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Pearl River County Natural Disasters and Weather Extremes

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The chance of earthquake damage in Pearl River County is about the same as Mississippi average and is much lower than the national average. The risk of tornado damage in Pearl River County is much lower than Mississippi average and is much higher than the national average.

Topics:Earthquake Index Volcano Index Tornado Index Other Weather Extremes Events Volcanos Nearby Historical Earthquake Events Historical Tornado Events

Earthquake Index, #39

Pearl River County	0.02
Mississippi	0.05
U.S.	1.81

The earthquake index value is calculated based on historical earthquake events data using USA.com algorithms. It is an indicator of the earthquake level in a region. A higher earthquake index value means a higher chance of an earthquake.

Volcano Index, #1

Pearl River County	0.0000
Mississippi	0.0000
U.S.	0.0023

The volcano index value is calculated based on the currently known volcanoes using USA.com algorithms. It is an indicator of the possibility of a region being affected by a possible volcano eruption. A higher volcano index value means a higher chance of being affected.

Tornado Index, #58

Pearl River County	209.46
Mississippi	280.40
U.S.	136.45

The tornado index value is calculated based on historical tornado events data using USA.com algorithms. It is an indicator of the tornado level in a region. A higher tornado index value means a higher chance of tornado events.

Other Weather Extremes Events

A total of 8,610 other weather extremes events within 50 miles of Pearl River County were recorded from 1950 to 2010. The following is a break down of these events:

Type	Count	Type	Count	Type	Count	Type	Count	Type	Count
Avalanche:	0	Blizzard:	0	Cold:	7	Dense Fog:	1	Drought:	16
Dust Storm:	0	Flood:	708	Hail:	2,471	Heat:	14	Heavy Snow:	5
High Surf:	0	Hurricane:	5	Ice Storm:	7	Landslide:	0	Strong Wind:	15
Thunderstorm Winds:	4,793	Tropical Storm:	11	Wildfire:	0	Winter Storm:	12	Winter Weather:	8
Other:	537

Volcanos Nearby

No volcano is found in or near Pearl River County.

Historical Earthquake Events

No historical earthquake events that had recorded magnitudes of 3.5 or above found in or near Pearl River County.

No historical earthquake events found in or near Pearl River County.

Historical Tornado Events

A total of 78 historical tornado events that had recorded magnitude of 2 or above found in or near Pearl River County.

Distance (miles)	Date	Magnitude	Start Lat/Log	End Lat/Log	Length	Width	Fatalities	Injuries	Property Damage	Crop Damage	Affected County
4.0	1964-10-03	2	30°48'N / 89°39'W	30°50'N / 89°37'W	3.30 Miles	33 Yards	0	0	0K	0	Pearl River
5.0	1980-05-19	2	30°50'N / 89°38'W		0.30 Mile	50 Yards	0	0	25K	0	Pearl River
5.2	1973-05-26	2	30°42'N / 89°36'W				0	4	25K	0	Pearl River
6.4	1968-11-03	2	30°48'N / 89°39'W	30°48'N / 89°19'W	19.80 Miles	180 Yards	0	0	25K	0	Pearl River
8.1	1972-05-07	2	30°51'N / 89°32'W	30°54'N / 89°30'W	4.30 Miles	50 Yards	0	0	25K	0	Pearl River
8.4	1958-02-26	2	30°48'N / 89°39'W	30°59'N / 89°27'W	17.40 Miles	50 Yards	0	4	250K	0	Pearl River
10.4	1996-02-19	2	30°49'N / 89°40'W	31°01'N / 89°24'W	23.00 Miles	430 Yards	0	10	700K	0	Pearl River
		Brief Description: A strong tornado touched down just northwest of the White Sand community. The most significant damage occurred in the initial 2.2 miles just to the north of the White Sand community where ten people were injured; five seriously, requiring hospitalization. The most serious was a woman who suffered a broken back, broken ribs and a punctured lung. The tornado continued on the ground continuously to just north of Poplarville, then intermittently to near Hillsdale. The county suffered considerable property damage with five houses destroyed, 10 had major damage and 14 minor damage. Nine mobile homes were destroyed, 3 sustained major damage and 5 minor damage. Numerous barns and other buildings were damaged. Several farm animals were killed. Large areas of 8 to 12 inch diameter trees were downed. The tornado path was surveyed by National Weather Service employees.
12.7	1976-03-27	2	30°54'N / 89°37'W	30°59'N / 89°23'W	15.00 Miles	440 Yards	0	1	25K	0	Pearl River
14.2	1969-05-08	2	30°53'N / 89°23'W		2.00 Miles	30 Yards	0	0	25K	0	Pearl River
18.8	1987-11-16	2	30°31'N / 89°29'W	30°32'N / 89°26'W	3.00 Miles	73 Yards	0	0	250K	0	Hancock
19.0	1961-02-21	2	30°57'N / 89°50'W		0.80 Mile	283 Yards	0	9	250K	0	Washington
19.3	1958-02-26	2	30°59'N / 89°27'W	31°03'N / 89°24'W	5.70 Miles	50 Yards	0	5	250K	0	Lamar
19.9	1987-02-15	2	30°29'N / 89°42'W	30°31'N / 89°41'W	3.00 Miles	100 Yards	0	2	250K	0	Pearl River
20.4	1968-11-03	2	31°00'N / 89°22'W		2.00 Miles	50 Yards	0	5	0K	0	Pearl River
21.8	1973-04-07	2	30°28'N / 89°30'W				0	0	25K	0	Hancock
22.0	1989-11-22	2	31°03'N / 89°24'W		2.50 Miles	400 Yards	0	0	250K	0	Lamar
23.5	1982-11-30	2	31°05'N / 89°45'W		0.50 Mile	100 Yards	0	0	250K	0	Marion
26.0	1957-11-18	2	31°03'N / 89°53'W	31°04'N / 89°52'W	1.90 Miles	77 Yards	0	0	250K	0	Walthall
26.8	1972-11-13	2	31°08'N / 89°25'W		0.80 Mile	50 Yards	0	0	250K	0	Lamar
26.9	2006-11-15	2	31°00'N / 90°01'W	31°04'N / 89°50'W	11.00 Miles	125 Yards	0	1	500K	0K	Walthall
		Brief Description: EVENT NARRATIVE: A tornado, of strong intensity at several locations, entered Walthall County from Washington Parish LA. The tornado moved northeast across the southeast portion of Walthall County before exiting into Marion County. Several mobile homes were destroyed and roofs were blown off several frame houses. One injury was reported from an occupant of one of the mobile homes. Trees and power lines were also downed in a number of locations. Overall, the emergency manager reported 11 structures with major damage and 5 structures with minor damage. EPISODE NARRATIVE: Severe thunderstorms developed in the vicinity of a warm front that moved north across south Mississippi during the afternoon and evening of the 14th and in advance and along a cold front that moved through the area during the morning of the 15th.
27.4	1953-04-04	2	30°51'N / 89°08'W				0	0	25K	0	Stone
27.9	1968-11-03	2	30°48'N / 89°19'W	30°48'N / 88°55'W	23.70 Miles	183 Yards	0	3	25K	0	Stone
29.6	1983-03-20	3	30°58'N / 90°02'W		2.00 Miles	200 Yards	0	0	250K	0	Washington
30.2	2005-01-07	2	31°11'N / 89°27'W	31°12'N / 89°25'W	3.00 Miles	300 Yards	0	0	200K	0	Lamar
		Brief Description: This tornado touched down at Hayden Road and Purvis Oloh Road and tracked north-northeast for 3 miles before lifting near Highway 589, 3 miles north of Purvis. The track basically was along Hayden Road and it was this area that receive the most significant damage. Six homes sustained minor to major roof damage and dozens of trees were uprooted and snapped. The worst damaged was to a home that lost most of its roof and second floor.
31.7	1968-09-17	2	30°50'N / 90°07'W		1.00 Mile	100 Yards	0	0	3K	0	Washington
32.9	1961-09-11	2	30°20'N / 89°46'W	30°20'N / 89°50'W	4.30 Miles	100 Yards	0	2	25K	0	St. Tammany
33.0	1980-04-13	2	30°14'N / 89°37'W	30°22'N / 89°25'W	15.10 Miles	300 Yards	0	0	250K	0	Hancock
33.9	1972-05-07	2	30°20'N / 89°18'W	30°23'N / 89°16'W	4.30 Miles	23 Yards	0	0	25K	0	Harrison
34.0	1977-03-28	2	31°12'N / 89°18'W		0.10 Mile	33 Yards	0	0	25K	0	Forrest
34.3	2004-11-24	2	30°18'N / 89°51'W	30°21'N / 89°49'W	4.00 Miles	50 Yards	0	4	750K	0	St. Tammany
		Brief Description: A tornado touched down along an intermittent path approximately 4 miles long on the northwest side of Slidell. A NWS ground survey indicated that minor damage occurred to the south of US Highway 190 and near Centennial Park subdivision. The tornado continued to track north-northeast with the greatest damage, F2 intensity, occurring just southwest of the airport. The tornado damaged about 152 houses in the Bel Air subdivision off Airport Road with nine of the homes being declared uninhabitable. Four people received injuries during the storm and were treated at an area hospital and released. A wind gust of 70 mph (61 knots) was recorded at the automated weather equipment (ASOS) at the Slidell Airport.
34.3	1980-05-19	3	30°14'N / 89°27'W	30°23'N / 89°19'W	13.10 Miles	800 Yards	0	8	25.0M	0	Hancock
34.4	1974-11-20	2	30°38'N / 90°11'W	30°35'N / 90°05'W	7.10 Miles	33 Yards	0	0	25K	0	St. Tammany
34.5	1972-03-02	2	30°18'N / 89°26'W	30°18'N / 89°22'W	4.10 Miles	200 Yards	0	2	250K	0	Hancock
34.7	1977-05-02	2	30°17'N / 89°24'W	30°20'N / 89°20'W	5.40 Miles	20 Yards	0	0	25K	0	Hancock
34.9	1957-11-18	2	31°04'N / 89°52'W	31°24'N / 89°48'W	23.40 Miles	77 Yards	0	2	25K	0	Marion
35.4	1972-05-07	2	30°18'N / 89°20'W	30°20'N / 89°18'W	3.30 Miles	23 Yards	0	1	25K	0	Hancock
35.5	1972-05-07	2	30°21'N / 89°15'W		1.20 Miles	33 Yards	0	0	25K	0	Harrison
35.8	1971-06-04	2	31°14'N / 89°52'W		0.50 Mile	33 Yards	0	0	250K	0	Marion
36.5	1980-05-19	3	30°23'N / 89°11'W	30°29'N / 89°03'W	10.60 Miles	800 Yards	0	4	2.5M	0	Harrison
36.7	1982-04-20	2	30°16'N / 89°23'W	30°18'N / 89°19'W	5.00 Miles	133 Yards	0	0	250K	0	Hancock
36.9	1977-09-05	2	30°19'N / 89°16'W		0.10 Mile	77 Yards	0	0	250K	0	Harrison
37.4	1982-04-20	2	30°18'N / 89°19'W	30°21'N / 89°09'W	13.00 Miles	133 Yards	0	0	250K	0	Harrison
37.8	1987-02-15	2	31°04'N / 90°09'W	31°04'N / 90°06'W	3.00 Miles	73 Yards	0	2	250K	0	Walthall
37.9	1970-02-01	2	30°19'N / 89°14'W		2.00 Miles	33 Yards	0	3	0K	0	Harrison
38.1	1985-09-23	2	30°26'N / 89°05'W		1.00 Mile	100 Yards	0	0	250K	0	Harrison
38.1	2004-11-24	2	30°26'N / 89°05'W	30°26'N / 89°05'W	1.50 Miles	50 Yards	0	0	3.0M	0	Harrison
		Brief Description: A tornado traveled east to west on path along Dedeaux Road between Highway 49 and Three Rivers Road in the Orange Grove community. Most of the damage was rated a F1 intensity by a NWS ground survey, however there were areas of F2 damage. A large church under-construction was heavily damaged or destroyed. Three homes and five businesses received major damage while twenty homes had minor damage. Early estimates were that damage would approach 3 million dollars.
38.3	1972-05-07	2	30°28'N / 89°03'W		0.80 Mile	33 Yards	0	0	25K	0	Harrison
38.3	1994-04-12	2	30°28'N / 89°03'W		2.00 Miles	100 Yards	2	15	5.0M	0	Harrison
		Brief Description: Twenty mobile homes were totally destroyed and four brick homes were partially destroyed. At least four businesses were damaged. The two deaths and the fifteen injuries all occurred in mobile homes. Numerous trees and power lines were blown down. Damage was estimated at near one million dollars. F57M M08M
38.6	1997-11-21	2	30°29'N / 90°13'W	30°29'N / 90°04'W	9.00 Miles	200 Yards	0	43	3.5M	0	St. Tammany
		Brief Description: A severe thunderstorm produced a tornado as it moved into St. Tammany Parish. The tornado was first observed by the State Police on Interstate Highway 12 west of Covington. From data collected on a ground, damage survey by the National Weather Service, the tornado moved on a path slightly north of due east. The tornado moved across the downtown area of Covington and continued east for nearly 2 miles before lifting off the ground. Most of the damage along path indicated F1 damage, however, several areas near downtown Covington were classified as F2 damage. Parish officials reported 43 injuries were reported with tornado, though most were relatively minor. Six persons required and overnight stay in a hospital, including three pregnant women. Most of the damage to homes was due to large pine trees which had been toppled onto houses. In downtown Covington, a few large buildings lost roofs, had windows blown out, or suffered substantial damage. A large parish building suffered $500,000 damage. Media reports indicated cleanup would cost several million dollars. Just east of the downtown area, several cars were lifted and moved tens of feet by the tornado, and an empty tractor-trailer truck rig was blown over. Nearly 50 cars in a parking lot had their windows blown out by debris or by rapid pressure drop. The same parent thunderstorm spawned another tornado just south of Talisheek damaging a barn and a house. The damage path length at Talisheek was estimated. American Red Cross reports indicated 69 single family homes were destroyed or had major damage in St. Tammany Parish. Four public buildings were also heavily damaged.
39.5	2006-10-17	2	31°18'N / 89°20'W	31°18'N / 89°19'W	1.00 Mile	50 Yards	0	0	700K	0K	Lamar
		Brief Description: EVENT NARRATIVE: This strong tornado briefly touched down in the Oak Grove Community and was on the ground for 3/4 of a mile. Two homes had nearly the entire roof torn off and large wooden boards were wedged into the ground. Portions of awning were blown a mile away. Seven other homes sustained minor damage within the brief path. EPISODE NARRATIVE: A significant heavy rain and flash flooding event occurred on October 16 and into the first part of October 17. The event was set up by an anomalous pool of tropical type moisture (300% of normal) over the western Gulf of Mexico which was then pulled northward by strong low level winds in advance of a westward moving upper level disturbance. There were several other factors in play which contributed to the large amounts of rain, such as a northward moving warm front and a building upper ridge over the eastern Gulf of Mexico. The warm front helped lift the air while the building upper ridge served to weaken the westward moving upper disturbance. This then caused the progression of the heavy convective rains to slow and dump tremendous amounts of rain from southeast Texas to north and central Louisiana and then into west-central Mississippi. By late evening, dry mid level air began pushing east from Texas and allowed the heavy rain shield to move and exit the region by early Tuesday morning. Heavy rains were not the only weather type during this event, a couple of tornadoes occurred along with scattered reports of wind damage. What makes this event rare is that such a large area received 6 to 10 inches of rain and an even larger area received 4 to 6 inches. Embedded in that swath, a few locations in northern and central Louisiana received a whopping 12 to 17 inches! During this time of year, these kinds of rains usually occur from slow moving tropical cyclones, not from a warm front and westward moving upper disturbance. The result of all this rain was numerous reports of flash flooding, some even significant, across northeast Louisiana and west-central Mississippi. This event will go down in the record books for the amount of real estate covered by heavy rainfall and the several locations that measured extreme amounts.
39.5	1950-04-29	2	31°16'N / 89°50'W	31°23'N / 89°42'W	11.30 Miles	100 Yards	0	0	250K	0	Marion
39.9	1980-05-16	3	30°22'N / 89°09'W	30°27'N / 88°59'W	11.50 Miles	800 Yards	0	0	250K	0	Harrison
40.1	1965-06-06	2	31°07'N / 90°08'W				0	0	3K	0	Walthall
40.3	1967-10-30	3	30°23'N / 89°05'W		2.00 Miles	400 Yards	4	17	25.0M	0	Harrison
40.4	1954-02-20	2	31°17'N / 89°39'W	31°26'N / 89°31'W	13.10 Miles	200 Yards	0	10	250K	0	Lamar
41.1	1968-11-03	3	30°22'N / 89°05'W		2.00 Miles	123 Yards	0	5	0K	0	Harrison
42.2	2006-11-15	3	31°21'N / 89°37'W	31°25'N / 89°27'W	12.00 Miles	500 Yards	0	6	1.5M	0K	Lamar
		Brief Description: EVENT NARRATIVE: This strong tornado touched down to the southwest of Sumrall and tracked east northeast across northern Lamar County and then into a small portion of extreme northwest Forrest County before dissipating. Approximately 25 homes were damaged, 16 of those suffering major damage or total destruction. The worst damage was along Old Salt Road, where a wood frame home on a concrete block foundation was totally destroyed, with the foundation cleared and the remnants of the home displaced dozens of yards away. A minivan was picked up and thrown/rolled a distance of approximately 150 yards, landing on top of a tractor and totally destroyed. Some large trees at this location were snapped at the base, denuded, and partially debarked. Heavy damage of F2 intensity was also observed along Foster Road, JD Hatten Road, and Rocky Branch road. Large swaths of trees were snapped and uprooted, and a few frame homes totally lost their roofs. Other damage along the path was weaker and generally of F1 intensity. The tornado then crossed Highway 42 and entered extreme northwest Forrest County. The total path length across Lamar and Forrest Counties was 13 miles. EPISODE NARRATIVE: An intense fall cyclone developed over the region and produced an episode of severe weather which included tornadoes. This strong weather system developed as a very strong jet stream, with winds between 160-200 mph, slammed into Oregon and Washington State. All that energy moved over the Rocky Mountains and caused a strong area of surface low pressure to develop. This low intensified as it moved east across the Red River Valley and then lifted across Arkansas and into Tennessee as it deepened to 990 mb! The strength of this deepening low caused warm and unstable air to lift northward across Louisiana and into central Mississippi. It was this northward moving warm front that became the focus of an area where tornadic supercell thunderstorms could thrive in an unstable and highly sheared environment. This large and powerful storm system produced numerous tornadoes across the south and south eastern United States where many were of the strong (F2 or F3) variety. Within the Jackson, MS forecast area, there were a total of 5 tornadoes to impact the counties serviced. Two F3s, one in Lamar County and the other in Jones County. The Jones County tornado actually contained a satellite tornado, F1, which briefly rotated around the parent tornado. Next was an F1 tornado in southern Marion County which was actually the end of a strong tornado that moved out of Walthall County. Lastly, a brief F1 tornado occurred in central Lamar County. Tornadoes were not the only type of severe weather, scattered wind damage also occurred across northeast Louisiana and portions of central Mississippi between midnight and 10 am Wednesday November 15th 2006.
42.2	1964-10-04	2	30°23'N / 90°08'W		1.00 Mile	183 Yards	0	0	25K	0	St. Tammany
42.4	1965-07-06	2	31°21'N / 89°50'W				0	0	0K	0	Marion
42.5	1980-04-13	3	30°22'N / 89°06'W	30°30'N / 88°53'W	15.90 Miles	400 Yards	0	25	25.0M	0	Harrison
42.5	1977-03-28	2	31°21'N / 89°20'W				0	0	250K	0	Forrest
43.3	1961-04-09	2	30°42'N / 90°30'W	30°50'N / 90°08'W	23.60 Miles	100 Yards	0	0	250K	0	Tangipahoa
43.9	1961-02-20	2	31°20'N / 89°50'W	31°26'N / 89°46'W	7.90 Miles	73 Yards	0	4	25K	0	Marion
44.9	1982-05-07	3	31°17'N / 89°15'W	31°23'N / 89°09'W	8.00 Miles	100 Yards	0	1	250K	0	Forrest
46.0	1980-05-19	2	30°27'N / 88°55'W	30°29'N / 88°53'W	3.60 Miles	200 Yards	0	0	250K	0	Harrison
46.1	1971-12-10	3	31°17'N / 89°59'W	31°30'N / 89°47'W	19.10 Miles	133 Yards	0	5	25K	0	Marion
46.1	1975-05-07	2	31°24'N / 89°23'W	31°25'N / 89°18'W	5.40 Miles	150 Yards	0	0	250K	0	Forrest
46.3	1972-05-07	2	30°48'N / 90°22'W		1.00 Mile	100 Yards	0	0	25K	0	Tangipahoa
46.5	1980-05-19	2	30°29'N / 88°53'W	30°32'N / 88°51'W	4.30 Miles	33 Yards	0	0	250K	0	Jackson
48.3	1988-03-03	2	30°24'N / 88°54'W		1.20 Miles	30 Yards	0	0	250K	0	Harrison
49.2	1961-02-20	2	31°25'N / 89°46'W	31°32'N / 89°42'W	9.10 Miles	73 Yards	0	4	25K	0	Jefferson Davis
49.3	1972-05-12	2	30°45'N / 90°25'W		2.00 Miles	100 Yards	0	0	250K	0	Tangipahoa
49.3	1971-09-16	2	30°28'N / 90°20'W	30°31'N / 90°22'W	4.10 Miles	150 Yards	0	0	250K	0	Tangipahoa
49.4	2005-04-06	2	31°03'N / 90°20'W	31°13'N / 90°17'W	9.00 Miles	100 Yards	0	2	200K	0	Pike
		Brief Description: A tornado touched down near the community of Progress in Pike County and moved north northeast to the Barto area before crossing Highway 98 and moving out of Pike County and into Walthall County about 2 miles east northeast of Holmesville. Along its path in Pike County, the tornado destroyed a church and a couple of mobile homes, damaged a number of houses and businesses, and knocked down numerous trees. A meso-cyclone thunderstorm produced a tornado as moved on an intermittent path northeastward across eastern Pike County and northwest Walthall County.
49.6	1973-04-24	2	31°28'N / 89°22'W		1.50 Miles	33 Yards	0	0	250K	0	Jones
49.6	1973-04-24	2	31°28'N / 89°22'W		1.00 Mile	33 Yards	0	0	250K	0	Jones
49.7	1971-12-10	3	31°29'N / 89°44'W				0	0	3K	0	Jefferson Davis
49.8	1958-02-26	2	30°25'N / 88°52'W	30°25'N / 88°51'W	1.30 Miles	30 Yards	0	0	25K	0	Harrison

* The information on this page is based on the global volcano database, the U.S. earthquake database of 1638-1985, and the U.S. Tornado and Weather Extremes database of 1950-2010.