Very dry conditions continued into August. resulting in much of the area still seeing severe (D2) drought conditions.
Every event with a place to put it; 10 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.
Very dry conditions continued into August. resulting in much of the area still seeing severe (D2) drought conditions. Rain did provide some relief by the middle of the month, which then saw a reduction in drought conditions.
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 Jul 31, 9:02 PM CST, 2 hours 58 minutes earlier.
Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Jackson MS 1002 PM CDT SUN JUL 31 2016 .UPDATE... A subtropical ridge is beginning to build back in over the CWA with less forcing at play compared to the last couple of days. However, a remnant MCV over S MS from last night's MCS combined with a moist, unstable and uncapped atmosphere allowed for decent coverage of diurnally driven convection again this afternoon, mainly along and S of the I-20 corridor. Several outflow boundary interactions helped keep convection going across a few locations closer towards sunset, but all storms have since dissipated. Hi-res guidance is also in agreement on a quite evening, therefore PoPs were removed from the forecast for the remainder of the evening. Overnight lows were adjusted with lower values favored over areas that saw precip today. Otherwise, areas of fog and patchy fog were added/expanded in line with latest visibility guidance across areas that saw higher amounts of precip from this afternoon's convection. /TW/ && .AVIATION... TSRA/SHRA activity has diminished for the evening and expect mainly VFR conditions overnight. The most recent suite of near term guidance continue to suggest patchy areas of MVFR category fog during the predawn hours and this should persist until mixing out shortly after sunrise. Monday afternoon, the threat for TSRA can be expected, but coverage is not expected to be as great as the past couple of days. Convective activity would wane during the early evening. /EC/ && .PREV DISCUSSION... /issued 440 PM CDT SUN JUL 31 2016/ DISCUSSION...Abundant shower and thunderstorm production has taken place this afternoon across mainly central and southern sections of the area, where colliding boundaries in an unstable air mass have juxtaposed with weak lift from the last vestiges of "westerlies" aloft brushing the region. This departure of the recent parade of weak disturbances through our region is coming in concert with the subtropical ridge building back overhead through the next 24 to 36 hours. Since sources of forcing tonight will be far less than the past few days anticipate convection to dwindle quickly this evening with largely dry conditions in the overnight. Some patchy fog will be possible in areas where heavy downpours occurred today, but the potential for a great amount of dense fog is currently deemed too low to mention in the HWO at this time. Despite the upper level ridge building back overhead through the short term, rainfall is expected to remain at above average levels (for early August), especially in the eastern half of zones. The main driver of this convection will be diurnal instability in an rather uncapped and very moist air mass (precipitable water values around 2 inches). There is a chance the "dirty" side of the ridge setting up close enough to the MS/AL border through midweek may allow some storm clusters of not an entirely diurnally-driven nature to brush south near/through eastern zones, and this is something we will have to keep an eye on. Otherwise, as mentioned above, expect somewhat typical afternoon showers and storms with no real atmospheric signals for any strong or stray severe storms to be more than extremely isolated in nature. Although there will be a fair amount of showers and storms around in the afternoon we still anticipate plenty of heat and humidity before potential late day cooling owing to rampant outflow boundaries. As was the case today, Monday through at least Wednesday/Thursday will feature highs mostly in the low to mid 90s with dewpoints at midday high enough to boost heat index values near 105 degrees in many areas. We will continue to cover this potential in the HWO/Graphics as before and will monitor closely for any areas where heat looks to be persistent enough to warrant issuing a heat advisory. /BB/ && .PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS... Jackson 73 93 75 95 / 6 36 16 40 Meridian 74 96 74 95 / 13 46 25 44 Vicksburg 73 94 75 95 / 5 29 13 30 Hattiesburg 74 93 74 95 / 17 52 20 50 Natchez 73 93 74 95 / 6 35 14 38 Greenville 74 94 76 95 / 7 25 13 18 Greenwood 74 93 74 95 / 7 29 18 27 && .JAN Watches/Warnings/Advisories... MS...None. LA...None. AR...None. &&
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE JACKSON MS 216 PM CDT SUN JUL 31 2016 ARZ074-075-LAZ007>009-015-016-023>026-MSZ018-019-025>066-072>074- 011930- ASHLEY-CHICOT-MOREHOUSE-WEST CARROLL-EAST CARROLL-RICHLAND- MADISON LA-FRANKLIN LA-CATAHOULA-TENSAS-CONCORDIA-BOLIVAR- SUNFLOWER-LEFLORE-GRENADA-CARROLL-MONTGOMERY-WEBSTER-CLAY-LOWNDES- CHOCTAW-OKTIBBEHA-WASHINGTON-HUMPHREYS-HOLMES-ATTALA-WINSTON- NOXUBEE-ISSAQUENA-SHARKEY-YAZOO-MADISON MS-LEAKE-NESHOBA-KEMPER- WARREN-HINDS-RANKIN-SCOTT-NEWTON-LAUDERDALE-CLAIBORNE-COPIAH- SIMPSON-SMITH-JASPER-CLARKE-JEFFERSON-ADAMS-FRANKLIN MS-LINCOLN- LAWRENCE-JEFFERSON DAVIS-COVINGTON-JONES-MARION-LAMAR-FORREST- 216 PM CDT SUN JUL 31 2016 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF SOUTHEAST ARKANSAS...NORTHEAST LOUISIANA...CENTRAL MISSISSIPPI...EAST CENTRAL MISSISSIPPI...NORTH CENTRAL MISSISSIPPI...NORTHEAST MISSISSIPPI...NORTHWEST MISSISSIPPI...SOUTH CENTRAL MISSISSIPPI... SOUTHEAST MISSISSIPPI...SOUTHWEST MISSISSIPPI...AND WEST CENTRAL MISSISSIPPI. .DAY ONE...TONIGHT AND MONDAY EXCESSIVE HEAT THREAT...LIMITED TIMING...MONDAY MAXIMUM HEAT INDEX VALUES NEAR 105 DEGREES ARE POSSIBLE FOR THE ENTIRE OUTLOOK AREA ON MONDAY, FROM LATE MORNING INTO THE AFTERNOON HOURS. (WWW.SRH.NOAA.GOV/GRAPHICAST.PHP?SITE=JAN&GC=1) .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...MONDAY NIGHT THROUGH SATURDAY THE HEAT WILL CONTINUE THROUGH AT LEAST MIDWEEK, AND HEAT ADVISORIES MAY EVENTUALLY BE NECESSARY FOR PORTIONS OF THE OUTLOOK AREA. (WWW.SRH.NOAA.GOV/GRAPHICAST.PHP?SITE=JAN&GC=1) .SPOTTER CALL TO ACTION STATEMENT... THE ACTIVATION OF STORM SPOTTERS...HAM RADIO OPERATORS...AND EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT PERSONNEL IN SUPPORT OF SEVERE WEATHER OPERATIONS IS NOT EXPECTED THROUGH NEXT SATURDAY. 15 && ...HAZARD LEGEND... *EXCESSIVE HEAT* EXTREME...MAXIMUM HEAT INDEX GREATER THAN 110 DEGREES FOR 3 OR MORE DAYS IN A ROW AND/OR AIR TEMPERATURES GREATER THAN 107 DEGREES. SIGNIFICANT...MAXIMUM HEAT INDEX GREATER THAN 110 DEGREES AND/OR AIR TEMPERATURES GREATER THAN 105 DEGREES. ELEVATED...MAXIMUM HEAT INDEX 105 TO 110 DEGREES AND/OR AIR TEMPERATURES GREATER THAN 103 DEGREES. LIMITED...MAXIMUM HEAT INDEX NEAR 105 DEGREES AND/OR AIR TEMPERATURES 100 TO 103 DEGREES. ...USEFUL WEATHER WEB PAGES (URLS)... NWS JAN HOME PAGE... WWW.WEATHER.GOV/JAN STAY AWARE, STAY SAFE NWS JAN BRIEFING PAGE... WWW.SRH.NOAA.GOV/JAN/?N=SAFE NWS JAN TROPICAL PAGE... WWW.SRH.NOAA.GOV/JAN/?N=TROPICAL NATIONAL HURRICANE CENTER HOME PAGE... WWW.NHC.NOAA.GOV/ FIND NWS JAN ON FACEBOOK... WWW.FACEBOOK.COM/NWSJACKSONMS FOLLOW NWS JAN ON TWITTER... @NWSJACKSONMS PLEASE CONVERT ALL WEB ADDRESSES TO LOWER CASE BEFORE ENTERING!
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
10 drought. Local standard time, as filed.
Very dry conditions continued into August, which resulted in an area of severe (D2) drought remaining across Lowndes County. Crops were put under more stress from the dry and hot conditions.
Very dry conditions continued into August, which resulted in an area of severe (D2) drought remaining across Leflore County. Crops were put under more stress from the dry and hot conditions. Rain moved in during the first week of the month, which helped alleviate severe drought conditions.
Very dry conditions continued into August, which resulted in an area of severe (D2) drought remaining across Grenada County. Crops were put under more stress from the dry and hot conditions. Rain moved in during the first half of the month, which helped alleviate severe and extreme drought conditions.
Very dry conditions continued into August, which resulted in an area of severe (D2) drought remaining across Clay County. Crops were put under more stress from the dry and hot conditions.
Very dry conditions continued into August, which resulted in an area of severe (D2) drought remaining across Holmes County. Crops were put under more stress from the dry and hot conditions. Rain helped to alleviate these drought conditions by mid August.
Very dry conditions continued into August, which resulted in an area of severe (D2) drought remaining across Carroll County. Crops were put under more stress from the dry and hot conditions. Rain helped to alleviate these drought conditions by mid August.
Very dry conditions continued into August, which resulted in an area of severe (D2) drought remaining across Montgomery County. Crops were put under more stress from the dry and hot conditions. Rain moved in during the first half of the month, which helped alleviate severe drought conditions.
Very dry conditions continued into August, which resulted in an area of severe (D2) drought remaining across Madison County. Crops were put under more stress from the dry and hot conditions. Rain moved in during the first half of the month, which helped alleviate severe drought conditions.
Very dry conditions continued into August, which resulted in an area of severe (D2) drought remaining across Oktibbeha County. Crops were put under more stress from the dry and hot conditions. Rain moved by the middle of the month, which helped alleviate severe drought conditions.
Very dry conditions continued into August, which resulted in an area of severe (D2) drought remaining across Webster County. Crops were put under more stress from the dry and hot conditions.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Mississippi in 2016Every state in 2016This day in weather historyWarnings in Mississippi, August 2016
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: 657437, 657438, 657439, 657440, 657441, 657442, 657443, 657444, 657445, 657446.