, an outbreak of supercell thunderstorms produced tornadoes across northern Mississippi and middle Tennessee, resulting in 13 tornado-related deaths and numerous injuries. Other tornadoes occurred as far north as Indiana and Michigan. This was the first of two deadly tornado outbreaks to impact the southern United States during December 2015.

Outbreak summary

On the evening of December 23, a significant tornado outbreak affected the Midwest and South, producing tornadoes mainly across Illinois, Indiana, Mississippi, Alabama, and Tennessee. One of the first tornadoes of the event was an EF1 tornado that touched down in Greenwood, Indiana, where several homes sustained damage. Another tornado caused damage to homes in the Indianapolis suburb of Noblesville. In Illinois, a tornado destroyed multiple outbuildings and downed trees near the town of Sciota.^[1] The outbreak also spawned the only known tornado to touch down in Michigan during the month of December, an EF1 that struck the Detroit suburb of Canton, causing considerable damage to vehicles, an industrial park, and a gas station.^[2] Further south, a strong EF2 tornado occurred near Marianna, Arkansas, completely destroying mobile homes, tearing roofs off of frame homes, and damaging cabins in the area.^[1] A large EF3 tornado eventually touched down south of Clarksdale, Mississippi, killing two people and severely damaging or destroying about 15 homes in that area. The tornado continued to the northeast, later snapping trees and destroying homes near Marks and Como before dissipating. The same parent supercell produced another tornado further east of Como, a violent EF4 that struck the town of Holly Springs, where two people were killed and a motor sports park and many homes were destroyed. Multiple additional people were killed further along the path near Ashland as well, where multiple homes were destroyed and pavement was scoured from roads.^[3][4][5] The Holly Springs tornado eventually crossed into Tennessee, causing major damage near Middleton, then destroying additional homes in the Selmer area, killing 10 people in all before dissipating.^[1] Another destructive EF3 tornado struck the small community of Lutts, Tennessee after dark, destroying multiple homes and a church, and completely leveling the town's post office. Significant tornado activity continued through parts of Mississippi and Tennessee overnight, including an EF2 that killed an elderly couple in their small, unanchored home near Linden, Tennessee. In total, the outbreak produced a total of 13 tornado-related deaths and numerous injuries. ^[6] Additional scattered tornado activity occurred on the 24th and 25th, including a high-end EF2 that caused heavy damage in the southwestern part of Birmingham, Alabama on Christmas.^[7]

Confirmed tornadoes

Confirmed tornadoes by Enhanced Fujita rating

EF0	EF1	EF2	EF3	EF4	EF5	Total
12	16	5	2	1	0	36

December 23 event

List of confirmed tornadoes – Wednesday, December 23, 2015^{[note 1]}

EF#	Location	County / Parish	State	Start Coord.	Time (UTC)	Path length	Max width	Damage[note 2]	Summary	Refs
EF0	SSW of Moncks Corner	Berkeley	SC		0827	0.2 mi (0.32 km)	100 yd (91 m)		A brief tornado tossed roofing material, wooden pallets, and destroyed a shed; the shed's roof was tossed 300 ft (91 m).	[8]
EF1	ESE of Bee Branch	Van Buren	AR	35°26′09″N 92°20′27″W / 35.4358°N 92.3407°W	1420–1421	0.1 mi (0.16 km)	100 yd (91 m)		Preliminary survey results. Damage details unavailable at this time.	[9]
EF1	Chilton	Carter	MO		1543–1549	6 mi (9.7 km)	100 yd (91 m)		An old school house was nearly destroyed, and hundreds of trees were either snapped or uprooted.	[10][11]
EF1	W of Mill Spring	Wayne	MO		1556–1559	3.5 mi (5.6 km)	50 yd (46 m)		Several trees were snapped or uprooted and large tree branches were broken.	[12]
EF1	NE of Patterson	Wayne	MO		1608–1611	3.5 mi (5.6 km)	75 yd (69 m)		A couple dozen tree trunks were snapped and large tree branches were broken or snapped.	[12]
EF0	ENE of Ava	Jackson	IL		1715–1720	6 mi (9.7 km)	50 yd (46 m)		Many trees were snapped or uprooted.	[12]
EF1	E of Pinckneyville to Southern Tamaroa	Perry	IL		1723–1728	6 mi (9.7 km)	200 yd (180 m)		Numerous trees were snapped or uprooted, several barns sustained severe structural damage, and several homes experienced varying degrees of roof damage.	[12]
EF1	NW of Carmi	White	IL		1825–1828	1.25 mi (2.01 km)	100 yd (91 m)		Trees were uprooted or snapped near Burrell Woods Campground.	[12]
EF1	WSW of Albion	Wayne, Edwards	IL		1830–1835	5 mi (8.0 km)	100 yd (91 m)		Tree damage occurred, and shingle damage was observed on a home and on a barn.	[12]
EF1	Greenwood	Johnson	IN		2042	0.25 mi (0.40 km)	75 yd (69 m)		Three homes sustained structural damage and several trees were uprooted.	[10]
EF1	SW of Jackson	Madison	TN	35°33′17″N 89°04′22″W / 35.5548°N 89.0727°W	2045–2046	1 mi (1.6 km)	60 yd (55 m)		Several homes, barns, and utility buildings were damaged.	[10]
EF3	NE of Shelby to E of Como	Bolivar, Coahoma, Quitman, Panola	MS	34°00′09″N 90°42′45″W / 34.0026°N 90.7126°W	2054–2157	63 mi (101 km)	800 yd (730 m)		2 deaths - Power poles were bent at EF0 strength near Shelby before the tornado reached EF3 strength near Clarksdale, where trees were debarked and small frame homes and mobile homes were completely destroyed. Airplanes and metal buildings were destroyed at a small airport in this area as well. EF1 tree damage occurred near Marks and Sledge before the tornado regained high-end EF3 strength between Como and Sardis, where a small brick home was completely leveled and another sustained collapse of exterior walls before the tornado dissipated east of Como as the Holly Springs EF4 tornado developed just to the east. At least 21 people were injured by the tornado.	[10][7][13]
EF1	Noblesville	Hamilton	IN		2055	0.7 mi (1.1 km)	140 yd (130 m)		A mobile home was flipped over and destroyed and a trampoline was blown onto a mailbox.	[10][14]
EF1	Canton	Wayne	MI						Tornado downed trees and tree limbs in residential areas, caused considerable damage to metal buildings and vehicles at an industrial park, and tore the metal roof off of a gas station. It is the only known tornado to have occurred in Michigan during the month of December.	[10][15]
EF2	S of Marianna	Lee	AR	34°41′32″N 90°46′26″W / 34.6922°N 90.7738°W	2057–2102	4.5 mi (7.2 km)	200 yd (180 m)		The tornado flattened grain bins, removed the roof from a brick house, destroyed a mobile home, and damaged cabins.	[10]
EF1	Williamstown area	Rush, Decatur	IN		2113	1 mi (1.6 km)	50 yd (46 m)		Preliminary information. Damage details unavailable at this time.	[10]
EF0	N of Owensboro, KY	Spencer	IN		2139–2141	2 mi (3.2 km)	50 yd (46 m)		Tree limbs were broken and small trees were snapped.	[12]
EF0	E of Fountain City to Bethel	Wayne	IN		2157–2205	3.29 mi (5.29 km)	30 yd (27 m)		Multiple outbuildings were destroyed and barns were damaged. Tornado struck the town of Bethel before dissipating, where a church sustained a chimney collapse and roof damage.	[16]
EF4	NNE of Sardis, MS to NE of Selmer, TN	Tate (MS), Marshall (MS), Benton (MS), Tippah (MS), Hardeman (TN), McNairy (TN)	MS, TN	34°31′35″N 89°52′12″W / 34.5264°N 89.8701°W	2210–2325	73 mi (117 km)	1,380 yd (1,260 m)		9 deaths – See section on this tornado	[10][17]
EF0	E of Arcanum	Darke	OH		2212	0.03 mi (0.048 km)	20 yd (18 m)		A brief tornado lifted the roof off a large metal building.	[18]
EF1	SW of Sciota to S of Roseville	McDonough, Warren	IL	40°32′17″N 90°46′56″W / 40.5380°N 90.7823°W	2215–2230	10.9 mi (17.5 km)	50 yd (46 m)		Outbuildings were destroyed, and a few trees were snapped.	[10]
EF0	WSW of Reynolds to E of Andalusia	Mercer, Rock Island	IL	41°26′25″N 90°43′13″W / 41.4402°N 90.7202°W	2233–2246	10.7 mi (17.2 km)	50 yd (46 m)		Several trees and tree branches were snapped off.	[10]
EF2	SSE of Linden to SW of Centerville	Perry, Hickman	TN	35°33′46″N 87°48′16″W / 35.5627°N 87.8044°W	0016–0030	13.92 mi (22.40 km)	500 yd (460 m)		2 deaths – Numerous sheds, barns, and outbuildings were destroyed, along with a small, unanchored home along U.S. Highway 412 (where the two fatalities occurred). A brick home sustained major damage in Perry County, and several other homes were damaged in Hickman County. Hundreds of trees were downed along the path.	[10]
EF1	W of Booneville	Prentiss	MS	34°39′44″N 88°41′11″W / 34.6622°N 88.6863°W	0016-0020	4 mi (6.4 km)	80 yd (73 m)		Several mobile homes were damaged or destroyed, trees were uprooted, and a house slid off of its foundation.
EF3	SW of Lutts to SW of Mount Pleasant	Wayne, Lawrence, Lewis, Maury	TN	35°08′12″N 87°56′10″W / 35.1368°N 87.9362°W	0052–0152	50.6 mi (81.4 km)	800 yd (730 m)		Strong tornado moved through Lutts, completely leveling the post office, destroying a church, and sweeping several unanchored homes from their foundations. The tornado moved north of Collinwood and across the intersection of U.S. Highway 64 and the Natchez Trace Parkway, where an outbuilding and the roof of a mobile home were destroyed. In Lawrence County, another unanchored house was swept from its foundation and several more homes lost roofs or sustained heavy structural damage. In Maury County, a barn was destroyed before the tornado lifted. Thousands of trees were downed along the path, and seven people were injured: four in Lutts and three in a house in Lawrence County.	[10]
EF2	N of Waterloo, AL, to WNW of Cypress Inn, TN	Lauderdale (AL), Wayne (TN)	AL, TN	34°57′14″N 88°04′23″W / 34.9540°N 88.0731°W	0100–0112	11 mi (18 km)	400 yd (370 m)		In Lauderdale County, large sections of roofing was removed from two houses and a church, another home sustained minor damage, and many trees were downed. Moving into Wayne County, the tornado destroyed one home and downed dozens more trees before lifting. One person was injured in a house in Lauderdale County.	[10]
EF1	S of Butler	Pendleton	KY	38°43′N 84°22′W / 38.72°N 84.37°W	0111–0120	3.75 mi (6.04 km)	440 yd (400 m)		An anchored mobile home was rolled over, a 15-square-foot (1.4 m^2) dock was broken loose and pulled across a pond, a barn was destroyed, and three more barns were damaged, with one's roof being ripped off and thrown into adjacent trees. A camper was lifted 10 to 15 feet (3.0 to 4.6 m) above a stand of trees before being dropped and destroyed, heavy sections of horse corral fencing were carried approximately 50 yards (46 m), a house lost part of its roof, and two more homes sustained structural damage consisting of roof damage and blown in garage doors. Many trees were downed along the path, and two people were injured.	[19]
EF2	ESE of Alexandria to Lancaster	DeKalb, Smith	TN	36°03′41″N 85°58′15″W / 36.0614°N 85.9708°W	0412–0425	8.5 mi (13.7 km)	250 yd (230 m)		Three homes and a log cabin sustained minor roof damage, two barns were heavily damaged, and a cinder-block garage and a small shed were destroyed. Another home lost its roof, two exterior walls on the second level, two covered porches, and an adjacent carport. Many trees were downed along the path, which crossed the Smith Fork Creek seven times between Temperance Hall and Lancaster.	[10]
EF0	Parkersburg	Wood	WV	39°14′51″N 81°35′48″W / 39.2474°N 81.5966°W	0425	0.18 mi (0.29 km)	25 yd (23 m)		A brief tornado touched down in Parkersburg, causing roof damage to several buildings. An old church had its roof completely removed.	[20]

December 24 event

List of confirmed tornadoes – Thursday, December 24, 2015^{[note 1]}

EF#	Location	County / Parish	State	Start Coord.	Time (UTC)	Path length	Max width	Damage[note 2]	Summary	Refs
EF0	E of Comer	Barbour	AL	32°01′37″N 85°20′20″W / 32.0270°N 85.3390°W	0941–0948	3.6 miles (5.8 km)	100 yards (91 m)		Several trees were downed around U.S. Highway 82, both to the north and south.	[10][21]
EF0	WNW of Clayton	Barbour	AL	31°52′58″N 85°35′30″W / 31.8829°N 85.5918°W	1034–1040	3.2 miles (5.1 km)	125 yards (114 m)		Two sheds were damaged, and numerous trees were downed.	[10][21]
EF0	SW of Culloden	Upson	GA						Trees were downed and a small shed was collapsed.	[22][23]

December 25 event

List of confirmed tornadoes – Friday, December 25, 2015^{[note 1]}

EF#	Location	County / Parish	State	Start Coord.	Time (UTC)	Path length	Max width	Damage[note 2]	Summary	Refs
EF1	Shelbyville	Bedford	TN	35°29′42″N 86°24′04″W / 35.4950°N 86.4010°W	1313–1315	0.5 miles (0.80 km)	75 yards (69 m)		Two large sections of roofing were torn off a Rubbermaid factory, with roofing gravel being blown in all directions and several company vehicles being damaged. Six empty tractor-trailers were blown around and partially stacked, and several garage doors failed, with at least three being blown back into the building. A Calsonic building was also impacted, with two windows blown out, a glass door blown in, and a carport being damaged. Elsewhere, a large tree was blown down, tree branches were broken off, and a few metal signs were smashed to the ground.	[24]
EF0	SE of Coaling	Tuscaloosa	AL	33°06′23″N 87°20′50″W / 33.1063°N 87.3473°W	2129–2142	5 miles (8.0 km)	185 yards (169 m)		Weak tornado downed a couple dozen trees.	[24][21]
EF0	SE of Pineville	Smith	MS	32°06′N 89°22′W / 32.10°N 89.36°W	2151	0.7 miles (1.1 km)	50 yards (46 m)		A chicken house was damaged and multiple trees were downed.	[24]
EF2	S of Midfield	Jefferson	AL	33°26′35″N 86°54′49″W / 33.443°N 86.9137°W	2255–2259	0.92 miles (1.48 km)	280 yards (260 m)		Brief but strong high-end EF2 tornado impacted residential areas of southwestern Birmingham, impacting approximately 50 homes, many of which sustained varying degrees of roof damage and 15 of which were left uninhabitable due to heavy damage. Two of these small homes were flattened, and a car was found with a wooden 2x4 impaled though its side. Many trees were snapped or uprooted along the path as well. Two people were injured.	[24][7][21]

Holly Springs/Ashland, Mississippi–Selmer, Tennessee

EF4 damage to a large house near Canaan, MS

This violent and deadly wedge tornado touched down in Tate County, Mississippi to the southwest of Holly Springs, initially only causing EF0 tree damage. The tornado rapidly intensified to EF3 strength as it entered Marshall County, obliterating several mobile homes and sweeping away multiple unanchored block foundation homes. A 12-year-old child survived being thrown 300 yards in this area when the mobile home he was in disintegrated. The tornado continued towards Holly Springs, prompting a tornado emergency and leveling a church at high-end EF3 strength. Brick homes in the area had their roofs removed and exterior walls collapsed.^[7] The tornado then impacted the south edge of town, causing major damage to a motor sports park, snapping numerous hardwood trees, and destroying homes in the area. Two people were killed in Holly Springs, and several others were injured. The tornado continued to intensify as it entered Benton County and passed to the northeast of Ashland, where it reached very high-end EF3 strength as it completely flattened several poorly anchored frame homes, scoured pavement from a road, mangled vehicles beyond recognition, and killed multiple people. An unanchored home in this area was completely obliterated and swept away along with its block foundation, leaving little trace behind. Trees in the area were debarked, a metal warehouse building was damaged, and a brick church had its roof torn off as well.^[7][25]

Continuing to the northeast, the tornado reached EF4 strength near the rural community of Canaan, where trees were debarked and a large home was completely leveled and mostly swept away, leaving much of the foundation slab bare. Two other homes in this area were heavily damaged at EF2 strength.^[7] The tornado continued into Tippah County at EF3 strength as it destroyed several homes and a metal warehouse building near Walnut. The tornado maintained EF3 intensity crossed the state line into Tennessee, entering Hardeman County and passing near Middleton, damaging several homes in the area. Continuing into McNairy County, the tornado destroyed several additional homes at the south edge of Selmer before dissipating. Overall, 9 people were killed along the path and many others were injured.^[7]

Notes

1. All dates are based on the local time zone where the tornado touched down; however, all times are in Coordinated Universal Time for consistency.
2. All damage totals are in 2015 USD unless otherwise stated.

References

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7. "NWS Damage Assessment Toolkit". Retrieved 31 December 2015.
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17. "At Least 18 Dead After Tornado Outbreak Causes Flooding, Destruction". The Weather Channel. 24 December 2015. Retrieved 27 December 2015.
18. "Additional Details on Confirmed Tornado 2 Miles East of Arcanum in Darke County Ohio". National Weather Service Office in Wilmington, Ohio. December 24, 2015. Archived from the original on December 25, 2015. Retrieved December 25, 2015.
19. "Additional Details on Confirmed Tornado South of Butler in Pendleton County Kentucky". National Weather Service Office in Wilmington, Ohio. December 24, 2015. Archived from the original on December 25, 2015. Retrieved December 25, 2015.
20. "Tornado Confirmed Near Parkersburg in Wood County West Virginia". National Weather Service Office in Charleston, West Virginia. December 24, 2015. Archived from the original on December 25, 2015. Retrieved December 25, 2015.
21. "Widespread Flooding & Tornadoes of December 23–25, 2015". National Weather Service Weather Forecast Office in Birmingham, Alabama. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. January 10, 2016. Retrieved January 17, 2016.
22. "20151224's Storm Reports (1200 UTC - 1159 UTC)". Storm Prediction Center. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. January 17, 2016. Retrieved December 24, 2015.
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24. "20151225's Storm Reports (1200 UTC - 1159 UTC)". Storm Prediction Center. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. December 26, 2015. Retrieved December 26, 2015.
25. Squires, Lauren (December 23, 2015). "MEMA: 2 missing people found dead in Benton County". wmcactionnews5.com. WMC Action News 5. Retrieved December 28, 2015.