EF2 tornado in Marion County, Mississippi

This tornado started just inside Marion County on New Hope Road where a few outbuildings were destroyed. On the east side of the road, a home had a good portion of the roof torn off. The tornado then crossed Hurricane Creek Road and approached Mt Carmel Church Road, which is where the most intense damage occurred. Three mobile homes were completely destroyed with just the undercarriage left (3 injuries occurred here). A bit further northeast, the tornado crossed Regan Road where three homes sustained significant roof damage. Numerous trees were snapped or uprooted in this area as well. The tornado weakened as it crossed Hwy 35, but continued to produce low end tree damage across Hwy 13 South and Game Reserve Road. Additional damage to structures occurred near the Lamar County line along Columbia-Purvis Road, Powell Lane and Culdesac Drive. The tornado then entered Lamar County causing additional damage to structures with one home off Wiley Lott Road having the roof removed. A number of power poles were snapped in this area as well, along with significant tree damage. The tornado dissipated shortly after producing this damage. Maximum wind speeds were estimated at 120 mph.

An approaching cold front, an unusually high amount of wind shear, and sufficient instability resulted in an outbreak of severe thunderstorms across portions of the lower Deep South, including a violent tornado that moved through Hattiesburg. During the morning hours of February 10th, a line of severe thunderstorms moved into the ArkLaMiss, downing trees and powerlines over portions of southeast Arkansas, northeast Louisiana, and central Mississippi. There was also a barn destroyed near Silver City in Humphreys County. The storms continued to push eastward through the early afternoon, then began to slow down as the cold front began to stall. To the south and east of this line of storms, several supercell thunderstorms developed in the more unstable air mass over south Mississippi, with many of the storms exhibiting strong rotation on radar. Shortly after 4 pm, a tornado developed over southwest Marion County near the Pickwick community and tracked across the county into far western Lamar County before lifting. The same storm which produced this tornado continued eastward across northern Lamar County, producing a large tornado which touched down west of Oak Grove and tracked through the very populated West Hattiesburg area. The tornado continued into Forrest County, tracking through the cities of Hattiesburg and Petal before ending in northwestern Perry County. Considerable damage occurred along the path of this storm, and several people were injured. Scattered severe storms continued to affect the Pine Belt area through the remainder of the evening and into the early morning hours of the 11th, before finally moving out of the area.

In addition to severe weather, flash flooding was a major issue in several areas. From the 10th through the early morning hours of the 11th, the heaviest rainfall occurred over parts of southeast Mississippi, where 5 to 7 inches of rain fell and flash flooding was reported in the area. Rainfall amounts of up to 3 1/2 inches occurred in the Jackson metro area, leading to considerable flash flooding. Quick rises occurred on several streams in the city of Jackson.