TornadoLookup

Home / Mississippi / Lincoln

F2 tornado in Lincoln County, Mississippi

Tornado April 6, 2003 · Lincoln County, Mississippi

F2
Rating
10.0 mi
Path length
1,230 yd
Path width
6
Injuries
$1.0M
Damage as recorded
EF0EF1EF2EF3EF4EF5Unrated

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 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

This tornado started 4 miles SE of Caseyville and continued to the NE for 10 miles when it entered Copiah county at 7:46 pm, at the intersection of Interstate 55 and the county line. This tornado caused minor damage to numerous homes with several homes sustaining major damage in the form of having their roofs blown off. This tornado also took down two 500 kilowatt towers. In addition to the structural damage, hundereds of trees were snapped and uprooted.

The wider storm

To put the entire event into perspective, areas just to the N of Interstate 20 and extending W to E across the entire state, experienced a 125 year rainfall event. Rainfall totals ranged from 7 to 12 inches which all fell in about 18 hours. Due to the large amounts of rain, river flooding quickly became a major problem. The Pelahatchie Creek experienced a 100 year flood. The Chunky River, at Chunky, set a new record. This river actually flooded a portion of Interstate 20 which had to be closed for a few hours. The Chickasawhay River at Enterprise also set a record. In addition to all the flash flooding, the river flooding caused major damage to homes and flooded numerous roads.

Began near Caseyville (31.6500, -90.5167).

Other tornadoes from the same storm system

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

F1 Hinds CountyF1 Copiah CountyF1 Rankin CountyF0 Humphreys CountyF0 Newton CountyF0 Lauderdale CountyF0 Yazoo CountyF0 Yazoo CountyF0 Madison CountyF0 Issaquena CountyF0 Warren County

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event 5350508. Narratives are written by the National Weather Service forecast office that issued the report.

Tornadoes near your address

See every tornado that passed near a place you know, measured to its path.