Recap of Thursday's Mid-South storm event

A strong cold front passed through the Memphis metropolitan area during the early afternoon hours.  It was accompanied by strong wind, drastically cooler temperatures, and abundant rainfall.  Some minor damage occurred in the city (Midtown) as trees fell and power outages topped out near 3000 customers.

Large tree down on Peabody St. in Midtown (photo credit: Susanne Budd)

Rainfall totals across the region were generally in the 1.5"-3.0" range.  MWN in Bartlett officially recorded 1.59" of rain while Memphis International ended up with 1.44".  Rain was continuous behind the front, lasting approximately 10-12 hours.

Rainfall totals for Thursday and Thursday night, 3/8/12

Behind the initial line of storms, strong northerly wind ushered in MUCH cooler temperatures.  After starting the morning in the 60s and rising to the lower 70s shortly after noon, the arrival of the cold front brought an immediate freefall of about 20 degrees, followed by another 10 degree drop over the next couple of hours.  Temps then held steady near 40 throughout the overnight hours.

Temperature/dewpoint plot from MWN in Bartlett beginning at 6am Thursday. Note the drastic drop as the cold front passed through around 1pm. Temps dropped 30 degrees in about 3 hours.

Further south over north MS, where a slight risk of severe weather was expected, storms brought strong straight-line wind of up to 100 mph (equivalent of an EF-1 tornado on the Enhanced Fujita scale) in 3 locations in Yalobusha and Tallahatchie Counties.  There were4 injuries and mobile homes damaged in all 3 locations.  Summaries of the damage appear below.

* COUNTY/COUNTIES: YALOBUSHA
* LOCATION/TIME OF EVENT: TILLATOBA AT 4:45 PM CST
* BEGINNING POINT: 33.98 N 89.9 W
* ENDING POINT: 33.97 N 89.55 W
* RATING: STRAIGHT LINE WIND DAMAGE
* ESTIMATED PEAK WIND: 95 - 100 MPH
* PATH LENGTH: 1 MILE
* MAXIMUM WIDTH: 1/3 MILE
* FATALITIES: NONE
* INJURIES: NONE

* SUMMARY OF DAMAGES: SIGNIFICANT DAMAGE WAS FIRST OBSERVED AT A
AUTOMOTIVE REPAIR SHOP WHICH SUFFERED MAJOR METAL ROOF DAMAGE
AND WALL FAILURE ON THE REAR OF THE BUILDING. WINDS WERE
ESTIMATED AT AROUND 95 MPH AT THIS LOCATION. DAMAGE CONTINUED
FURTHER TO THE SOUTHEAST WHERE A HOME LOST A MAJORITY OF ITS
ROOF. WINDS AT THIS LOCATION WERE ESTIMATED AT AROUND 100 MPH.
FURTHER SOUTHEAST...ROOF DAMAGE WAS OBSERVED TO A FEW MOBILE
HOMES AND OUTBUILDINGS...WITH ONE SMALL MOBILE HOME ROLLED ON
ITS SIDE. SEVERAL PINE AND CEDAR TREES WERE SNAPPED WITH AN OAK
TREE UPROOTED.

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* COUNTY/COUNTIES: TALLAHATCHIE
* LOCATION/TIME OF EVENT: BLUE CAIN ROAD APPROXIMATELY 4 MILES WEST OF CHARLESTON
* DAMAGE LOCATION POINT: 33.97 N 91.35 W
* RATING: STRAIGHT LINE WIND DAMAGE
* ESTIMATED PEAK WIND: 85 - 90 MPH
* PATH LENGTH: 1/2 MILE
* MAXIMUM WIDTH: 200 YARDS
* FATALITIES: NONE
* INJURIES: 2

* SUMMARY OF DAMAGES: 6 MOBILE HOMES WERE SHIFTED OFF OF THEIR
FOUNDATIONS WITH SOME RECEIVING EXTENSIVE ROOF DAMAGE. THERE
WERE A FEW SNAPPED PINE TREES AS WELL.

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* COUNTY/COUNTIES: TALLAHATCHIE
* LOCATION/TIME OF EVENT: TATUM POND ROAD APPROXIMATELY 4 MILESEAST OF CHARLESTON
* DAMAGE LOCATION POINT: 34.03 N 89.97 W
* RATING: STRAIGHT LINE WIND DAMAGE
* ESTIMATED PEAK WIND: 85 - 90 MPH
* PATH LENGTH: 2 MILES
* MAXIMUM WIDTH: 100 YARDS
* FATALITIES: NONE
* INJURIES: 2

* SUMMARY OF DAMAGES: A METAL GARAGE WAS EXTENSIVELY DAMAGED AT
THE INTERSECTION OF TATUM POND ROAD AND HIGHWAY 32. A COUPLE OF
MOBILE HOMES EXPERIENCED ROOF DAMAGE FURTHER DOWN TATUM POND
ROAD. SEVERAL TREES WERE SNAPPED AND UPROOTED.

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