High winds associated with some isolated thunderstorms Friday evening caused some minor damage in Lowndes County. Reports of downed power lines and trees were reported across the county, but no injuries were reported.
Brian Elsmore and Christian Montgomery were camping at Lake Lowndes Friday afternoon when the storm came through.
“We’ve been camping here since the Fourth and there was a lot of wind and hard rain,” Elsmore said. “It up-rooted a tree close to where we were camping.”
“It was like riding a wild ride for about an hour,” Montgomery said. “It was raining so hard you couldn’t see five feet in front of you.”
WCBI Chief Meteorologist Keith Gibson said although the weather may seem a bit unpredictable, it is normal for this time of year.
“This stuff is typical southern-style summer weather,” Gibson said. “It is not too unusual. It is fairly typical for this time of year.”
Gibson said isolated thunderstorms pop up, often without warning, and move rapidly through the area.
“These isolated thunderstorms pop-up and then collapse quickly,” Gibson aid. “When they collapse, it pushes the wind and rain down and the wind picks up speed and blows a lot of things around.”
The isolated thunderstorms have brought some much-needed rain to the area, but drought-like conditions can still be found in most of the Golden Triangle. Gibson said Lowndes County needs approximately 5-10 inches of rain to reach its yearly average. The isolated nature of the storms provides varied results within a 10-mile area. According to Gibson, Starkville received three inches of rain Thursday and Columbus received three-quarters of an inch of precipitation.
Rain relief could be on the way, however. A front moving into the area brings a 60 percent chance of rain on Monday and Tuesday and 40 percent chance of rain on Wednesday.
On Tuesday, the Lowndes County Board of Supervisors and Lowndes County Fire Coordinator Sammy Fondren requested a burn ban from the Mississippi Forestry Commission. The request was approved and it remains in effect despite the recent thunderstorms.
“We’ve had some minor relief but the ground is still dry,” Gibson said. “The ground is acting like a sponge and it quickly absorbed the small amount of rain we received.”
Jeff Clark was previously a reporter for The Dispatch.
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