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F1 tornado in Calhoun County, Mississippi

Tornado March 1, 1997 · Calhoun County, Mississippi

Rating

25.0 mi

Whole path

400 yd

Path width

Death

Injuries

$105K

Damage as recorded

NOAA records this tornado county by county. Its path ran through Calhoun County → Pontotoc County; the totals above are for the whole tornado.

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The path drawn at its surveyed width of 400 yards (0.23 mi) — zoom in and the swath grows to true scale. Other tornadoes recorded nearby that day are shown faint.

What F1 means. This tornado was rated on Fujita’s original scale, used until 2007. F1 meant moderate damage: roofs badly stripped, mobile homes pushed off foundations or overturned, windows broken; the scale paired it with winds of 73–112 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 tornado touched down in the western part of Calhoun county and tracked northeast into Pontotoc county. The most significant damage occured in the Randolph area of Pontotoc county. One man was killed when his mobile home was destroyed. Four other persons were also injured in Randolph. In all 2 houses and 2 mobile homes were destroyed. Nine other homes were damaged. Twenty-five barns were destroyed. Two horses were killed.

Began near Shepherd (33.9700, -89.4000).

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event 5595084. Narratives are written by the National Weather Service forecast office that issued the report.

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