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EF1 tornado in Perry County, Mississippi

Tornado April 19, 2020 · Perry County, Mississippi

EF1

Rating

53.8 mi

Whole path

250 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 250 yards (0.14 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 is a continuation of the long track tornado that started in southeastern Walthall County. The tornado crossed into Perry County from Forrest County along the Leaf River bottom, snapping and uprooting trees. It continued to track just south of Old River Road before dissipating along Old River Road 3 miles northwest of New Augusta.

The wider storm

A powerful storm system swept across the southeast states through the day and into the evening on the 19th. Ahead of this system a warm front brought a very warm, moist and unstable air mass northward across the area. Numerous thunderstorms develop along and south of the warm front and became severe, producing wind damage tornadoes and large hail.

Began near Belleville (31.2125, -89.1454).

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event 887428. Narratives are written by the National Weather Service forecast office that issued the report.

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