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EF1 tornado in Walthall County, Mississippi

Tornado April 19, 2020 · Walthall County, Mississippi

EF1

Rating

53.8 mi

Whole path

500 yd

Path width

Death

Injury

$700K

Damage as recorded

NOAA records this tornado county by county. Its path ran through Walthall County → Marion County → Lamar County → Forrest County → Perry County; the totals above are for the whole tornado.

EF0EF1EF2EF3EF4EF5Unrated

The path drawn at its surveyed width of 500 yards (0.28 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

The tornado touched down in a field just west of Reagan Road and then moved east-northeast along State Highway 48 before exiting the county into Marion County near the intersection of Mt. Bethel Road and Highway 48. Significant tree damage and minor damage to a few homes was observed along the path of the tornado. Peak wind intensity for the Walthall County segment was 110 mph. Survey completed by WFO Jackson MS.

The wider storm

Strong low pressure moved from the Texas Panhandle early on the 19th to Georgia on the 20th. A strong cold front combined with a very moist and unstable atmosphere to produce severe weather across south Mississippi, southeast Louisiana and the adjacent coastal waters during the daylight hours on the 19th into the early morning hours of the 20th.

Began near Flowers (31.0707, -89.9646).

Other tornadoes from the same storm system

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

EF1 Pearl River County

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event 887095. Narratives are written by the National Weather Service forecast office that issued the report.

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