EF2 tornado, Kosciusko Arpt to Mc Cool, Mississippi, February 5, 2020

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 mph

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

3. EF2111 to 135 mphthis tornado

   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

EF2

Date

February 5, 2020

Touchdown

4:58 PM CST (22:58 UTC)

Lifted

5:04 PM CST (23:04 UTC)

On the ground

6 minutes

Path length

5.8 miles (9.4 km)

Path width

800 yards (732 m)

Deaths

0

Injuries

0

Property damage

$255,000

Counties

Attala and Choctaw counties

Touchdown point

33.117, -89.376

Lift-off point

33.152, -89.285

Record number

2002051658-01

43 damage points were recorded along this path by NWS JAN, in the Damage Assessment Toolkit the survey teams carry. The strongest indicator was rated EF2. The highest wind the damage implies is 112 mph.

• Some tree damage, beginning point.

Survey points are preliminary and are the raw material the published rating was built from. Source: NWS Damage Assessment Toolkit.

A strong cold front moved through the region. Ahead of this, storms developed across Central Mississippi and produced tornadoes and wind damage.

This brief tornado touched down near County Road 5215 and damaged a few dozen trees along with causing roof damage to 2 metal sheds. The tornado then crossed County Road 5213 where more trees were uprooted. Some minor damage occurred to a mobile home and shed. Power lines were down here as well. The tornado dissipated just east of this location. Max estimated winds were 95 mph.

This brief tornado touched down near County Road 5210 and Highway 411 then tracked roughly northeast into western Choctaw County. The tornado quickly grew and downed dozens of trees along Highway 411 just before Hurricane Creek. Power lines were down here as well. As the tornado crossed Kyle Road, it reached EF2 strength as a swath of significant tree damage occurred. A few homes along the road sustained some roof damage and a few sheds were damaged. As the tornado crossed Burks Road, the swath of significant tree damage continued. Here a home along with a mobile home and RV were damaged by fallen trees. The tornado weakened as it crossed into Choctaw County and crossed Hunt and Mountain roads. Max sustained winds were 112 mph and was rated an EF-2 in Attala County. Total path length 5.89 miles. Max width was 800 yards also in Attala County.

This brief tornado touched down near County Road 5210 and Highway 411 then tracked roughly northeast into western Choctaw County. The tornado quickly grew and downed dozens of trees along Highway 411 just before Hurricane Creek. Power lines were down here as well. As the tornado crossed Kyle Road, it reached EF2 strength as a swath of significant tree damage occurred. A few homes along the road sustained some roof damage and a few sheds were damaged. As the tornado crossed Burks Road, the swath of significant tree damage continued. Here a home along with a mobile home and RV were damaged by fallen trees. The tornado weakened as it crossed into Choctaw County and crossed Hunt and Mountain roads. Max sustained winds were 112 mph and was rated an EF-2 in Attala County. Total path length 5.89 miles. Max width was also 800 yards in Attala County.

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

63 minutes of warning. NWS JAN issued a tornado warning for this county at 21:55 UTC, 63 minutes before the tornado touched down, in force until 23:00 UTC.

The county was under a tornado watch, issued at 17:50 UTC and running to 00:00 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 Enhanced 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 20:00 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.

The Jackson/Brandon,MS radar (KDGX), 113 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 22:55 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 2020 tornado in MississippiEvery tornado in Mississippi since 1950Warnings in force in Mississippi nowThe forecast where you are

15 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.