The 1953 Vicksburg, Mississippi tornado was a deadly F5 tornado that struck

Vicksburg, Mississippi Vicksburg is a historic city in Warren County, Mississippi, United States. It is the county seat, and the population at the 2010 census was 23,856. Located on a high bluff on the east bank of the Mississippi River across from Louisiana, Vic ...

on Saturday, December 5, 1953. A total of 38 people were killed, 270 others were injured, and damages were estimated at $25 million (1953 USD). It remains the fifth-deadliest tornado to affect the U.S. state of Mississippi, behind the 1840 Great Natchez Tornado, the 1936 tornado in Tupelo, the 1971 tornado in Cary, and the 1966 tornado in Jackson. It is one of just four F5 tornadoes recorded in Mississippi since 1950.

Background

On December 5, 1953, as a warm front retreated northward across Mississippi, temperatures in the

warm sector A warm front is a density discontinuity located at the leading edge of a homogeneous warm air mass, and is typically located on the equator-facing edge of an isotherm gradient. Warm fronts lie within broader troughs of low pressure than cold fro ...

rose steadily. By sunrise, temperatures were already in the low 50s ° F—ten to fifteen degrees above average–despite overcast conditions. Just before noon CST (18:00 UTC), southeasterly winds were measured at in Vicksburg. Some hours later, the local

dew point The dew point is the temperature to which air must be cooled to become saturated with water vapor, assuming constant air pressure and water content. When cooled below the dew point, moisture capacity is reduced and airborne water vapor will cond ...

rose to nearly , along with a temperature of . Meanwhile, favorable wind shear arrived to promote the growth of severe thunderstorms, along with the conditions necessary for tornadogenesis. At 1:30 p.m. CST (19:30 UTC), the Severe Local Storms Unit of the

United States Weather Bureau The National Weather Service (NWS) is an agency of the United States federal government that is tasked with providing weather forecasts, warnings of hazardous weather, and other weather-related products to organizations and the public for the p ...

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

, released a severe weather bulletin indicating the likelihood of tornado-producing storms over portions of

East Texas East Texas is a broadly defined cultural, geographic, and ecological region in the eastern part of the U.S. state of Texas that comprises most of 41 counties. It is primarily divided into Northeast and Southeast Texas. Most of the region consi ...

, southern

Arkansas Arkansas ( ) is a landlocked state in the South Central United States. It is bordered by Missouri to the north, Tennessee and Mississippi to the east, Louisiana to the south, and Texas and Oklahoma to the west. Its name is from the Osage ...

, northern

Louisiana Louisiana , group=pronunciation (French: ''La Louisiane'') is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It is the 20th-smallest by area and the 25th most populous of the 50 U.S. states. Louisiana is borde ...

, and western

Mississippi Mississippi () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States, bordered to the north by Tennessee; to the east by Alabama; to the south by the Gulf of Mexico; to the southwest by Louisiana; and to the northwest by Arkansas. Miss ...

Tornado event

The destructive tornado may have first touched down over easternmost Madison Parish, Louisiana, crossed the

Mississippi River The Mississippi River is the second-longest river and chief river of the second-largest drainage system in North America, second only to the Hudson Bay drainage system. From its traditional source of Lake Itasca in northern Minnesota, it f ...

, and felled trees on DeSoto Island. However, official records indicate that the tornado first developed over the

Yazoo River The Yazoo River is a river in the U.S. states of Louisiana and Mississippi. It is considered by some to mark the southern boundary of what is called the Mississippi Delta, a broad floodplain that was cultivated for cotton plantations before the ...

in Warren County, Mississippi. As it entered Vicksburg, the tornado, which followed heavy rain, destroyed electrical services to the city and initiated several fires. Buildings were in "shambles" along four city blocks, and the downtown business district was adversely affected. Many automobiles were submerged by debris. The tornado damaged or destroyed 937 buildings, while nearly 1,300 people lost their homes. A total of 12 blocks of the city's business district were affected by the tornado, and fires also burned cotton. In total, 270 people received injuries, and total damages approached $25 million. The tornado is officially rated F5 on the Fujita scale; however, the rating is questionable, since the tornado demolished frail structures. Tornado researcher Thomas P. Grazulis rated the tornado F4.

Aftermath and recovery

The tornado broke the city's gas line, which remained out of service after repairs. Residents were forced to go without cooked food even as temperatures dropped to overnight on December 6. The tornado also disproved a persistent myth that its proximity to a river protected Vicksburg from tornadoes.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:1953-12 Vicksburg Tornado F5 tornadoes Vicksburg, 12 Vicksburg, 1953-12 Vicksburg Tornado, 12 Tornado, Vicksburg

Background

Tornado event

Aftermath and recovery

See also

References