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EF1 tornado in Simpson County, Mississippi

Tornado February 5, 2020 · Simpson County, Mississippi

EF1
Rating
6.2 mi
Path length
150 yd
Path width
$200K
Damage as recorded
EF0EF1EF2EF3EF4EF5Unrated

The path drawn at its surveyed width of 150 yards (0.09 mi) — zoom in and the swath grows to true scale. Other tornadoes recorded nearby that day are shown faint.

What EF1 means. On the Enhanced Fujita scale, EF1 is moderate damage: roofs badly stripped, mobile homes pushed off foundations or overturned, windows broken, consistent with estimated gusts of 86–110 mph. The rating comes from a survey of the worst damage after the storm, not from a wind measurement, so it says as much about what the tornado hit as about how strong it was.

What the National Weather Service wrote

This tornado touched down in a pasture just west of Highway 541 where a few trees were uprooted. Very minor tree damage was noted initially as it crossed roads and just past Highway 540. Damage increased as it crossed Cole Road where a few more trees were uprooted. As the tornado approached and crossed Bill Collins Road, it increased and reached peak intensity of EF1 with 100 mph. Here, multiple hardwood trees were uprooted. Two homes sustained moderate roof damage along with one shed having nearly all of the tin torn off the roof. In this area, a home had a large window blown out and a car port destroyed. In the carport a car was rolled along with an RV and each vehicle was destroyed. Additional trees were uprooted and snapped just to the north of Highway 540. Along Vera Drive. a mobile home was pushed off the blocks, had the front porch blown away, and had multiple trees damaged. The tornado lifted just east of there before the Smith County line. Max sustained winds were 100 mph.

The wider storm

A strong cold front moved through the region. Ahead of this, storms developed across Central Mississippi and produced tornadoes and wind damage.

Began near Martinville (31.9546, -89.7520).

Other tornadoes from the same storm system

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

EF2 Smith CountyEF2 Yazoo CountyEF2 Attala CountyEF2 Jasper CountyEF1 Yazoo CountyEF1 Attala CountyEF1 Leake CountyEF1 Leake County

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event 874690. Narratives are written by the National Weather Service forecast office that issued the report.

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