Forrest & Lamar County Tornado Event Survey

The information below is preliminary survey information from the tornadoes that occurred in south Mississippi on February 10, 2013.  As noted below, this is preliminary information, and is subject to change following further examination of survey data.  We'll post a final version when it becomes available from NWS Jackson.

PUBLIC INFORMATION STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE JACKSON MS
640 PM CST MON FEB 11 2013

...NWS DAMAGE SURVEY FOR LAMAR AND FORREST COUNTY TORNADO EVENT
INCLUDING THE CITY OF HATTIESBURG...

.UPDATE...TO CORRECT WIDTH FOR THE PICKWICK TORNADO

.PICKWICK TORNADO...

RATING:                 EF-2 (MARION AND LAMAR COUNTIES)
ESTIMATED PEAK WIND:    115 MPH
PATH LENGTH /STATUTE/:  13.3 MILES
PATH WIDTH /MAXIMUM/:   400 YARDS
FATALITIES:             0
INJURIES:               3

START DATE:             FEB 10 2013
START TIME:             425 PM
START LOCATION:         5 WSW OF PICKWICK (ESTIMATE)
START LAT/LON:          31.0996  -89.9066

END DATE:               FEB 10 2013
END TIME:               450 PM
END LOCATION:           7 NE PINEBUR
END_LAT/LON:            31.2125  -89.6346

SURVEY_SUMMARY:
THIS TORNADO START JUST INSIDE MARION COUNTY ON NEW HOPE RD. HERE A 
FEW OUTBUILDINGS WERE DESTROYED. ON THE EAST SIDE OF THE RD...A HOME 
HAD A GOOD PORTION OF THE ROOF TORN OFF. THE TORNADO THEN CROSSED 
HURRICANE CREEK RD THEN APPROACHED MT CARMEL CHURCH RD. HERE IS 
WHERE THE MOST INTENSE DAMAGE OCCURRED. THREE MOBILE HOMES WERE 
TOTALLY DESTROYED WITH JUST THE UNDERCARRIAGE LEFT (3 INJ HERE). 
FURTHER NE...THE TORNADO CROSSED REGAN RD WHERE 2-4 HOMES SUSTAINED 
SIGNIFICANT ROOF DAMAGE. NUMEROUS TREES WERE SNAPPED OR UPROOTED IN 
THIS AREA AS WELL. THE TORNADO WEAKENED AS IT CROSSED HWY 
35...CONTINUED TO PRODUCE LOW END TREE DAMAGE ACROSS HWY 13S AND 
GAME RESERVE RD. ADDITIONAL DAMAGE TO STRUCTURES OCCURRED NEAR THE 
LAMAR COUNTY LINE ALONG COLUMBIA-PURVIS RD AND POWELL LANE AND 
CULDESAC DR. THE TORNADO ENTERED LAMAR COUNTY AND CAUSED ADDITIONAL 
DAMAGE TO STRUCTURES WITH ONE HOME HAVING THE ROOF REMOVED OFF 
WILEY LOTT RD.


.HATTIESBURG TORNADO...

RATING:                 EF-4 (CENTRAL LAMAR TO HATTIESBURG) 
ESTIMATED PEAK WIND:    170 MPH
PATH LENGTH /STATUTE/:  20 MILES (ROUGH ESTIMATE)
PATH WIDTH /MAXIMUM/:   NA YARDS
FATALITIES:             0
INJURIES:               82

START DATE:             FEB 10 2013
START TIME:             506 PM (ESTIMATE)
START LOCATION:         5 WSW OF W HATTIESBURG (ESTIMATE)
START LAT/LON:          NA

END DATE:               NA
END TIME:               534 PM
END LOCATION:           8 NE PETAL (PERRY COUNTY-ESTIMATE)
END_LAT/LON:            NA

SURVEY_SUMMARY:
UPDATED PRELIMINARY RESULTS FROM THE SURVEY TEAMS HAVE THE TORNADO 
NOW RATED AS EF-4 (170 MPH MAX WINDS). THE MOST INTENSE DAMAGE 
OCCURRED AROUND THE OAK GROVE HIGH SCHOOL AND TO A HOUSING AREA JUST 
SOUTHWEST OF THAT LOCATION. HERE...A WELL BUILT BRICK HOME WAS 
LEVELED WITH OTHER SURROUNDING DATA SUPPORTING THE LOW END EF-4 
RATING. ADDITIONALLY...MULTIPLE OTHER LOCATIONS ALONG THE PATH 
THROUGH WEST HATTIESBURG AND ACROSS THE CITY WERE RATED ACROSS THE 
EF-3 RANGE. MORE SPECIFICS WILL BE PROVIDED LATER THIS EVENING AS 
TEAMS COMPLETE THE SURVEYS.

AT THIS TIME...NO FATALITIES HAVE BEEN REPORTED. AS FAR AS INJURIES 
82 PEOPLE WERE TAKEN TO AREA HOSPITALS...63 IN FORREST COUNTY AND 19 
IN LAMAR COUNTY. THERE ARE LIKELY MANY MORE MINOR INJURIES THAT HAVE 
NOT BEEN ACCOUNTED FOR AT THIS TIME.

THIS IS THE SECOND VIOLENT TORNADO TO IMPACT LAMAR AND FORREST 
COUNTIES. THE OTHER TORNADO WAS THE PURVIS TORNADO ON APRIL 24 1908. 
THIS TORNADO WAS ON THE GROUND FOR 155 MILES AND IMPACTED MANY 
PARISHES/COUNTIES ACROSS LA/MS.

EF SCALE: THE ENHANCED FUJITA SCALE CLASSIFIES
TORNADOES INTO THE FOLLOWING CATEGORIES.


EF0...WEAK......65 TO 85 MPH
EF1...WEAK......86 TO 110 MPH
EF2...STRONG....111 TO 135 MPH
EF3...STRONG....136 TO 165 MPH
EF4...VIOLENT...166 TO 200 MPH
EF5...VIOLENT...>200 MPH



NOTE:

THE INFORMATION IN THIS STATEMENT IS PRELIMINARY AND SUBJECT TO
CHANGE PENDING FINAL REVIEW OF THE EVENTS AND PUBLICATION IN
NWS STORM DATA. 



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