Hail in Rankin County, Mississippi

A merger of two storms resulted in a hail swath extending int Rankin County from Hinds County just north of Lakeland Drive to near the intersection of S471. Hail as large as baseballs (2.75 inches) was observed within this swath.

On Sunday, March 26th 2023 the juxtaposition of high instability and strong mid and upper level shear was confined to central and southern Mississippi. A few predawn supercell thunderstorms developed along an eastward moving line with a break in activity through the remainder of the morning. Heating during the day resulted in vigorous redevelopment by afternoon. Near interstate 20, a stalled composite outflow boundary/cold front was lingering in the area and separated the unstable environment from a cooler, stable airmass to the north. The environment supported numerous supercell thunderstorms which produced swaths of large to very large hail, some as large as baseballs (2.75 inch), with much of the destructive hail confined to the vicinity of the boundary. A few of these storms would also produce damaging wind gusts.