Another Stormy Day in Mississippi--Living in Dixie Tornado Alley

©Copyright by Jaye Denman. All rights reserved.

I live in Jackson, the relatively small capital city of Mississippi, and this is the third period of time I’ve lived here (11 years this go-round). I moved back to Mississippi in 1996 after living in the Dallas-Ft. Worth Metroplex for 8 years.

I remain here because I have family members who live in this area, and I enjoy living near them. Although a network of good friends who seemed almost like family made my Texas years happy, at my current age (67) I want to spend as much time with my actual family as possible. I’m saying all this before I state unequivocally that there are many other places I’d prefer to live. I’m not, as you will see, a PR person for the State of Mississippi; quite the contrary.

There are a lot of reasons I'm not gung-ho about Mississippi, particularly Jackson, but one of the primary reasons is the climate and the overabundance of severe weather (storms and tornadoes) here.

There are two general “storm seasons” in the area: spring and fall. One of these coincides with hurricane season, and when strong hurricanes, such as Katrina, hit the coastline and come inland, they still pack quite a punch by the time they reach Jackson. Considering the devastation Katrina caused to New Orleans, Mobile and the Mississippi Gulf Coast, I'm not going to complain about not having electricity for weeks.

The more frequent severe weather threat in my home city is tornado activity. Jackson is in the path of two distinct tornado alleys, both of which cross the Mississippi River traveling from the southwest to the northeast. One path is from Shreveport, in northeast Louisiana, across the river to Vicksburg and on to Jackson before moving toward Oxford in the northern part of the state. The other path moves across the big river at Natchez, on to McComb in southwest Mississippi (the small town where I was born), up through the Jackson area and on to Tupelo.

One bad factor about tornadoes is they aren’t only spawned by hurricanes, and—in the south—they aren’t confined to the spring and fall storm seasons. Strong thunderstorms can happen any time of year in Mississippi, especially since we have short mild winters and long hot humid summers. Violent thunderstorms spawn tornadoes also, and thunderstorms are prevalent here. There have been tornadoes just before or after the holiday season. While other parts of the country are experiencing the picture postcard beauty of snow (okay...the cold and inconvenient aspects of it as well), it may be approaching 70 degrees Farenheit with "muggy" uncomfortable humidity. That's generally a warning sign that storms may be on the way. Another is the discomfort of sinus pressure. Most people who live here can tell what the weather is going to do without a barometer because of the pressure in their sinus cavities!

These strong thunderstorms form in warm humid air east or south of advancing cool air, or a cold front. When conditions are just right—moisture in lower atmospheric levels, unstable air rising from the warmer ground and an advancing mass of cooler air with which the warm air clashes—strong thunderstorms form, fed by the warm humid air blowing into the storms.

The “line of thunderstorms” that our local weather people refer to are called “supercells.” They are large lines of thunderstorms that sometimes move slowly, southwest to northeast, and last for hours, sometimes 12 hours or more as new supercells form and begin moving.

Dry wind from the southwest that’s higher in the atmosphere adds energy to these storms. The other factor in strengthening supercells is the jet stream. Although it’s higher in the atmosphere, it pulls air upward. The rising air of a thunderstorm, or updraft, is responsible for formation of tornadoes.

When heavy rain and, sometimes, hail, fall in an area, this is often the precursor to a tornado, since the heavy precipitation causes a downdraft. Conditions are then “ripe” for a tornado.

When conditions are right for tornadoes to form, our local TV weather experts go into action and preempt all other television programming on their channels while the weather conditions are severe. One channel even shows street and road names where the severe weather is predicted to be within minutes so people have the opportunity to take precautions.

“Taking precautions” generally means staying indoors within a stable structure (which a mobile home is NOT) and moving to an inner hallway away from glass when the storm siren in the area sounds. That siren means a tornado has been spotted, so anyone who hears it needs to get to a place of safety quickly.

A tornado which touched down on my property in April 2007 ripped up my back fence, took the top off my storage shed, tore chunks of shingles off my roof, broke apart six very tall mature pine trees like they were matchsticks and uprooted two large mature hardwoods—my shade trees. That tornado made a believer out of me.

At that time, my mother was still alive and living with me. She wasn’t able to walk, so it was necessary to get her into her wheelchair very quickly and move into the hallway. By the time we were positioned there, the noise was deafening. I could hear bumps and crashes as limbs and other objects hit the house, but—wondrously—the structure held.

It was not the first tornado of which I’d experienced the wrath, but I’ve been fortunate not to be hit (so far) by one of the truly violent ones that come all the way down to the ground and devastate everything in their path, often causing deaths. In fact, I think some of the damage to my property may have come from straight-line winds blowing out from the vortex of the actual tornado.

That it was a true tornado I have no doubt, since many people in my neighborhood, including a neighbor across the street, sustained much more damage than I. There were roofs and parts of homes completely blown away, and other houses with large trees dumped through their roofs. Trees and power lines were down all over this block, so it was difficult for the emergency crews to get through for a couple of days.

Power and phones were out, and drinking water wasn't safe. The Red Cross brought meals and drinking water into our neighborhood, as well as mops and buckets, all of which were useful. Cell phones had to be charged in the car in order to maintain contact.

Having the trees in my back yard cut down and moved out by heavy equipment completely eradicated the sod on my lawn, so it had to be re-sodded after all the other repair word was completed. Thank heaven for good homeowner insurance!

This explains why I dislike these frequent occurrences of heavy thunderstorms that plow through this area several times (from two different pathways) in one day—usually during an afternoon into the late evening before they move completely on out. Sometimes, of course, the severe weather begins early, even before daybreak. A suburban residential area only a few miles from my home was hit a few years ago, resulting in a few fatalities.

The really strange situation is that, in spite of a history of violent tornadoes in the state, the majority of homes in Mississippi do not have basements or storm cellars. There are also many, many people who live in mobile homes, which are not considered safe during severe weather. Don’t you think this is odd in a “tornado alley?”

My own home has no basement, but a conventional foundation, so the inner hallway is my “place of safety.” I watch the ongoing weather reports and, if the warning siren sounds today or tonight, Puppy Girl and I will hurry to the end of the hallway and sit on folded quilts with more quilts and pillows to shelter us in the event the ceiling and walls are ripped away.

This is one of those days. Another stormy day in Mississippi.

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