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EF1 tornado in Winston County, Mississippi

Tornado April 18, 2008 · Winston County, Mississippi

EF1
Rating
8.9 mi
Path length
500 yd
Path width
1
Injury
$3.0M
Damage as recorded
$100K
Crop damage
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

This tornado touched down just on the southern side of Louisville and tracked northeast across the eastern side of the city and dissipated about 6 miles northeast of town. Numerous trees were snapped and uprooted along the path. Seven homes sustained significant damage as well as the Island Plaza apartments. The Georgia Pacific Paper Company building was badly damaged as well as damage to a school bus barn. Maximum winds were around 110 mph.

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 Louisville (33.0903, -89.0711).

Other tornadoes from the same storm system

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

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event 98642. Narratives are written by the National Weather Service forecast office that issued the report.

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