1 lightning, as filed by the National Weather Service.
Every event with a place to put it; 1 filed by county or forecast zone are drawn at its center, in a lighter ring. Tap one for its entry below.
Deaths and injuries are direct and indirect together, as the offices filed them. Damage is property and crops in the dollars of the year, not adjusted for inflation, and only where an office estimated it.
The local office's own words before the first event, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.
NWS Jackson, MS wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at May 18, 2:45 PM CST, 1 hour earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE JACKSON MS 345 PM CDT TUE MAY 18 2004 .DISCUSSION... THERE WAS PLENTY OF SUNSHINE OVER THE CWA THIS AFTERNOON...BUT MOST OF THE THUNDERSTORMS DEVELOPED OVER THE SOUTH AGAIN TODAY. WITH HIGH PRESSURE OFF TO THE EAST...EXPECT THIS PATTERN TO CONTINUE FOR THE NEXT FEW DAYS. SOUTHERLY WINDS WILL CONTINUE TO BRING MOIST/UNSTABLE AIR INTO THE CWA WITH SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS DEVELOPING AND MOVING NORTH...A FEW STRONG. MODELS PW VALUES REMAIN AROUND 1.5 INCHES OR GREATER THROUGH FRIDAY...SO SHOULD SEE MORE DOWNPOURS. INCREASED POPS FOR TONIGHT AND LOWERED TEMPS A DEGREE OR TWO FOR WED. EXPECTED SCATTERED SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS TO CONTINUE THROUGH THIS EVENING. OTHERWISE NO MAJOR CHANGES TO THE SHORT TERM. FOR THE EXTENDED LOWERED POPS FOR SAT/SUN. MODELS SEEM TO AGREE THE RAIN WILL BE SHIFTING EAST...WITH SOME DRYING BY THE AFTERNOON. MAINTAINED DRY CONDITIONS THROUGH THURSDAY. GFS HAS A FRONT MOVING THROUGH LATE TUESDAY/EARLY WEDNESDAY...BUT KEEPS EVERYTHING NORTH OF THE AREA. A WAVE SHOWS UP AROUND 850 ALONG THE TAIL END OF THE FRONT ON THURSDAY...SO LEFT A CHANCE OF RAIN IN. OTHERWISE TEMPS AND WINDS LOOK GOOD. DID MAKE ANY MAJOR CHANGES TO THE FORECAST. && JACKSON 66 83 66 87 / 40 40 20 20 MERIDIAN 66 82 65 87 / 40 40 20 20 && .JAN WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... AR...NONE. LA...NONE. MS...NONE. &&
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE JACKSON MS 151 PM CDT TUE MAY 18 2004 ARZ074-075-LAZ007>009-015-016-023>026-MSZ018-019-025>066-072>074- 191851- ADAMS-ASHLEY-ATTALA-BOLIVAR-CARROLL-CATAHOULA-CHICOT-CHOCTAW- CLAIBORNE-CLARKE-CLAY-CONCORDIA-COPIAH-COVINGTON-EAST CARROLL- FORREST-FRANKLIN LA-FRANKLIN MS-GRENADA-HINDS-HOLMES-HUMPHREYS- ISSAQUENA-JASPER-JEFFERSON-JEFFERSON DAVIS-JONES-KEMPER-LAMAR- LAUDERDALE-LAWRENCE-LEAKE-LEFLORE-LINCOLN-LOWNDES-MADISON LA- MADISON MS-MARION-MONTGOMERY-MOREHOUSE-NESHOBA-NEWTON-NOXUBEE- OKTIBBEHA-RANKIN-RICHLAND-SCOTT-SHARKEY-SIMPSON-SMITH-SUNFLOWER- TENSAS-WARREN-WASHINGTON-WEBSTER-WEST CARROLL-WINSTON-YAZOO- 151 PM CDT TUE MAY 18 2004 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR CENTRAL MISSISSIPPI... NORTHEAST LOUISIANA...AND EXTREME SOUTHEAST ARKANSAS .DAY ONE...TONIGHT AND WEDNESDAY... ...THUNDERSTORMS... A LINGERING MOIST AND UNSTABLE AIRMASS OVER THE REGION THIS AFTERNOON WILL ALLOW FOR ISOLATED STRONG THUNDERSTORMS TO DEVELOP OVER THE ARK LA MISS REGION. THE MAIN CONCERNS WITH THE STRONGER STORMS WILL BE FOR FREQUENT LIGHTNING...HEAVY RAIN...PEA SIZED HAIL...AND WIND GUSTS TO 40 MPH. THERE IS A SMALL CHANCE THAT A FEW OF THE STRONGEST STORMS COULD BRIEFLY BECOME SEVERE...PRODUCING PENNY SIZED HAIL AND WIND GUSTS TO 60 MPH. ...FLOODING... NUMEROUS SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED TO CONTINUE OVER THE AREA THROUGH SUNSET . THE AIRMASS OVER THE REGION REMAINS VERY MOIST AND THE GROUND IS SATURATED IN MANY AREAS. TORRENTIAL DOWNPOURS IN THUNDERSTORMS CAN BE EXPECTED TO INDUCE PONDING OF WATER UPON ROAD SURFACES AND IN LOW LYING LOCATIONS. ADDITIONALLY...HEAVY RAINFALL POSSIBLE IN SLOW MOVING CLUSTERS OF STORMS MAY CAUSE THE OVERFLOWING OF SMALL CREEKS...STREAMS AND CULVERTS. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...WEDNESDAY NIGHT THROUGH TUESDAY... NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. .SPOTTER CALL TO ACTION STATEMENT... THE ACTIVATION OF STORM SPOTTERS...HAM RADIO OPERATORS AND EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT PERSONNEL...IN SUPPORT OF SEVERE WEATHER OPERATIONS...SHOULD NOT BE NECESSARY THROUGH NEXT TUESDAY...MAY 25. FOR MORE INFORMATION PLEASE VISIT OUR WEBSITE AT WWW.SRH.NOAA.GOV/JAN. THIS INCLUDES THE GRAPHICAL HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK.
The Jackson/Brandon,MS radar (KDGX), 43 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 21:45 UTC.
1 lightning. Local standard time, as filed.
Tuesday afternoon, two men were fishing on Trotter Lake in northern Hinds county. A thunderstorm developed near the lake and one of the men was struck by a fatal lighting strike.
As the offices recorded each death: direct deaths were caused by the weather itself, indirect ones by something it set in motion.
| Event | Date | Age | Sex | Where | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lightning, Hinds | 2004-05-18 | 49 | Male | Boat | Direct |
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Mississippi in 2004Every state in 2004This day in weather historyWarnings in Mississippi, May 2004
NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database, compiled from the National Weather Service’s monthly Storm Data. Complete through 2026-06; NCEI adds each month about 75 days after it ends and revises past years a few times a year. Rebuilt 2026-09-24. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 5396711.