Thunderstorm Wind — Hinds, Mississippi

2008-04-04 · near Cynthia, Hinds, Mississippi

Event narrative

Aside from the tornadic damage across Northeast Jackson, extensive and significant straight line wind damage occurred across a large portion of the City of Jackson, particularly just to the south of the tornado path. Hundreds of trees and numerous power lines were taken down by wind gusts between 80 and 100 mph. The very strong wind gusts alone damaged many homes and buildings. However, it was the large amount of trees that were blown down which caused the most significant damage. Hundreds of trees were blown down on homes which caused minor to major damage to many structures. Some 6 to 7 thousand homes sustained some kind of damage. Many signs were blow down or damaged along with many vehicles destroyed by fallen trees and limbs. This tornado and wind event was likely one of the most significant, widespread, and costly severe weather events the Jackson area has seen. Nearly everyone described this event as worse than Hurricane Katrina, for the Metro.

Wider weather episode

A potent early April storm slammed the area with widespread wind damage and several tornadoes. A bowing line of thunderstorms was the culprit with the main axis of severe weather and damage having occurred within the I-20 corridor from northeast Louisiana to the Jackson Metro to east-central Mississippi around Meridian. Several extensive swaths of significant wind damage occurred, where winds were estimated at 80 mph or greater. Overall, several thousand trees were snapped and uprooted with several dozen homes damaged by downed trees. The strongest tornado occurred in the Jackson Metro area as it moved across Northeast Jackson and into the Reservoir area of Northwest Rankin County. Additionally, the significant wind damage was focused across portions of Vicksburg, Bolton, Jackson, the Reservoir area of Rankin County, the Hillsboro area in Scott County, northern Newton County and the northern half of Lauderdale County. Aside from the tornadoes, this was one of the most significant wind events to impact the Jackson Metro area as well as the City of Vicksburg. Nearly everyone described this event as being worse than Hurricane Katrina for central Mississippi.

View location on OpenStreetMap → (32.3736, -90.2534)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 94706. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.