A rare and widespread significant wind event impacted the NWS Jackson, MS forecast area during the evening of Aug 2nd and lasted into the early morning hours of Aug 3rd. Several clusters of storms developed across Northern Mississippi and Northern Alabama during the late afternoon and became further organized as the clusters moved to the south and southwest. Between 8 and 9 pm, a bowing line of storms was located from Oxford to Starkville, growing larger by the minute, and picking up speed as wind gusts between 50 and 70 mph were taking shape.
A large bow echo quickly evolved and raced to the west-southwest, across Mississippi, through the evening at 50 to 60 mph. The line of storms produced widespread severe wind gusts around 60 mph with many locations seeing significant wind gusts between 75 and 80 mph. Tree and power line damage was widespread and significant along the line with the focus and most intense portion of the bow echo located within an axis from Louisville, MS to Jackson, MS to St. Joseph, LA.
Some of the most significant wind damage occurred across Winston, Neshoba, Leake and Scott counties. Here, thousands of trees were downed along with numerous power lines. Many roads were blocked by downed trees, especially across Scott County. Wind gusts across these areas likely peaked between 75 and 85 mph.
The bow echo was re-energized across Madison and Hinds Counties as the line clashed with pre-line storms. The most intense portion of the bow echo was re-focused as it impacted portions of southern Madison and Hinds County. The most intense portion of the line then dove southwest and impacted Copiah, Claiborne, Jefferson, Franklin and Adams Counties. As the line crossed the Mississippi River, the parishes of Tensas and Concordia saw the brunt of the damaging winds. Similar to areas across Central Mississippi, these locations received significant winds between 75 and 85 mph. Thousands of trees and numerous power lines were downed from the winds. Power outages were substantial as many locations were without power for 2 to 4 days.
Looking at this event in a historic perspective, it was likely the most significant and widespread wind event ever in August for our forecast area.

Thunderstorm Wind in FRANKLIN, LOUISIANA
From 02-AUG-08 23:35:00 to 03-AUG-08 00:00:00 (CST-6)
Location: CROWVILLE
Magnitude: 57.00 EG
Property damage: 40.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: Emergency Manager

Scattered trees and power lines were blown down across the northern portion of the parish.

Thunderstorm Wind in RICHLAND, LOUISIANA
From 02-AUG-08 23:45:00 to 02-AUG-08 23:48:00 (CST-6)
Location: ALTO
Magnitude: 53.00 EG
Property damage: 5.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: Public

Several trees and a few power lines were blown down.

Thunderstorm Wind in CONCORDIA, LOUISIANA
From 02-AUG-08 23:50:00 to 03-AUG-08 00:10:00 (CST-6)
Location: SPOKANE
Magnitude: 63.00 EG
Property damage: 300.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: Emergency Manager

Numerous trees and power lines were blown down across the northern portion of the parish. The damage extended from Lake St. John to Clayton to Catahoula/Concordia Parish line. A few homes near Lake St. John sustained minor shingle damage.

Thunderstorm Wind in FRANKLIN, LOUISIANA
From 02-AUG-08 23:51:00 to 03-AUG-08 00:07:00 (CST-6)
Location: WINNSBORO
Magnitude: 57.00 EG
Property damage: 100.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: Law Enforcement

Numerous trees and power lines were blown down across most of Central Franklin Parish.

Thunderstorm Wind in CATAHOULA, LOUISIANA
From 03-AUG-08 00:14:00 to 03-AUG-08 00:25:00 (CST-6)
Location: HARRISONBURG
Magnitude: 57.00 EG
Property damage: 50.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: Law Enforcement

Numerous trees and several power lines were blown down around the Sandy Lake Community.

Thunderstorm Wind in CATAHOULA, LOUISIANA
From 03-AUG-08 00:15:00 to 03-AUG-08 00:17:00 (CST-6)
Location: ENTERPRISE
Magnitude: 55.00 EG
Property damage: 40.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: Law Enforcement

Numerous trees and several power lines were blown down.

Thunderstorm Wind in CONCORDIA, LOUISIANA
From 03-AUG-08 00:25:00 to 03-AUG-08 00:27:00 (CST-6)
Location: LISMORE
Magnitude: 55.00 EG
Property damage: 55.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: Law Enforcement

Numerous trees and power lines were blown down.

Thunderstorm Wind in MADISON, LOUISIANA
From 02-AUG-08 23:05:00 to 02-AUG-08 23:20:00 (CST-6)
Location: TALLULAH
Magnitude: 58.00 EG
Property damage: 25.00K
Crop damage: 100.00K
Reported by: Public

Several trees and a few power lines were blown down across the central portions of Madison County.

Thunderstorm Wind in MADISON, LOUISIANA
From 02-AUG-08 23:24:00 to 02-AUG-08 23:26:00 (CST-6)
Location: WAVERLY
Magnitude: 54.00 EG
Property damage: 15.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: Public

Several trees and power lines were blown down.

Thunderstorm Wind in WEST CARROLL, LOUISIANA
From 02-AUG-08 23:24:00 to 02-AUG-08 23:35:00 (CST-6)
Location: OAK GROVE
Magnitude: 55.00 EG
Property damage: 0.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: Law Enforcement

Several trees were blown down across the central portion of the parish.

Thunderstorm Wind in EAST CARROLL, LOUISIANA
From 02-AUG-08 23:02:00 to 02-AUG-08 23:20:00 (CST-6)
Location: LAKE PROVIDENCE ARPT
Magnitude: 57.00 EG
Property damage: 100.00K
Crop damage: 50.00K
Reported by: Law Enforcement

Numerous trees and several power lines were blown down across the parish.

Thunderstorm Wind in TENSAS, LOUISIANA
From 02-AUG-08 23:19:00 to 02-AUG-08 23:37:00 (CST-6)
Location: NEWELLTON ARPT
Magnitude: 60.00 EG
Property damage: 50.00K
Crop damage: 100.00K
Reported by: Emergency Manager

Numerous trees and several power lines were blown down across the northern half of Tensas Parish as an intense line of thunderstorms moved across the area.

Thunderstorm Wind in CATAHOULA, LOUISIANA
From 02-AUG-08 17:35:00 to 02-AUG-08 17:35:00 (CST-6)
Location: ARCHIE
Magnitude: 60.00 EG
Property damage: 2.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: Public

Numerous trees were blown down around Archie.

Hail in MOREHOUSE, LOUISIANA
From 02-AUG-08 15:47:00 to 02-AUG-08 15:49:00 (CST-6)
Location: BONITA
Magnitude: 0.75 
Property damage: 0.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: Newspaper

Thunderstorm Wind in MOREHOUSE, LOUISIANA
From 02-AUG-08 23:40:00 to 02-AUG-08 23:50:00 (CST-6)
Location: MER ROUGE BACON ARPT
Magnitude: 57.00 EG
Property damage: 100.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: Law Enforcement

Numerous trees and several power lines were blown down around Bastrop and the central portion of Morehouse Parish.

Thunderstorm Wind in WEST CARROLL, LOUISIANA
From 02-AUG-08 23:20:00 to 02-AUG-08 23:35:00 (CST-6)
Location: PIONEER
Magnitude: 55.00 EG
Property damage: 150.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: Emergency Manager

Scattered trees and a few power lines were blown down across the southern half of the parish. A church in Pioneer was damaged by a fallen tree.

Thunderstorm Wind in TENSAS, LOUISIANA
From 02-AUG-08 23:25:00 to 02-AUG-08 23:47:00 (CST-6)
Location: ST JOSEPH
Magnitude: 65.00 EG
Property damage: 200.00K
Crop damage: 100.00K
Reported by: Emergency Manager

Numerous trees and power lines were blown down across the eastern and southeastern portion of Tensas Parish as an intense line of thunderstorms moved across the area and brought 65 to 75 mph wind gusts. In St. Joseph, the landmark Compton Oak at the Community House was severely damaged as half of the massive tree broke off during the storm.

Thunderstorm Wind in RICHLAND, LOUISIANA
From 02-AUG-08 23:28:00 to 02-AUG-08 23:30:00 (CST-6)
Location: DELHI
Magnitude: 57.00 EG
Property damage: 150.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: Public

Several trees and power lines were blown down around Delhi. One home had the porch destroyed as it was blown over the home.

Thunderstorm Wind in RICHLAND, LOUISIANA
From 02-AUG-08 23:52:00 to 03-AUG-08 00:00:00 (CST-6)
Location: ARCHIBALD
Magnitude: 55.00 EG
Property damage: 0.00K
Crop damage: 0.00K
Reported by: Law Enforcement

Several trees were blown down.