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EF1 tornado in Lauderdale County, Mississippi

Tornado February 15, 2025 · Lauderdale County, Mississippi

EF1
Rating
16.7 mi
Whole path
720 yd
Path width
$325K
Damage as recorded

NOAA records this tornado county by county. Its path ran through Newton County → Lauderdale County; the totals above are for the whole tornado.

EF0EF1EF2EF3EF4EF5Unrated

The path drawn at its surveyed width of 720 yards (0.41 mi) — zoom in and the swath grows to true scale. Other tornadoes recorded nearby that day are shown faint.

What EF1 means. On the Enhanced Fujita scale, EF1 is moderate damage: roofs badly stripped, mobile homes pushed off foundations or overturned, windows broken, consistent with estimated gusts of 86–110 mph. The rating comes from a survey of the worst damage after the storm, not from a wind measurement, so it says as much about what the tornado hit as about how strong it was.

What the National Weather Service wrote

This EF-1 tornado began northeast of the town of Decatur and did mainly tree damage. Pines had been uprooted and large branches had been broken. Tin was peeled off the roof of a barn as well. The tornado then produced more intense tree damage in a concentrated corridor and knocked down power poles. It continued to snap and uproot softwood trees as it moved eastward. A carport was shifted and roof damage was evident on a home. As it moved east, it encountered another home and peeled tin off of about 40% of the roof. The tornado crossed into Lauderdale County shortly after it crossed HWY 491. As it moved into the town of Collinsville, it encountered a subdivision where minor tree and shingle damage was noted. It moved right through the center of Collinsville where more intense damage was noted. The roof of a car wash was folded upward in half and hardwood trees were snapped and splintered. A pine tree was felled onto a home which resulted in roof and awning damage. The tornado then approached Okatibbee Lake, with uprooted pines noted in a concentrated corridor. Damaged pines were also visible through camera across the lake. The tornado crossed the lake and then continued to damage mainly pines in Okatibbee park, with damage to the park station noted. It continued to do minor tree damage and damaged a barn and a carport as it jogged northeast. It dissipated shortly after it crossed Gum Log Road. Its maximum wind speed was 95 mph and total path length 17 miles across parts of Newton and Lauderdale counties.

The wider storm

An active weather pattern set the stage for a couple rounds of severe weather in mid February. A large upper trough was situated over the Rockies and associated surface lows moved through and just north of the area. This pattern supported thunderstorms across southern portions of the area which produced wind damage and a few tornadoes on February 12th. A more potent system impacted the area on February 15th where more widespread severe weather unfolded.

Began near Schamberville (32.4850, -88.9150).

Other tornadoes from the same storm system

3 more tornadoes the National Weather Service filed under this storm episode.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event 1244459. Narratives are written by the National Weather Service forecast office that issued the report.

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