County Road 79 Tornado - March 3, 2019

County Road 79 EF-2 Tornado (Barbour County)
March 3, 2019

Event Summary

Rating: (Click for EF Scale)	EF-2
Estimated Maximum Wind:	115 mph
Injuries/Fatalities:	None
Damage Path Length:	6.68 miles
Maximum Path Width:	700 yards
Approximate Start Point/Time:	3 SSW Batesville 31.9653/-85.3392 at 345 pm
Approximate End Point/Time:	1 SW Lugo 31.9507/-85.2283 at 355 pm

NWS Meteorologists surveyed damage in north central Barbour County near County Road 79 and determined it was the result of a tornado.

A tornado touched down near Mary C Smith Road, just north and west of County Road 79. This location is between Batesville and Clayton. The initial damage was limited to trees being snapped and uprooted. The tornado moved eastward and crossed County Road 79 and Reverend Crawford Road. Once again, there were numerous trees snapped and uprooted in these areas. The most significant damage occurred just east of Reverend Crawford Road, where all trees in a large area were completely mowed down. Additionally, a large wooden double power pole was also knocked down. This area is still under evaluation. At this point, the tornado turned to the right, an east southeast direction, eventually lifting between Old Batesville Road and Lugo. Hundreds of additional trees were damaged at this point. The tornado damage path was 6.68 miles long and was 700 yards wide at its widest point.

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Reflectivity (top left), storm-relative velocity (top right), velocity (bottom left), and correlation coefficient (bottom right) of the tornado after it crossed Rev Crawford Rd. Images are from KEOX at 349 pm.