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F2 tornado in Pearl River County, Mississippi

Tornado February 19, 1996 · Pearl River County, Mississippi

F2
Rating
23.0 mi
Path length
430 yd
Path width
10
Injuries
$700K
Damage as recorded
EF0EF1EF2EF3EF4EF5Unrated

The path drawn at its surveyed width of 430 yards (0.24 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.

The wider storm

A strong tornado touched down just northwest of the White Sand community. The most significant damage occurred in the initial 2.2 miles just to the north of the White Sand community where ten people were injured; five seriously, requiring hospitalization. The most serious was a woman who suffered a broken back, broken ribs and a punctured lung. The tornado continued on the ground continuously to just north of Poplarville, then intermittently to near Hillsdale. The county suffered considerable property damage with five houses destroyed, 10 had major damage and 14 minor damage. Nine mobile homes were destroyed, 3 sustained major damage and 5 minor damage. Numerous barns and other buildings were damaged. Several farm animals were killed. Large areas of 8 to 12 inch diameter trees were downed. The tornado path was surveyed by National Weather Service employees.

Began near White Sand (30.8200, -89.6700).

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event 5548512. Narratives are written by the National Weather Service forecast office that issued the report.

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