Thunderstorm Wind in Jones County, Mississippi

Numerous trees and power lines were blown down across the central portion of Jones County. Just east of Laurel, a woman was killed when a tree fell onto her mobile home. This damage occurred as a large bow echo, called a derecho, raced across the region.

Early on the 3rd, clusters of severe storms evolved into a line which produced scattered wind damage as it pushed east along and just north of I-20. An outflow boundary pushed out of this line and provided the focus for the second powerful and significant severe event.

Between 8 am and 1 pm, a Derecho evolved and raced east across the southern half of the forecast area at 60 to 70 mph. A Derecho is defined as a long lived windstorm, usually a large bow echo, which has a width of 40 to 250 miles and covers a long distance, typically one to three states. This large bowing squall line brought intense straight line winds and widespread damage across its swath. Some of the wind speeds within this Derecho ranged between 80 and 95 mph. There were numerous reports of trees down as well as downed power lines, which caused widespread power outages in many locations. Many structures were damaged by either fallen trees or just the wind itself. Scattered reports of hail and a few tornadoes also occurred. One fatality occurred in Jones County as a tree fell through a woman's mobile home.

During the early predawn hours of May 4th. Isolated severe storms affected northern Forest county with some flash flooding.