EF1 tornado, Otho to Hazel, Mississippi, March 3, 2008

1. EF065 to 85 mph

   Light damage. Surface peeled off some roofs, gutters and siding damaged, branches broken, shallow-rooted trees pushed over.

2. EF186 to 110 mphthis tornado

   Moderate damage. Roofs badly stripped, mobile homes overturned or badly damaged, exterior doors lost, windows broken.

3. EF2111 to 135 mph

   Considerable damage. Roofs torn off well-built houses, frame homes shifted on their foundations, mobile homes destroyed, large trees snapped or uprooted, cars lifted off the ground.

4. EF3136 to 165 mph

   Severe damage. Whole stories of well-built houses destroyed, large buildings badly damaged, trains overturned, trees debarked, heavy cars lifted and thrown.

5. EF4166 to 200 mph

   Devastating damage. Well-built houses leveled, structures with weak foundations moved some distance, cars thrown and large missiles generated.

6. EF5over 200 mph

   Incredible damage. Strong frame houses swept off their foundations, car-sized missiles thrown more than 100 meters, steel-reinforced concrete badly damaged, high-rise buildings deformed.

7. Unrated

   The survey recorded a tornado but could not put a number on it, most often because it crossed open country and damaged nothing a rating can be read from.

Rating

EF1

Date

March 3, 2008

Touchdown

9:49 PM CST (03:49 UTC)

Lifted

9:54 PM CST (03:54 UTC)

On the ground

5 minutes

Path length

4.0 miles (6.5 km)

Path width

175 yards (160 m)

Deaths

0

Injuries

0

Property damage

$1.2 million

Counties

Scott and Newton counties

Touchdown point

32.308, -89.353

Lift-off point

32.359, -89.320

Record number

0803032149-01

A strong upper level system and evolving surface low moved across the region late on March 3rd. These features combined to bring a potent weather system to the area and a healthy round of severe thunderstorms from late afternoon through around midnight. It was a line of thunderstorms which brought most of the severe weather, but a few supercells did occur just ahead of the line. Ten tornadoes occurred, two of which were strong (EF-2), along with a good deal of wind damage as the line pushed east across Mississippi.

This tornado touched down briefly, near Highway 501, just north of the Smith County line. Numerous trees were blown down along the path, with a number of them across Highway 501. Maximum wind speed was 95 mph.

This tornado touched down in a rural area just southwest of Lake and downed many trees as it approached the City of Lake. Before it crossed I-20, two homes sustained roof damage. It then crossed the interstate, more trees were blown down along with a highway sign. The most extensive damage occurred in the City of Lake. Several homes suffered roof damage, three large grain bins were destroyed, two railroad light standards were bent, two cinder block buildings were nearly destroyed, and a mobile home was destroyed by a large tree which fell on it. After the tornado moved through Lake, it continued to produce tree damage which gradually became lesser. It finally dissipated just after crossing into Newton County. Maximum wind speed was 100 mph. Total path length was 4 miles with a total rating of EF-1.

This was the continuation of the Lake tornado. It had just moved into Newton County before dissipating. Minimal tree damage occurred to a handful of trees as it dissipated. Total path length was 4 miles with a total rating of EF-1.

From NOAA NCEI's Storm Events Database, the narrative the local forecast office wrote for Storm Data.

19 minutes of warning. NWS JAN issued a tornado warning for this county at 03:30 UTC, 19 minutes before the tornado touched down, in force until 04:15 UTC.

The county was under a tornado watch, issued at 20:26 UTC and running to 04:44 UTC.

Every warning and watch covering the touchdown point that day, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service products. Lead time is measured from the issue of the warning in force to the touchdown time in the database, both of which were recorded to the minute by different people.

The Storm Prediction Center had this point in a Slight Risk, with a 0.10 chance of a tornado within 25 miles, in the hatched area where significant tornadoes were expected. The outlook in force was issued at 01:01 UTC.

SPC's Day 1 convective outlook as it stood when the tornado began, read at the touchdown point. The same archive is on the radar archive.

The radiosonde launches on either side of the tornado, from the nearest station that was launching then, drawn and analyzed the way Storm Lab does: the same diagram, the same parcel and shear definitions SPC's mesoanalysis uses.

Meridian/Key Field (MEI), 55 km from the path, in the two hours either side.

From the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of airport observations.

The Jackson/Brandon,MS radar (KDGX), 61 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 03:48 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment, over the track

Reflectivity and velocity, decoded from the Level II archive in the browser. Volumes take a few seconds to open the first time.

Local storm reports within 60 km of the path, in the three hours either side.

From the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service local storm reports.

The live radar over the trackEvery 2008 tornado in MississippiEvery tornado in Mississippi since 1950Warnings in force in Mississippi nowThe forecast where you are

14 more were confirmed in the United States that day.

Ratings are the survey's, read off the damage rather than measured; the rating scale is above. Tornado counts rise through the record as reporting improved, so a year in the 1950s is not comparable with one today except for the strongest tornadoes, which were always noticed.

NOAA Storm Prediction Center tornado database, 1950-2025, the official record kept by NOAA's Storm Prediction Center.