A robust supercell storm produced a number of tornadoes throughout southern Mississippi on Could 6, 2026. The longest and strongest spanned 5 counties, delivering wind speeds as much as 137 miles (220 kilometers) per hour and EF-3 injury, as gauged by the Enhanced Fujita Scale, to a number of areas.
A part of this twister’s harmful path was seen to the Landsat 8 satellite tv for pc when it handed over the world on Could 12. Winds snapped, uprooted, and tore bark and branches off timber, making a brownish monitor throughout the panorama. This space, south of Brookhaven in Lincoln County, was one which sustained EF-3 injury. Nationwide Climate Service (NWS) post-event injury assessments famous in depth tree injury, a house whose exterior partitions collapsed, and a cell residence park “devastated with particles.”
The twister coated far more floor than is captured on this scene. It started in St. Catherine Creek Nationwide Wildlife Refuge close to the Mississippi River, roughly 60 miles (100 kilometers) west-southwest of Brookhaven. In simply over two hours, it traveled practically 82 miles (132 kilometers), putting it amongst a number of the longest tornadoes recorded in Mississippi. Heavy tree injury occurred alongside its total path, NWS surveys discovered, with a number of situations of EF-2 structural injury and bent or collapsed transmission towers.
Seven tornadoes occurred in Mississippi on the night of Could 6, in response to NWS preliminary information as of Could 20. The Mississippi Emergency Administration Company acquired experiences of harm to greater than 400 houses and dozens of companies and farm buildings statewide after the storms, in response to a information launch, the vast majority of which have been in Lincoln County.
The Gulf Coast and different southeastern states are usually not thought of a part of what’s generally referred to as Twister Alley, an space encompassing a lot of the U.S. central and southern plains the place supercells are inclined to type. Nonetheless, this belt of southeastern states can be tornado-prone, experiencing a comparatively excessive frequency of tornadoes in spring and late autumn. Traditionally in Mississippi, probably the most month-to-month tornadoes—a median of greater than seven—happen in April, whereas Could averages simply over three. Some latest analyses have discovered decreases in twister frequency within the Nice Plains and will increase within the Southeast over a number of many years.
NASA Earth Observatory pictures by Lauren Dauphin, utilizing Landsat information from the U.S. Geological Survey. Story by Lindsey Doermann.
- AccuWeather (2026, Could 7) EF3 twister damages a whole lot of houses, injures 17 in Mississippi. Accessed Could 20, 2026.
- Kentucky Lantern (2025, Could 19) Conventional ‘Twister Alley’ shifts eastward as local weather adjustments, says meteorologist learning pattern. Accessed Could 20, 2026.
- Mississippi Emergency Administration Company (2026, Could 12) Could 6-7, 2026, Extreme Climate Replace #5. Accessed Could 20, 2026.
- NASA Utilized Sciences (2025, March 24) Monitoring Tornadoes from House. Accessed Could 20, 2026.
- Nationwide Facilities for Environmental Data, Twister Alley. Accessed Could 20, 2026.
- Nationwide Climate Service (2026, Could) 2026 NWS Jackson/Mississippi Twister Data. Accessed Could 20, 2026.
- Nationwide Climate Service, Extreme Climate Statistics. Accessed Could 20, 2026.
- NOAA (2026, Could) Injury Evaluation Toolkit. Accessed Could 20, 2026.
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