Portal:Tornadoes/Anniversaries/February


February 1

  • 1955 – An F3 tornado destroyed a plantation school near Commerce, Mississippi and destroyed 45 homes, killing 20 people and injuring 141. An F2 tornado killed 3 people and injured 25 near Olive Branch, Mississippi. Even though well-defined funnels were sighted, heavy objects (including a car) were carried long distances, and books were carried for miles; these events were never officially recorded as tornadoes.
  • 2007 – The Enhanced Fujita scale went into effect in the United States, replacing the older Fujita scale.

February 2

  • 2007 – A small tornado outbreak hit Florida. The worst damage came from two EF3 tornadoes that hit The Villages, Lady Lake, and DeLand, killing 21 people and injuring 76. Two other tornadoes were rated EF0 and EF1. Damage totaled $218 million. These were the first tornadoes to be rated on the Enhanced Fujita scale, which had gone into effect the day before.

February 3

  • 1990 – A small outbreak of weak tornadoes injured 31 people across western and central Alabama. Three F1 tornadoes struck suburbs west and north of Birmingham, injuring 17 people, mostly from glass. Another F1 tornado destroyed several homes in Margaret, causing 11 minor injuries.

February 4

  • 1971 – A small tornado outbreak affected parts of the southern and Midwestern United States. An F2 tornado killed seven people in a single trailer near Gore Springs, Mississippi. An F3 tornado caused damage in Sugar Bend, Dime, and Bear Creek, Alabama, killing one person and injuring 14.

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February 8

  • 1937 – Four F2 tornadoes touched down in eastern Texas. One of them killed 12 people and injured 70 as it destroyed poorly-built homes on plantations in Leon and Houston counties. Most of the deaths and about half of the injuries were on a single plantation. Another tornado killed a mother and infant near Livingston.

February 9

  • 1965 – Several strong tornadoes touched down in Arkansas, with three F3 tornadoes injuring ten people. Five were injured by a tornado near Holly Grove and four by a tornado the destroyed several homes in Bayou Meto. Another F3 tornado injured one person and damaged or destroyed 60% of Hermitage.

February 10

  • 1921 – An F4 tornado hit poorly-built homes in Gardner, Georgia, killing 31 people and injuring 100. A portion of the town "literally vanished."
  • 1940 – An F4 tornado damaged or destroyed about 1,000 homes in Albany, Georgia, killing 10 people and injuring 300.
  • 2009 – Part of a larger outbreak, an EF4 tornado killed eight people in Lone Grove, Oklahoma and injured 46 others.

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February 13

  • 2000 – A tornado outbreak impacted the Southeastern United States killing 18 people, all in Georgia. An F3 tornado struck Camilla, destroying over 200 homes, killing 11 people, and injuring 175. Tornadoes continued overnight and into the morning of February 14. Another tornado near Ochlocknee killed six people and destroyed several chicken houses, killing half a million chickens. One other person was killed near Meigs.
  • 1952 – An F2 tornado destroyed two small homes on "Hurricane Hill" near Ripley, Tennessee, killing nine people.

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February 16

  • 1995 – An F3 tornado struck Joppa and Arab, Alabama killing 6 people and injuring 130. Most of the deaths were in mobile homes. A newborn, whose mother was injured, died on delivery. About 160 homes and businesses were destroyed.

February 17

  • 1927 – A tornado outbreak resulted in 41 deaths across the Southeastern United States. A strong tornado (at least F3 and probably F4) killed 14 people in Pleasant Hill, Sabine Parish, Louisiana, 7 in one family. An F2 tornado killed 13 people near Lake Bruin.
  • 1938 – An F4 tornado destroyed a large portion of Rodessa, Louisiana, killing 21 people. The corrugated metal that made up many of the buildings dismembered many victims.

February 18

  • 1975 – An F3 tornado caused extensive damage in Fort Valley, Georgia, killing 2 people and injuring 50. About 40 homes were destroyed and 280 were damaged.
  • 1976 – A tornado outbreak produced several strong tornadoes across the Southeastern United States. An F3 tornado moved across parts of Leake and Neshoba counties, resulting in a fatality and 27 injuries. An F2 tornado damaged or destroyed dozens of houses and mobile homes in Clinton and Jackson, Mississippi, injuring 50 people.

February 19

  • 1884 – The "Enigma" tornado outbreak impacted much of the Southeastern United States. While there were early reports of 270–2,000 deaths, more careful counts found 178 to 182 fatalities. Most of the deaths were on farms and no large cities or towns were hit directly. The highest single-tornado death toll was from an F4 tornado that killed 30 people in small communities in Alabama and Georgia.

February 20

  • 1937 – An F3 tornado traveled 32 miles across southwestern Missouri, destroying several homes and two schools near Ozark and Marshfield. Eleven people were injured.

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February 28

  • 1987 – An enormous F4 tornado, at times 1.5 mi (2.4 km) wide devastated Glade, near Laurel, Mississippi, killing 6 people and injuring 350. The community of Powers, east of Laurel also suffered significant damage. In all, 13 businesses, 220 homes, and 149 trailers were destroyed, with 700 people left homeless.

February 29

  • 2012 – Continuing overnight, a significant tornado outbreak hit parts of the Mississippi and Ohio valleys, resulting in 13 deaths. The worst damage was from a pre-dawn EF4 tornado that devastated Harrisburg, Illinois, killing 8 people and injuring 108.