November 2004 tornado outbreak

Meteorological synopsis

The outbreak began on the 22nd, producing six weak F0 tornadoes in Louisiana and Texas, three of which occurred in the Houston area. The tornadoes caused very minimal damage and no injuries.

Tornado activity continued in the same general area on the 23rd. Early on, most of the touchdowns were weak, though an F2 tornado near Kountze, Texas damaged between 10 and 20 houses and killed a woman when trees crushed her mobile home. Several other tornadoes occurred in Texas throughout the afternoon, and soon began touch down in Louisiana as well. An F2 struck the town of Hutton, damaging about 15 houses and injuring 3 people. Further north, an F3 touched down and ripped directly through the town of Olla, where major damage occurred. A high school in town sustained significant damage, along with 106 homes. Some of the homes only had interior rooms left. A pickup truck outside of town was thrown 200 feet, and in the nearby town of Standard, four homes and a store were destroyed. Overall, the Olla/Standard tornado killed one person and injured 20 others. Another F3 touched down near Fayette, Mississippi, destroying a steel-frame shed, damaging several homes, and flattening large swaths of trees.

Vigorous tornado activity continued on the 24th, mainly across Mississippi and Alabama. However, an F2 tornado tore though the northwest side of Slidell, Louisiana, damaging 152 homes in a single subdivision and injuring 4 people. Numerous tornadoes touched down in Mississippi, with the strongest being an F3 that passed near Noxapater. The Noxapater tornado downed hundreds of trees, tossed vehicles, and destroyed chicken houses. A house was completely destroyed, resulting in a fatality and two injuries. In Alabama, a large F2 tracked across Autauga, Chilton, and Coosa counties. The tornado struck the Cooper community, resulting in major structural damage. Another F2 touched down and struck the Talladega Superspeedway, where two concession stands within the infield area of the race track had their roofs blown off. The Bush Garage area received building damage and the garage doors were bowed out. Debris was scattered between the garage area and Victory Lane. One digital leader board was completely destroyed and another one sustained major damage. The Talladega tornado continued east through Eastaboga and Bynum. In Eastaboga, two homes suffered major roof damage, two porches were destroyed and many trees were blown down. In Bynum, two mobile homes were heavily damaged by fallen trees. One of the trees smashed a mobile home, killing a 75-year-old woman. The tornado caused roof and structural damage in southern Anniston before dissipating. No tornadoes occurred on the 25th. Overall, the outbreak produced 98 tornadoes and killed four people.