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F3 tornado in Lawrence County, Mississippi

Tornado February 27, 1999 · Lawrence County, Mississippi

Rating

17.0 mi

Path length

440 yd

Path width

$200K

Damage as recorded

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The path drawn at its surveyed width of 440 yards (0.25 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 strong tornado moved across Northern Lawrence county through mainly rural areas knocking down many trees and power lines. Many homes received damage, particularly near the towns of Sontag and New Hebron. Several homes received major damage.

Began near Sontag (31.6200, -90.2300).

Other tornadoes from the same storm system

1 more tornado the National Weather Service filed under this storm episode.

F0 Lawrence County

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event 5687966. Narratives are written by the National Weather Service forecast office that issued the report.

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