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EF2 tornado in Attala County, Mississippi

Tornado February 5, 2020 · Attala County, Mississippi

EF2
Rating
5.8 mi
Whole path
800 yd
Path width
$255K
Damage as recorded

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

EF0EF1EF2EF3EF4EF5Unrated

The path drawn at its surveyed width of 800 yards (0.45 mi) — zoom in and the swath grows to true scale. Other tornadoes recorded nearby that day are shown faint.

What EF2 means. On the Enhanced Fujita scale, EF2 is considerable damage: roofs torn off well-built houses, mobile homes destroyed, large trees snapped or uprooted, consistent with estimated gusts of 111–135 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 brief tornado touched down near County Road 5210 and Highway 411 then tracked roughly northeast into western Choctaw County. The tornado quickly grew and downed dozens of trees along Highway 411 just before Hurricane Creek. Power lines were down here as well. As the tornado crossed Kyle Road, it reached EF2 strength as a swath of significant tree damage occurred. A few homes along the road sustained some roof damage and a few sheds were damaged. As the tornado crossed Burks Road, the swath of significant tree damage continued. Here a home along with a mobile home and RV were damaged by fallen trees. The tornado weakened as it crossed into Choctaw County and crossed Hunt and Mountain roads. Max sustained winds were 112 mph and was rated an EF-2 in Attala County. Total path length 5.89 miles. Max width was 800 yards also in Attala County.

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 Ethel (33.1175, -89.3761).

Other tornadoes from the same storm system

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

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

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event 874697. Narratives are written by the National Weather Service forecast office that issued the report.

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