Thunderstorm Wind — Madison, Mississippi

2008-04-04 · near Rocky Hill, Madison, Mississippi

Event narrative

Significant straight line winds moved across southern Madison County. Numerous trees and several power lines were blown down with some trees down on vehicles. Ten to fifteen homes suffered minor to major damage in the Densmore Subdivision. Wind gusts were estimated between 80 and 90 mph.

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 → (32.4185, -90.1833)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 94708. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.