What the record says
On 5 December 1953, a tornado touched down near Vicksburg, Mississippi. The Storm Prediction Center records its path as 9 miles long and up to 500 yards wide, rated F5 on the Fujita (F) scale. It killed 38 people and injured 270.
- F5Fujita rating
- 38deaths
- 270injuries
- 9 mipath length
- 500 ydmaximum width
It has its own page because it was rated 4 or 5 and it killed three or more people.
This page gives the official record's figures. Numbers of deaths and injuries are sometimes revised after a survey, and they cannot convey what the day was like for the people who lived through it.
Counties it crossed
The start point was at 32.33, -90.90 and the end point at 32.42, -90.78 (latitude, longitude).
How to read this path
The Storm Prediction Center records most tornadoes as a straight line from the point where they touched down to the point where they lifted. The real path usually curved and was not the same width all the way along. The width given is the widest part. Older records are less precise, and the record starts in 1950.
Source: the NOAA Storm Prediction Center database, public domain.
Other notable tornadoes in Mississippi
- Learned, Mississippi tornado3 March 1966, F5, 58 deaths, 518 injuries, 202.5 miles long
- Cary, Mississippi tornado21 February 1971, F4, 58 deaths, 795 injuries, 202.1 miles long
- Delhi, Louisiana tornado21 February 1971, F5, 47 deaths, 510 injuries, 109.2 miles long
- Fayette, Mississippi tornado23 January 1969, F4, 32 deaths, 241 injuries, 117.8 miles long
- Smithville, Mississippi tornado27 April 2011, EF5, 23 deaths, 137 injuries, 37.3 miles long
- Mayersville, Mississippi tornado24 March 2023, EF4, 17 deaths, 165 injuries, 59.2 miles long
Other notable tornadoes of 1953
- Flushing, Michigan tornado8 June 1953, F5, 116 deaths, 844 injuries, 18.9 miles long
- Waco, Texas tornado11 May 1953, F5, 114 deaths, 597 injuries, 20.9 miles long
- Framingham, Massachusetts tornado9 June 1953, F4, 94 deaths, 1,228 injuries, 34.9 miles long
- Warner Robins, Georgia tornado30 April 1953, F4, 18 deaths, 300 injuries, 1 mile long
- Cleveland, Ohio tornado8 June 1953, F4, 17 deaths, 379 injuries, 118 miles long
All tornadoes of 1953 · Mississippi tornado history · All notable tornadoes