During the afternoon of March 18th, a strong area of low pressure developed across east Texas and lifted northeast into Arkansas. This deepening surface low increased the pressure gradient across the region and provided sustained winds between 30 and 35 mph with some gusts between 40 and 50 mph.
Every event with a place to put it; 7 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 episode as NWS JAN wrote it up.
During the afternoon of March 18th, a strong area of low pressure developed across east Texas and lifted northeast into Arkansas. This deepening surface low increased the pressure gradient across the region and provided sustained winds between 30 and 35 mph with some gusts between 40 and 50 mph. These gradient winds caused sporadic damage across the parishes of northeast Louisiana and portions of central and southwest Mississippi. Scattered trees were blown down, some on power lines, which caused power outages. A couple trees fell on homes and two on vehicles which caused 2 injuries.
During the overnight and early morning hours of March 19th, the strong surface low and upper level disturbance helped push a cold front through the area. A line of thunderstorms developed along the front and brought scattered wind damage to portions of central and southern Mississippi.
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 Mar 18, 12:10 PM CST, 1 hour 50 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE JACKSON MS
110 PM CDT TUE MAR 18 2008
.UPDATE...MAY HAVE WAITED TOO LATE...BUT DECIDED TO UPDATE THE
FORECAST TO BACK OFF ON THE RAIN FOR THE AFTERNOON. ACTIVITY REMAINS
WELL WEST OF THE AREA AND WARM ADVECTION TYPE SHOWERS HAVE BEEN
LIMITED. OPTED TO LOWER POPS. TEMPS IN THE EAST WERE MUCH COOLER THAN
EXPECTED...SO LOWERED VALUES ABOUT 4 DEGREES. OTHERWISE THE FORECAST
WAS OK.
&&
.AVIATION...
DID NOT MAKE ANY BIG CHANGES TO THE FORECAST. CONTINUED THUNDERSTORMS
FOR GTR/MEI/HBG INTO 15Z FOR ANY LINGERING THUNDERSTORMS. EXPECTING
RAIN TO BE OVER THE AREA BY 18Z. SLOWED THE INTRODUCTION OF
THUNDERSTORMS ACROSS THE AREA ABOUT 3 HOURS.
&&
.PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS...
JACKSON 78 57 63 41 / 44 100 28 0
MERIDIAN 78 59 67 39 / 22 100 56 2
VICKSBURG 80 57 63 42 / 49 100 19 0
HATTIESBURG 79 59 69 41 / 23 100 49 1
NATCHEZ 80 57 64 40 / 48 100 15 0
GREENVILLE 77 54 59 42 / 50 100 27 0
GREENWOOD 78 56 61 39 / 49 100 38 0
&&
.JAN WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
MS...LAKE WIND ADVISORY UNTIL 7 AM CDT WEDNESDAY FOR MSZ030-031-033-
038-039-045-046-051-052-056>058-064>066-072>074.
LAKE WIND ADVISORY FROM MIDNIGHT TONIGHT TO 7 AM CDT WEDNESDAY
FOR MSZ018-019-025>029-032-034>037-040>044-047>050-053>055-
059>063.
WIND ADVISORY UNTIL MIDNIGHT CDT TONIGHT FOR MSZ018-019-025>029-
032-034>037-040>044-047>050-053>055-059>063.
LA...LAKE WIND ADVISORY FROM MIDNIGHT TONIGHT TO 7 AM CDT WEDNESDAY
FOR LAZ007>009-015-016-023>026.
WIND ADVISORY UNTIL MIDNIGHT CDT TONIGHT FOR LAZ007>009-015-016-
023>026.
AR...LAKE WIND ADVISORY FROM MIDNIGHT TONIGHT TO 7 AM CDT WEDNESDAY
FOR ARZ074-075.
WIND ADVISORY UNTIL MIDNIGHT CDT TONIGHT FOR ARZ074-075.
&&
7HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE JACKSON MS 201 PM CDT TUE MAR 18 2008 ARZ074-075-LAZ007>009-015-016-023>026-MSZ018-019-025>066-072>074- 191915- ASHLEY-CHICOT-MOREHOUSE-WEST CARROLL-EAST CARROLL-RICHLAND- MADISON-FRANKLIN-CATAHOULA-TENSAS-CONCORDIA-BOLIVAR-SUNFLOWER- LEFLORE-GRENADA-CARROLL-MONTGOMERY-WEBSTER-CLAY-LOWNDES-CHOCTAW- OKTIBBEHA-WASHINGTON-HUMPHREYS-HOLMES-ATTALA-WINSTON-NOXUBEE- ISSAQUENA-SHARKEY-YAZOO-LEAKE-NESHOBA-KEMPER-WARREN-HINDS-RANKIN- SCOTT-NEWTON-LAUDERDALE-CLAIBORNE-COPIAH-SIMPSON-SMITH-JASPER- CLARKE-JEFFERSON-ADAMS-LINCOLN-LAWRENCE-JEFFERSON DAVIS-COVINGTON- JONES-MARION-LAMAR-FORREST- 201 PM CDT TUE MAR 18 2008 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR CENTRAL MISSISSIPPI... NORTHEAST LOUISIANA...AND EXTREME SOUTHEAST ARKANSAS. .DAY ONE...TONIGHT AND WEDNESDAY SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WILL BE LIKELY FOR MUCH OF THE OUTLOOK AREA TONIGHT...WITH DAMAGING STRAIGHT LINE WINDS AND TORNADOES BEING THE PRIMARY RISKS. A SQUALL LINE WAS EXPECTED TO DEVELOP OVER EAST TEXAS AND SWEEP ACROSS THE REGION TONIGHT. WIND GUSTS WITH THE LINE COULD REACH 80 MPH OR MORE WITH BOWING LINE SEGMENTS. ISOLATED STORMS THAT DEVELOP AHEAD OF THE SQUALL LINE COULD ALSO PRODUCE TORNADOES AND DAMAGING WINDS AS THEY RACE NORTHEAST. THE SQUALL LINE SHOULD MOVE THROUGH NORTHEAST LOUISIANA AND SOUTHEAST ARKANSAS BETWEEN 8 AND 12 AM...WEST MISSISSIPPI BETWEEN 11 PM AND 2 AM...CENTRAL MISSISSIPPI FROM 1 AM TO 4 AM...AND EAST MISSISSIPPI BETWEEN 3 AM AND 7 AM WEDNESDAY MORNING. THE LINE OF STORMS SHOULD BE EXITING THE AREA AROUND SUNRISE. STAY TUNED FOR UPDATED FORECASTS...WATCHES AND WARNINGS REGARDING THIS POTENTIAL SEVERE WEATHER EVENT. IN ADDITION TO SEVERE WEATHER...WINDY CONDITIONS WILL CONTINUE FOR THE ENTIRE THROUGH TONIGHT. SOUTHERLY WINDS FROM 20 TO 30 MPH WITH GUSTS TO 40 MPH ARE LIKELY IN THE WEST...WHILE WIND SPEEDS FROM 15 TO 25 MPH WITH GUSTS TO 35 MPH WILL PERSIST IN THE EAST. GUSTY WILL MAKE DRIVING HAZARDOUS FOR HIGH PROFILE VEHICLES TRAVELING ALONG WEST TO EAST ORIENTED ROADWAYS. ALSO WATER WILL BE ROUGH ON AREA LAKES. A WIND ADVISORY IN EFFECT UNTIL MIDNIGHT FOR AREAS WEST OF INTERSTATE 55...WITH A LAKE WIND ADVISORY IN EFFECT FROM MIDNIGHT UNTIL 7 AM. A LAKE WIND ADVISORY WAS ALSO IN EFFECT UNTIL 7 AM FOR THE EASTERN PORTIONS OF THE OUTLOOK AREA. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...WEDNESDAY NIGHT THROUGH MONDAY THE PROBABILITY FOR WIDESPREAD HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS LOW. .SPOTTER CALL TO ACTION STATEMENT... THE ACTIVATION OF STORM SPOTTERS...HAM RADIO OPERATORS...AND EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT PERSONNEL IN SUPPORT OF SEVERE WEATHER OPERATIONS MAY BE NEEDED TONIGHT. 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), 102 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 05:48 UTC.
11 thunderstorm wind, 7 strong wind. Local standard time, as filed.
Strong gradient winds downed several trees in the Delta National Forest.
Strong gradient winds blew down a tree on James Drive, just off Highway 550, a car drove into the downed tree causing injury to the driver.
A few trees were blown down between Carthage and Madden from strong gradient winds.
Measured 48 mph wind gusts at the Natchez-Adams County Airport. One large tree was down on a house in Natchez along with many large limbs down on power lines across the county.
A few trees were blown down, some on power lines, along Highway 28 in southwest Copiah County.
A few trees and power lines were taken down by strong gradient winds.
A large tree was blown down on a house in the Kingston Community. A portion of the house sustained major damage.
A metal shed was blown over and destroyed along with several large limbs blown down.
Several trees were blown down with a few on power lines. Power was out most of the night around Sibley.
A couple trees were blown down northeast of Natchez. One tree was on a house off Roosevelt Drive, just off Highway 61.
An area of significant tree damage occurred along Barlow Road and Warren Hood Road in the Copiah County Wildlife Management Area. Numerous trees were snapped and uprooted within the downburst.
A large piece of tin was torn off a barn roof and a tree fell across a portion of Highway 28.
A few trees were blown down.
A few trees were blown down off Highway 98 near Bude.
A few trees were blown down.
A couple of trees were blown down across Barlow Road just west of Highway 28.
A couple trees were blown down, one fell on a power line which resulted in a minor fire.
A couple of trees were blown down off Highway 35.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Mississippi in 2008Every state in 2008This day in weather historyWarnings in Mississippi, March 2008
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: 90942, 90957, 90958, 90959, 90960, 90961, 90967, 90974, 90976, 90977, 90979, 90978, 90980, 90981, 90983, 90982, 90984, 90985.