POPLARVILLE, Miss.–A tornado caused damage when it touched down in Pearl River County during Saturday’s storms. That was confirmed by the National Weather Service, who sent survey teams from its Slidell office.
The tornado touched down about ten miles southeast of Poplarville.
“It was rated an EF1, with estimated wind speeds of 100 mph. It had a path length of a half a mile and a path width of 75 yards. So, it was a fairly small tornado, didn’t last very long,” said Mike Efferson, with the National Weather Service.
MIKE EFFERSON
Efferson said that even though the twister did mostly tree damage and damage to some outbuildings doesn’t mean it was weak.
“A hundred miles an hour is not weak by any means, but in terms of tornado strength, it’s not terribly strong.”
He said the weather situation Saturday was fairly typical of what produces short-lived tornadoes ahead of a squall line.