In reviewing the 18z rawinsondes from the MS/LA area, the hodos were looking quite favorable by early this afternoon. ML CAPE was still less than 750 J/KG, but shear and SRH profiles were quite impressive.


http://www.pretorianews.co.za/i-was-superman-for-a-while-1.1006920“It sucked me out of my house and carried me across the road and dropped me,” Chris Sizemore of Cincinnati said in an interview with The Associated Press. “I was Superman for a while. ... You're just free-floating through the air. Trees are knocking you and smacking you down.”
Storm top is a function of multiple things, including tropopause height as well as parcel buoyancy. However, storm top has been shown to not be very indicative of tornado strength. See a project from a colleague of mine.I was shocked to see the echo tops were only about 25Kft! I am no expert by any means, but I never would have thought an EF3 tornado could come from a storm that small.
Information on 3-tornadoes in Central MS. Ratings of EF-0, EF-2, and EF-3.
NWS Jackson, MS.
http://www.srh.noaa.gov/jan/?n=2011_01_01_severeweatherevent