Thunderstorm Wind — Holmes, Mississippi

2023-06-14 · near Shady Grove, Holmes, Mississippi

Event narrative

High downburst winds from a supercell thunderstorm caused a swath of damage to trees and power lines focused across central portions of Holmes County. In the Lexington area a tree fell into a power line and then onto a house and caused a fire. The winds blew down trees along Interstate 55 mainly between mile markers 150 to 164 and forced traffic into one lane until trees could be cleared. Additional trees were blown down in the Durant area. Estimated peak wind speeds were between 80 to 90 mph.

Wider weather episode

Convergence of moisture along a stationary front in northern Mississippi triggered thunderstorms during the day on June 14th. With an unstable air mass south of the front and a strong jet stream over the frontal zone sustaining robust updrafts, these storms quickly became severe and moved east-southeast across portions of Mississippi through the morning of the 15th. Storms produced hail as large as 4.88 inches near Brooksville, which when measured was just below the record 5.0 inches for the state of Mississippi. Swaths of hail and wind damaged crops in addition to homes, trees, and power lines.

View location on OpenStreetMap → (33.1500, -90.1400)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 1146040. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.