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F2 tornado in Lamar County, Alabama

Tornado November 10, 2002 · Lamar County, Alabama

F2
Rating
29.2 mi
Whole path
150 yd
Path width
57
Injuries
$60.2M
Damage as recorded

NOAA records this tornado county by county. Its path ran through Lowndes County, Mississippi → Lamar County; the totals above are for the whole tornado.

EF0EF1EF2EF3EF4EF5Unrated

The path drawn at its surveyed width of 150 yards (0.09 mi) — zoom in and the swath grows to true scale. Other tornadoes recorded nearby that day are shown faint.

What F2 means. This tornado was rated on Fujita’s original scale, used until 2007. F2 meant considerable damage: roofs torn off well-built houses, mobile homes destroyed, large trees snapped or uprooted; the scale paired it with winds of 113–157 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 Fernbank Tornado was the second tornado of the evening in Alabama, but it actually began in Mississippi. The tornado crossed the Alabama-Mississippi State Line at 7:31 pm, downing trees in Luxapallila Creek. When it reached County Road 12, a well built home was deroofed along with damage to the upper floor of the house and tremendous tree destruction. The tornado continued on a northeast track, damaging mostly trees before knocking over head stones at the Ebenezer Church and flipping automobiles. The tornado weakened fairly quickly after it passed the church and ended about 7:42 pm.This tornado was rated an F2 in Alabama but was rated an F3 in Mississippi. No deaths and two injuries were reported in the Alabama portion of this tornado.The path length was 7.2 miles with an estimated width of 150 yards.

Began near Fernbank (33.5000, -88.2500).

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event 5321434. Narratives are written by the National Weather Service forecast office that issued the report.

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