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F3 tornado in Holmes County, Mississippi

Tornado May 2, 1997 · Holmes County, Mississippi

F3
Rating
20.0 mi
Path length
200 yd
Path width
$200K
Damage as recorded
EF0EF1EF2EF3EF4EF5Unrated

The path drawn at its surveyed width of 200 yards (0.11 mi) — zoom in and the swath grows to true scale. 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

This tornado initially touched down 1 mile south of Tchula and moved northeast to 2 miles east southeast of Emory. The path width and strength varied along the path, but at its widest point was 200 yards. The worst damage occurred at a school 2 miles east of Tchula where major damage was done. Fortunately the the school was almost vacant. Along the remainder of the path mostly F1 and F2 damage occurred. Several houses were damaged and one mobile home was flipped over. Of course numerous trees were blown down along the entire path.

Began near Tchula (33.1700, -90.2300).

Other tornadoes from the same storm system

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

F1 Attala CountyF0 Carroll CountyF0 Leflore County

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event 5605508. Narratives are written by the National Weather Service forecast office that issued the report.

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