Power Outage in Bastrop, LA

An EF-1 tornado developed on the evening of April 7th near Holly Ridge Road in northeast Morehouse Parish. The tornado damaged a tin awning, removing several sheets and tossing them into a field nearby. The tornado continued northeast where it strengthened to its maximum intensity and damaged a mixed stand of predominantly older pecan and a few oak trees. The majority of trees in this area were snapped or pushed over. Continuing northeast, the tornado downed a few power poles and trees as well as damaged a few structures near Zaunbrecher Road. One home lost most of a wall of an attached garage and had some roofing damage while another outbuilding had its door blown in. The tornado continued northeast a brief distance further before dissipating in a nearby field. The max estimated wind speed was around 100 mph.

Light fell across northern parts of the parish during the morning, but freezing rain became the concern during the afternoon. Up to around 0.25 inches of ice accumulated across the parish, and widespread power outages occurred due to fallen trees, limbs, and power lines.

Tropical depression force winds from Hurricane Delta resulted in widespread trees and power lines blown down across the parish. A peak wind gust of 38 mph was measured at Morehouse Memorial Airport at 1:35 a.m. CDT.

A tree was blown down across Peach Orchard Road and Cherry Ridge Road near Bastrop. Numerous trees and power lines were blown down across the parish. At least five trees were blown down on homes and additional trees were blown down on cars. There were widespread power outages.

Trees and power lines were blown down.

A utility pole was broken near the Bastrop airport and another was broken along US 165. Several trees and powerlines were blown down just to the west of Bastrop.

A utility pole was broken near the Bastrop airport and another was broken along US 165. Several trees and powerlines were blown down just to the west of Bastrop.

There is some uncertainty where this tornado first touched down and dissipated due to a number of farm fields and limited damage. Based on radar information and surrounding evidence, it was determined that it started in a field. The greatest damage occurred near the intersection of School House Lane and Sidney White Rd. A well-structured home had significant roof damage, and a playhouse and shed were completed destroyed. On the University of Louisiana-Monroe radar, a tornadic debris signature was visible near this home. A number of uprooted trees were sporadically down around the edge of the circulation and were probably caused by straight line winds. On Hwy 425, north of Oak Ridge, a few power poles had to be replaced. This is where it was determined that the tornado dissipated. The maximum wind speeds with this tornado were 95 mph.

Trees and power poles were blown down.

This tornado touched down along Highway 165 where a few power poles were snapped and some trees were snapped just east of the highway. The tornado continued northeast along Highway 165, bending power poles on a tree line before crossing Son Olive Road. Mt. Olive Missionary Baptist Church sustained roof damage,|as did a home just west of there. Some of the roof was blown off the church, with tin visible in the field just northeast of the road. A TV antenna was bent at a home just west of there. The tornado continued northeast before crossing Bailey Store Road,|where tree damage occurred. It then took more of an east-northeast path before crossing Honeysuckle Lane and Bonne Idee Road. Here the tornado caused roof damage to a home and uprooted and snapped multiple trees, with tin and debris scattered along in the field just to the east. The tornado then crossed Highway|599 where an antenna was collapsed, many large hardwood trees were snapped and uprooted and all were blown to the northeast. A shed building roof was also collapsed at this location. The tornado was at its widest, around 300 yards wide, near this location. It continued east-northeast before hitting a house near the intersection|of Highway 599 and Homer McDaniel Road. Here roof damage occurred, tin was blown around, a large metal and PVC tank were blown over. A few large cypress hardwood trees were snapped and blown across the road. It then crossed Homer McDaniel Road where a tree was snapped then crossed near Horace Hill Road where a power pole was broken near the base. The tornado continued east-northeast briefly in the field before lifting. The maximum estimated winds were 105 mph.

A tree was blown down on Hickory Avenue and a powerline was blown down within the city limits.

There was a swath of damaging winds in this area. There was substantial tree damage in the area from Highway 165 and along and north of Highway 554. Three businesses were damaged with a roof off one and a portable office building blown across the road and destroyed. A vehicle was blown off the road and trees fell on the car. A lady sustain minor injuries. Multiple trees were blown down with some power poles snapped across the south part of the parish. Thirty to thirty-five homes sustained some sort of damage to shingles off the roof to the homes damaged by trees. A pontoon boat and a trailer was also flipped over.

A power pole was snapped along Highway 2.

A power line, several limbs, and a few trees were snapped along Highway 2.

Trees and power lines were blown down near Cooper Lake Road and Yeldell Road.

Multiple trees and power lines blown down across the southern part of the parish.

Trees and power lines were down.

Power lines were blown down in town.

Between a quarter and a half inch of ice accumulated on trees and power lines causing a few power outages in the northern portion of the parish.

A tree was blown onto a house near Crossett Road and Highway 425. Power was out across the northern part of the parish.

Several large limbs were blown down onto power lines.

A tree was blown down onto a power line just east of Highway 138.

Two trees and a few power lines were blown down.

Numerous trees and power lines were blown down.

Several trees were blown down along Bonner Ferry Road near Bussy Lake. Much of the city of Bastrop was without power.

Power lines were blown down on the southwest side of Bastrop.

Strong easterly wind gusts, between 50 and 60 mph, developed across the southern portion of Morehouse Parish as a wake low evolved across the region. These high winds downed several trees and power lines.

Tropical storm force winds occurred across Madison Parish as the outer edges of Hurricane Gustav moved across central Louisiana. Numerous trees and several power lines were blown down and blocked area roads. Wind gusts peaked between 40 and 50 mph.

A few trees and power lines were blown down in and around Beekman.

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

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

Around one quarter inch of ice accumulated slowly through the day with icing being worst across area roads. Accidents were plentiful across the parish with some icing in trees and on power lines.

Substantial wind damage occurred from a evolving bow echo across extreme southwest Morehouse Parish, in the Westlake Community. Numerous large trees were uprooted, power lines blown down and some homes sustaining roof damage. This bow echo continued to intensify as it moved across the parish caused additional wind damage and two brief tornadoes.

Substantial wind damage from wind gusts between 75 and 85 MPH occurred around Bastrop as a bow echo slammed through the parish. Dozens of trees and power lines were blown down along with many homes sustaining minor to major damage. Some people were trapped in their home from either downed trees or other debris blocking the way out. The International Paper Plant measured an 86 MPH wind gust. This bow echo continued to produce significant wind damage across the parish along with two brief tornadoes.

Several trees and power lines were blown down across Bonner Ferry and Shelton Roads in Bastrop.

Several trees and a few power lines were blown down around Bastrop.

Strong downburst winds caused damage from Bastrop to areas just east of town. In the city, a few power lines and trees were blown down. A portion of a roof was blown off a building. Outside of town, several more trees and power lines were blown down along with a large tree on a mobile home.

One mobile home was overturned and heavily damaged along with a semi truck blown over. Additionally, several power lines were blown down around the area.

This tornado touched down 2 miles northeast of Bastrop at 12:40 AM. It traveled northeast for a distance of 17 miles and exited the parish 6 miles north of Bonita at 12:58 AM into Ashley County, Arkansas. The maximum path width of the storm in Morehouse Parish was 200 yards. The tornado caused extensive damage to a sweet potato plant at the Kinnaird Farms on Old Bonita Road. The tornado also caused extensive damage to farm buildings, equipment (including an overturned trailer rig), and a house on another farm on Claud Mann Road. Numerous trees and power lines were blown down.

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

A few trees were blown down, and knocked down power lines. Several sheds were destroyed.

Severe thunderstorms moved through northeast Louisiana on the evening of May 9th. These storms resulted in several instances of damaging winds with scattered trees and power lines downed.

An outbreak of severe thunderstorms occurred on May 4th. The main round of storms occurred during the afternoon in the form of an intense line of storms. Widespread wind damage occurred resulting in numerous downed trees, power lines and infrastructure damage. Two tornadoes also occurred within the line of storms.

As an arctic air mass continued to build southward across the South on February 17th, another wave of precipitation overspread this cold air mass across northeast Louisiana. The main impacts across this portion of the state were from freezing rain and resulting heavy icing, but some significant accumulations of sleet and snow also occurred. Freezing rain continued through the evening hours. Ice accumulated quickly in many locations and downed numerous trees, large limbs, and power lines. Several trees and limbs fell onto power lines, resulting in more widespread power outages as well. Significant impacts to travel and electrical infrastructure occurred in the hardest hit areas. In the Vidalia area, heavy rain flooded several roads due to ice-blocked drainages.

While several rounds of winter weather occurred leading up to February 15, 2021, the first major winter precipitation event occurred on this day. Light precipitation continued to fall intermittently across the region early in the morning before heavier bands of precipitation fell just prior to daybreak. The precipitation was mainly in the form of heavy sleet for many locations, especially those in western and central Mississippi. However, some parts of the Delta saw an accumulation of snow and sleet while portions of eastern Mississippi experienced freezing rain. Significant accumulations of all winter weather precipitation occurred, some within a short time period. This resulted in significant impact to travel, power outages and disruption to daily life.

Hurricane Delta made landfall along the southwest Louisiana Gulf Coast around 5:00 p.m. CDT on October 9th and moved to the northeast across portions of central and northeast Louisiana. The hurricane produced widespread wind damage and flooding heavy rainfall as it moved inland and weakened. Scattered roads and highways in the region were flooded over or washed out by flash flooding, and 15 homes around Jonesville took on floodwaters with residents having to be rescued. The heavy rains saturated and loosened soils, allowing many trees to be uprooted and blown down, and some of the trees fell onto and damaged homes and power lines in the region. Strong winds continued on the western side of the storm into the morning of October 10th, even as the hurricane weakened to a tropical storm and then tropical depression. Up to 9 to 12 inches of total rainfall were measured, with the greatest amounts especially around Catahoula and Franklin Parishes.

An outbreak of severe weather occurred on Easter Sunday, 2020. This was a multifaceted event with a few different waves of activity, each of which brought their own unique hazardous weather to the residents of the region. This outbreak had a total of 20 tornadoes across the NWS Jackson service area. Of these, two tornadoes were long tracked and in excess of 60 miles. Additionally, the most intense tornado was historically significant as it was the widest tornado in Mississippi history at 2.25 miles and ranks as the third widest nationally. Unfortunately, fatalities occurred across the region, most of which came from the two long track tornadoes. Total fatalities were 14, which were across several counties and almost 100 people were injured. Of the 20 tornadoes, two were rated as EF4, one was an EF3, four were EF2, ten were EF1 and there were three EF0.||The first wave of severe storms moved out of northeast Louisiana as a line of thunderstorms or QLCS. The bowing segment of this line was efficient at producing tornadoes as it moved across northeast Louisiana parishes and through central sections of Mississippi before tracking across Alabama. This part of the QLCS produced 13 tornadoes across the service area with the strongest being three EF2s that occurred west of Pioneer LA, northwest of Yazoo City MS, and north of Macon MS.||The next wave was focused around two large supercell storms where each produced long track tornadoes, and were the phenomena that had the greatest impact across south and southeast Mississippi. The first storm produced two EF4 tornadoes, one of which was on the ground for 68 miles before dissipating. This tornado was up to two miles wide in several locations, with the maximum width at 2.25 miles making it the widest tornado in Mississippi history. On the heels of this supercell, another supercell developed and produced a long track EF3 tornado, which was on the ground for 84 miles.||The third and final wave was associated with the southeast surge of the cold front and driven by the strong lift and winds from the core of the upper level low. This wave was a bit unique as there were not as many thunderstorms associated with the line of strong and damaging winds. However, this line of activity produced widespread wind damage across southeast Arkansas, northeast Louisiana and all of the northern half of Mississippi, including the Mississippi Delta where winds of 70 to 90 mph occurred. While many structures sustained some sort of damage, widespread trees and power lines were blown down during the late evening and early morning hours with the final wave.

Two separate bouts of severe weather impacted a large portion of the ArkLaMiss region over a two day period in late November. The first event began on the afternoon of Monday, November 28th and ended around midnight on Tuesday, November 29th . A potent upper level low pressure system spinning over the Northern Plains caused a strong surface low pressure system to develop and rapidly race northeast from the Central Plains to the Great Lakes region. This resulted in a strong cold front racing east into and through the ArkLaMiss region. As it did so, it encountered a strongly wind-sheared and marginally unstable air mass over the area. This equated to a line of storms racing east across the ArkLaMiss, that downed numerous trees and powerlines across the area. Numerous trees were also reported down well ahead of the front due to widespread sustained gradient winds between 25-35 mph, gusting between 40-50 mph at times over the ArkLaMiss. After this cold front pushed through the region, it stalled near the central gulf coast Tuesday morning, aiding in setting the stage for the second bout of severe weather that would affect the region from Tuesday afternoon into the early morning hours of Wednesday, November 30th. ||Another piece of upper level energy associated with the low pressure system aloft over the Northern Plains, approached the Southeast United States Tuesday afternoon. As this happened, it caused the front stalled south of the area to begin lifting north through the area as a warm front. As warm moist unstable air overspread the region from the south, both wind shear and forcing over the region became adequate, such that supercell thunderstorms began developing and moving northeast through the area. Numerous storms became severe and produced damaging wind gusts and large hail, primarily ranging from quarter to golfball size.||As a cold front finally pushed east and through the ArkLaMiss early Wednesday morning, severe weather finally came to an end across the entire area around sunrise.

Late on the evening of Friday, April 24th into the early morning hours of Saturday, April 25th, a complex of severe thunderstorms pushed eastward across northeastern Louisiana and central Mississippi. These storms were produced by a shortwave trough pushing across the Mid South region and were sustained by strong deep layer wind shear. Damaging straight-line wind gusts and a few weak tornadoes occurred along the path of the storms. Several trees and power poles/lines were downed, some onto structures. A few areas in the ArkLaMiss Delta also received very heavy rain producing flash flooding.

A moist air mass combined with afternoon heating and good deep shear to develop strong to severe storms during the night of the 18th. During the overnight hours from the 19th to 20th, a strong upper disturbance combined with afternoon heating, moist airmass, cold front and deep shear to cause more strong to severe storms. These storms produced hail up to golf ball size in portions of Northeast Louisiana. There was also thunderstorm wind damage in the form of blown down trees and power lines.

Multiple rounds of wintry weather had occurred prior to this snowfall event. A cold front had moved through the region four days earlier on February 21st with a cold airmass in its wake. Several waves of upper level disturbances moved through Mid-South, over the course of the next three days. The first, on the night of the 22nd, brought mostly rain to the region but some light icing occurred in the far northern Delta early on the 23rd. A second, more potent disturbance, moved through Central Mississippi during the afternoon and evening hours on the 23rd. This brought a more significant icing event to locations generally along and north of I-20, causing some power outages and accidents. ||With the cold remaining in place, the final round of wintry weather moved in on the morning of the 25th. A strong upper level disturbance moved across the region, which induced a low pressure system to move east across the northern Gulf of Mexico. With the cold air already entrenched over the region, this brought the needed moisture and atmospheric lift needed to generate precipitation. At first, the precipitation started as rain and freezing rain, with some light icing reported across the ArkLaMiss. As the atmosphere cooled through the late morning, the rain began to change to snow in the early afternoon across southeast Arkansas, northeast Louisiana and the Mississippi Delta. The changeover line from rain to snow slowly progressed from northwest to southeast across northern portions of the ArkLaMiss region. By the time the changeover occurred near the I-20 corridor, the precipitation was moving off to the east into Alabama. ||Those who got snow north of I-20 saw several heavier bursts, which led to some high snowfall totals. The highest totals were generally along and north of the Highway 82 corridor. Locations from Grenada to northern Lowndes County saw the highest amounts in our county warning area, with totals ranging from six to eight inches. Those who saw the higher totals also dealt with trees being weighed down by the heavy snow. This led to snapping trees and numerous power outages.

A powerful low pressure system and cold front moved over the ArkLaMiss region during the early morning hours of December 20th. This storm system caused a line of severe storms to cross the region producing widespread thunderstorm wind damage in the form of blown down trees, power lines, and structural damage.

Tropical Depression Nine formed in the Atlantic, east of the Lesser Antilles, on the morning of August 21, 2012. Twelve hours later, Tropical Depression Nine had strengthened into Tropical Storm Isaac. Isaac continued to track through the eastern Caribbean Sea and Florida Straits while maintaining high end tropical storm strength. Just before noon central time on the 28th, Isaac was located about 75 miles south-southeast of the mouth of the Mississippi River(or about 160 miles southeast of New Orleans) and was found to have reached hurricane strength with winds of 75 mph. An outer rain band from Isaac brought some showers to portions of the ArkLaMiss during the afternoon of the 28th, while the center of Isaac was still churning in the Gulf of Mexico. At 6:45pm on August 28th, Hurricane Isaac made a brief landfall along the coast of Southeast Louisiana in Plaquemines Parish. Maximum sustained winds were 80mph at this landfall. Isaac did not remain over land for long as he was back over water again by 9:00pm that same evening. Isaac made his second landfall along the coast of southeast Louisiana, just to the west of Port Fourchon, around 2:15am August 29th, again with maximum sustained winds of 80 mph.||Isaac moved very slowly to the north and northwest over the course of August 29th, which made for prolonged impacts. Forward motion of about 5 mph lead to tremendous flooding issues for both Louisiana and portions of Mississippi south of I-20. Around noon on August 29th, Isaac was downgraded to a Tropical Storm, but this was not much relief to the many residents who were being inundated with rain and wind. Storm total rainfall across portions of Marion County indicated at least 10 to 15 inches fell. Numerous homes and buildings were flooded and some water rescues occurred in Lamar, Marion and Clarke counties. Further to the north, flooding issues were not quite as bad with about 5 to 7 inches of rain falling from the I-20 corridor and north. Tropical storm force wind gusts were noted as far north as Bolivar County, with the Golden Triangle region not seeing winds reach more than tropical depression strength. The worst of the wind was felt generally along and south of an axis from Marion County to Adams County. Numerous trees were down in Adams County, leaving many without power for several days. Eighty percent of the roads were blocked in Franklin County due to downed trees.||With all of the rain that fell, some of the area rivers filled quickly. Minor flooding was recorded on the lower Pearl River at Rockport and Monticello, as well as on Bouie Creek at Hattiesburg and Tallahala Creek at Laurel. The biggest river impact in the Jackson Hydrologic Service Area was on Black Creek at Brooklyn. Black Creek entered moderate flooding and finally crested at 26.71 feet on August 31st at 5pm. This will go down as the second highest crest in history for this particular river and forecast point. This river flooding caused damage to 15 homes both upstream and downstream of the river gage.||The winds and flooding were not all Isaac brought as a couple of tornadoes touched down in eastern Mississippi. Two tornadoes, one in Clarke County and one in Lauderdale County, occurred during the morning of August 30th. Both were rated EF-1 with winds around 100 mph. The tornado in Clarke County, near Crandall, resulted in 3 injuries to residents of a mobile home. One death attributed to Isaac occurred in Holmes County when a 64 year old woman was killed by a tree falling on her car. Isaac finally moved out of the region by the afternoon of the 30th, and was downgraded to a tropical depression by late afternoon on the 30th as it continued to track to the northwest into Missouri and the Ohio Valley.

The combination of a strong upper level disturbance, rich gulf moisture, and good instability helped to develop a strong squall line that moved north out of southeast Louisiana causing scattered hail and thunderstorm wind damage across portions of northeast Louisiana. The thunderstorm wind damage was mainly in the form of blown down power lines and trees as well as some spotty damage to structures.

A powerful, late season, low pressure system brought a few thunderstorms to northeast Louisiana late on May 25th. One of the thunderstorms downed a few trees in Bastrop.

A powerful storm system took shape across the central United States and clashed with a warm and unstable airmass. An extensive and intense squall line resulted which quickly pushed eastward across the eastern half of the country. Overall, this system produced a large severe weather outbreak and brought widespread wind damage to multiple states across the south, mid south, and southeast United States. Nearly 1500 reports of severe weather were reported, across 15 states, with the vast majority being damaging winds. Wind damage was not the only severe weather event type, large hail and tornadoes were also part of the mix. In terms of total events (severe weather reports), this outbreak is one of the largest in the United States.||Across the National Weather Service Jackson forecast area, numerous reports of down trees and power lines have been reported along with multiple reports of damaged structures. These structures were damaged by either fallen trees or intense winds. Survey teams found 5 tornadoes across the area, two of these were rated EF2. The first strong tornado moved into northwest Catahoula Parish from LaSalle Parish. The other strong tornado occurred across Tensas Parish and tracked to the MS River, crossed the river and dissipated in far northwest Claiborne County. The other three tornadoes were rated EF1. One of these occurred just north of Utica, in Hinds County, another tracked across northern Simpson County near Braxton, and the other across southeast Lincoln and southern Lawrence Counties.

Heavy snow affected a large portion of the region, especially locations across central and southern Mississippi, on Thursday night and Friday, February 11th and 12th. The heavy snow was a result of a low pressure system that tracked eastward across the northern Gulf of Mexico, and a vigorous upper level disturbance that moved across the region while a cold air mass was in place. Light precipitation overspread the region late Thursday afternoon into the evening before becoming heavy Thursday night into early Friday morning. The snow tapered off from west to east during the midday hours Friday.||Northern portions of the area, including the Highway 82 corridor, received generally 1 inch or less of snow accumulation. Areas across central and southern parts of the forecast area received the greatest snowfall, with totals ranging mainly between 4 and 6 inches with locally higher amounts. Due to the heavy wet nature of the snow, many large branches and some trees took down power lines across the region. Generally, once 3 inches of snow accumulation was met, damage began to occur. Power outages were common after the event and widespread.||At the National Weather Service office, a total of 4.7 inches of snow fell during the event. This is the 2nd largest February snowfall event and the 10th overall largest snowfall event on record. This heavy snow event was not just a local event. Heavy snow spanned a large portion of the South with a substantial swath of 3 to 6 inches which fell from north-central Texas through north and central Louisiana, central and southern Mississippi, Alabama and Georgia.

During the early morning hours of April 18th, another wake low wind event occurred across portions of the forecast area. This wind event swept across the northwest portion of the area from near Bastrop, LA to Greenwood, MS. Most of the wind gusts ranged between 40 and 50 mph, but a swath of stronger winds, between 50 and 60 mph, occurred in a smaller area generally from Bastrop, LA to Lake Providence to Rolling Fork, MS. Where the higher winds occurred, a greater number of trees were blown down along with power lines.

Hurricane Gustav was the 2nd major hurricane of the 2008 Atlantic Hurricane Season. It took shape as a tropical depression on the morning of August 25th just southeast of Haiti, and rapidly strengthened to hurricane status by the morning of August 26th. After inflicting serious damage on portions of Haiti, Jamaica, and Cuba, Gustav entered into the southeastern portion of the Gulf of Mexico and took aim at the Gulf Coast of the United States. Although Gustav attained Category 4 status earlier in its life, Gustav eventually made landfall as a strong Category 2 system at Cocodrie, Louisiana, on September 1st, containing maximum sustained winds around 110 mph. Gustav slowed down and weakened as it continued on its northwest track across southern Louisiana where major damage was inflicted. The pace of the system continued to slow dramatically over the next few days as it turned gradually to the right around a large ridge of high pressure over the Southeast. The remnants of Gustav finally began moving rapidly away from the Lower Mississippi Valley on the 4th as an incoming disturbance deflected it to the northeast. Gustav was responsible for multiple hazardous weather elements across the service area such as tropical storm force winds, tornadoes, flash flooding, and areal flooding from extensive rains.||As the center of Gustav crossed much of southern Louisiana, tropical storm force winds extended into southern Mississippi and portions of east central Louisiana. Sustained winds were between 35 and 45 mph with higher gusts between 70 and 100 mph occurred. Tree and power line damage was extensive across these areas which resulted in widespread power outages, some of which lasted for 3 to 5 days.||As Gustav slowed across central Louisiana, the outer rainbands continued to rotate across much of southern and central Mississippi. This kept those portions of Mississippi in the region which was favorable for tornadoes. Over 3 days, 26 tornadoes were confirmed, all of which were in the EF0 to EF1 range.||As Gustav slowed on September 2nd, flash flooding became a major issue which lasted into the 3rd as the storm slowly lifted to the north and northeast. The first round of heavy rain and flash flooding was across portions of southeast Mississippi as the outer rainbands started to move across the same areas. Total rainfall across this area was between 4 and 7 inches. The heaviest rains fell across areas near and west of the Mississippi River. Some of the Mississippi counties boarding the river received 8 to 11 inches of rain. Areas west of the river across Louisiana and southeast Arkansas saw extreme rainfall. Many locations received between 11 and 20 inches of rain. The highest measured rainfall was at Larto Lake where 21 inches fell. The flooding rains had a tremendous impact on area crops. Crop damage was extensive across Louisiana and western Mississippi. The flooding rains came at a crucial time as most crops will be harvested in September. Crop damage from Gustav will range between 300-400 million dollars.

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.

A winter storm brought a mixture of freezing rain, sleet, and snow to much of northeast Louisiana on the 27th. The wintry mix began falling during the early morning of the 27th and lasted until late that night. Significant damage from ice occurred as much of the precipitation fell in the form of freezing rain. Ice accumulations of one to two inches were common with the largest accumulations falling close to the Arkansas border. Some parishes were declared federal disaster areas by President Clinton. Several thousand people were without power as the weight of the ice brought trees and power lines down. Many vehicles ran off of the ice coated roads.