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EF1 tornado in Leake County, Mississippi

Tornado April 18, 2008 · Leake County, Mississippi

EF1
Rating
7.8 mi
Whole path
75 yd
Path width
$200K
Damage as recorded

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

EF0EF1EF2EF3EF4EF5Unrated

The path drawn at its surveyed width of 75 yards (0.04 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 began in the Marydell Community just along Highway 25 in northeast Leake County. The tornado tracked northeast into southwest Winston County. Numerous trees were snapped and uprooted along the path with one old chicken house destroyed. Maximum wind were around 105 mph. Total path length across Leake and Winston Counties was 8 miles.

The wider storm

A strong storm system and cold front evolved over the region and brought first a steady area of light to moderate rain to the western half of the forecast area. As the rain shield dissipated during mid afternoon, enough instability developed and combined with increasing wind shear. These ingredients set the stage for a round of severe weather. Seven tornadoes occurred across portions of central Mississippi along with a few scattered reports of wind damage. All tornadoes were of the EF-1 variety.

Began near Marydell (32.8897, -89.3762).

Other tornadoes from the same storm system

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

EF1 Copiah CountyEF1 Hinds CountyEF1 Hinds CountyEF1 Madison CountyEF1 Madison CountyEF1 Leake CountyEF1 Winston County

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event 98587. Narratives are written by the National Weather Service forecast office that issued the report.

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