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F3 tornado in Prentiss County, Mississippi

Tornado February 24, 2001 · Prentiss County, Mississippi

Rating

5.0 mi

Path length

50 yd

Path width

Injuries

$2.0M

Damage as recorded

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NOAA recorded where this tornado touched down but not where it lifted, so it appears as a point. Other tornadoes recorded nearby that day are shown faint.

What F3 means. This tornado was rated on Fujita’s original scale, used until 2007. F3 meant severe damage: whole stories of well-built houses destroyed, large buildings badly damaged, trains overturned; the scale paired it with winds of 158–206 mph, figures later judged too high, especially toward the top of the scale, and revised downward in the Enhanced Fujita scale. Ratings then, as now, came from the damage.

What the National Weather Service wrote

The tornado continued from Lee county into Prentiss county finally lifting up near the town of Wheeler. The most significant damage occurred in Baldwyn along the Lee/Prentiss county line. Nearly 100 homes were damaged or destroyed. The Baldwyn High School lost the roof to its gymnasium and had another building damaged. Six homes were damaged in Wheeler.

Began near Wheeler (34.9333, -88.5833).

Other tornadoes from the same storm system

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

F3 Pontotoc County 6 dead F3 Calhoun County F3 Union County F3 Lee County

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event 5232988. Narratives are written by the National Weather Service forecast office that issued the report.

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