Hurricane Rita tornado outbreak

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Hurricane Rita tornado outbreak

Map of tornado tracks within the county warning area of the Jackson, MS Weather Forecast Office
Type	Tornado outbreak
Duration	September 24 – 26, 2005
Highest winds	75 mph (121 km/h) (Cleveland, MS non-tornadic on September 24)
Tornadoes confirmed	98
Max. rating1	F3 tornado
Duration of tornado outbreak2	1 day, 20 hours, and 5 minutes
Largest hail	None reported
Fatalities	1 fatality, 23 injuries
Damage	$18.373 million
Part of the tornado outbreaks of 2005 1Most severe tornado damage; see Fujita scale 2Time from first tornado to last tornado

The Hurricane Rita tornado outbreak was a significant tropical cyclone-produced tornado outbreak and severe weather event that resulted from the remnants of Hurricane Rita in late-September 2005. The event was the fourth-largest tornado outbreak caused by a tropical cyclone in recorded history. After the hurricane made landfall on the extreme southwestern coast of Louisiana on September 24, the tropical cyclone's strong rainbands affected much of the West South Central and East South Central States, producing heavy rainfall in addition to numerous tornadoes. Tornadic activity was distributed roughly evenly from September 24–25, though activity shifted slightly eastward on September 25. The severe activity ended by September 26, by which time the remnants of Hurricane Rita were absorbed by a frontal boundary.

As a result of Hurricane Rita, 98 tornadoes were confirmed over nearly a two-day period. Most of the tornadoes occurred in Mississippi, where 49 tornadoes were confirmed. With forty-four tornadoes in a single day, this is tied for the largest tornado outbreak in state history in a single day.^[1] The strongest tornado throughout the outbreak was an F3 tornado which struck areas of southeastern Louisiana late on September 24, injuring three people. Despite the large number of tornadoes, only one death resulted, which occurred as a result of an F1 tornado in Mississippi on September 24. However, another F1 tornado near Starkville, Mississippi injured seven people on September 25 making it the tornado with the most injuries during the outbreak. The same tornado was also the costliest, causing $2 million in damages. Overall, tornadoes during the outbreak killed one person and injured 23, and caused $18.373 million in damages.