Severe Weather in the South

While we were dealing with a few rain showers this past weekend, many in the south were dealing with a deadly tornado outbreak.  A very strong storm system brought an extended period of severe weather to the south Friday afternoon that lasted until late Saturday night.  Scattered severe thunderstorms developed and moved across northeast Louisiana and parts of Mississippi with several reports of large hail and wind damage.  Even though the storms Friday didn't cause too much widespread damage, a much more danagerous situation evolved Saturday morning where two seperate clusters of storms moved across southeastern Arkansas and northwestern Mississippi, with another moving through south central and southeastern Mississippi.  The most destructive storm of the day developed over northern Louisiana during the mid to late morning hours.  The first report of damage was received a little after 11am near the city of Tallulah, LA.  It was only after that, that things got worse as the storm tracked across the entire state of Mississippi producing significant damage with several tornadoes.  Multiple fatalities and injuries were reported in association with this storm along with reports of structures either damaged or destroyed.  This was a pretty significant day weather wise because of the time of day the tornadoes moved through.  Typically, you don't see long lived, deadly tornadoes in the morning in that area.  It was also the first time this year that the Storm Prediction Center issued the highest alert they could, putting the south in a "high" risk for tornadoes that day.  Thankfully the weather the next couple of days should remain fairly quiet to allow them to pick up the pieces.  To read more on the damage reports from that area, click here to access the National Weather Service out of Jackson, MS.