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EF1 tornado in Harrison County, Mississippi

Tornado June 18, 2026 · Harrison County, Mississippi

EF1
Rating
7.4 mi
Whole path
275 yd
Path width
$40K
Damage as recorded

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

EF0EF1EF2EF3EF4EF5Unrated

The path drawn at its surveyed width of 275 yards (0.16 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

The tornado that began in Hancock County entered Harrison County at Deschamp Road. The tornado then evidently weakened and the damage path become more intermittent until it reached the Wolf River where another swath of trees was rated low-end EF-1. The tornado damage path became intermittent once more after crossing the intersection of Cemetery and Steel Bridge Rd. The tornado then evidently reached its third peak as an EF-1 tornado as it crossed Cemetery Rd and MS Hwy 53 where swaths of trees were damaged and uprooted. The tornado then rapidly dissipated as it continued northeast and it's estimated to have lifted prior to reaching Herman Ladner Rd.

The wider storm

A mesoscale convective system formed on the eastern side of Post-Tropical Storm Arthur on June 18th. Favorable low level winds allowed for multiple mini-supercells to form on the leading edge of the mesoscale convective system resulting in a few tornadoes affecting coastal Mississippi. These tornadoes were rated as EF-0 and EF-1 events. A bow echo also developed over coastal Mississippi leading to severe winds and thunderstorm wind damage in the Gulfport-Biloxi metro area. Additionally, the mesoscale convective complex tapped into a region of deep tropical moisture with atmospheric moisture content well above normal levels for mid-June. This resulted in several significant flash flooding events in portions of coastal Mississippi including the city of Picayune. Two fatalities occurred near Picayune where rainfall rates of 2 to 3 inches per hour and QPE of 10 to 15 inches was noted. This very high rainfall total resulted in major flooding on the West Hobolochitto Creek on June 18th and this is where the fatalities occurred. Lingering moisture and weak upper level troughing associated with the slow moving remnants of Post-Tropical Storm Arthur produced additional thunderstorm activity on June 20th. This activity was focused in Biloxi where additional flash flooding occurred.

Began near Ligana (30.5093, -89.3417).

Other tornadoes from the same storm system

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

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event 1346304. Narratives are written by the National Weather Service forecast office that issued the report.

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