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EF2 tornado in De Soto County, Mississippi

Tornado June 12, 2009 · De Soto County, Mississippi

EF2
Rating
2.9 mi
Path length
75 yd
Path width
1
Injury
$4.0M
Damage as recorded
EF0EF1EF2EF3EF4EF5Unrated

The path drawn at its surveyed width of 75 yards (0.04 mi) — zoom in and the swath grows to true scale. Other tornadoes recorded nearby that day are shown faint.

What EF2 means. On the Enhanced Fujita scale, EF2 is considerable damage: roofs torn off well-built houses, mobile homes destroyed, large trees snapped or uprooted, consistent with estimated gusts of 111–135 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

A tornado touched down at the truck weighing scales on Highway 78 about 1 mile southeast of Goodman Road in Olive Branch. The tornado had a non continuous track to the east-northeast for 2.9 miles and ended a few hundred yards east of Hacks Cross Road about one half mile south of Goodman Road. The maximum estimated winds were 125 mph. There was widespread damage along the tornado track in Olive Branch. Numerous trees and power lines were knocked down. Four homes were destroyed while numerous other homes suffered some degree of damage. Streets that suffered the heaviest damage included Roberta Street, College Street, Blocker Street, Chickasaw Drive, Cherokee Drive, Sequoia Lane, Seminole Drive and Magnolia Drive. Several schools and public buildings were also damaged including the Olive Branch Elementary, Middle and High Schools, the Chickasaw Elementary School, the Olive Branch Community Center and the Olive Branch City Shop. The Olive Branch Middle School alone suffered $500,000 in damage. The tornado cleanup costs totaled $350,000 for the city of Olive Branch. There was one minor injury associated with the tornado in Olive Branch.

The wider storm

A stationary front was located across the Mid-South during the day on June 12th, 2009. During the early morning hours, a mesoscale convective system developed over Eastern Oklahoma and tracked east into the Mid-South during the afternoon and evening hours. A derecho tracked across the Mid-South producing numerous reports of damaging winds, large hail and flash flooding. Wind speeds were reported as high as 80 mph. Isolated tornadoes occurred along the bow echo. In addition, scattered thunderstorms developed over ahead of the bow echo and produced large hail, damaging winds and flash flooding as well.

Began near Olive Branch (34.9518, -89.8428).

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event 184469. Narratives are written by the National Weather Service forecast office that issued the report.

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