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Wiggins, MS Natural Disasters and Weather Extremes

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The chance of earthquake damage in Wiggins is about the same as Mississippi average and is much lower than the national average. The risk of tornado damage in Wiggins is lower than Mississippi average and is much higher than the national average.

Topics:Earthquake Index Volcano Index Tornado Index Other Weather Extremes Events Volcanos Nearby Historical Earthquake Events Historical Tornado Events

Earthquake Index, #165

Wiggins, MS	0.03
Mississippi	0.05
U.S.	1.81

The earthquake index value is calculated based on historical earthquake events data using USA.com algorithms. It is an indicator of the earthquake level in a region. A higher earthquake index value means a higher chance of an earthquake.

Volcano Index, #1

Wiggins, MS	0.0000
Mississippi	0.0000
U.S.	0.0023

The volcano index value is calculated based on the currently known volcanoes using USA.com algorithms. It is an indicator of the possibility of a region being affected by a possible volcano eruption. A higher volcano index value means a higher chance of being affected.

Tornado Index, #337

Wiggins, MS	221.95
Mississippi	280.40
U.S.	136.45

The tornado index value is calculated based on historical tornado events data using USA.com algorithms. It is an indicator of the tornado level in a region. A higher tornado index value means a higher chance of tornado events.

Other Weather Extremes Events

A total of 2,426 other weather extremes events within 50 miles of Wiggins, MS were recorded from 1950 to 2010. The following is a break down of these events:

Type	Count	Type	Count	Type	Count	Type	Count	Type	Count
Avalanche:	0	Blizzard:	0	Cold:	0	Dense Fog:	0	Drought:	0
Dust Storm:	0	Flood:	268	Hail:	717	Heat:	0	Heavy Snow:	0
High Surf:	0	Hurricane:	0	Ice Storm:	0	Landslide:	0	Strong Wind:	1
Thunderstorm Winds:	1,269	Tropical Storm:	0	Wildfire:	0	Winter Storm:	0	Winter Weather:	0
Other:	171

Volcanos Nearby

No volcano is found in or near Wiggins, MS.

Historical Earthquake Events

No historical earthquake events that had recorded magnitudes of 3.5 or above found in or near Wiggins, MS.

No historical earthquake events found in or near Wiggins, MS.

Historical Tornado Events

A total of 80 historical tornado events that had recorded magnitude of 2 or above found in or near Wiggins, MS.

Distance (miles)	Date	Magnitude	Start Lat/Log	End Lat/Log	Length	Width	Fatalities	Injuries	Property Damage	Crop Damage	Affected County
0.5	1953-04-04	2	30°51'N / 89°08'W				0	0	25K	0	Stone
4.1	1968-11-03	2	30°48'N / 89°19'W	30°48'N / 88°55'W	23.70 Miles	183 Yards	0	3	25K	0	Stone
14.6	1969-05-08	2	30°53'N / 89°23'W		2.00 Miles	30 Yards	0	0	25K	0	Pearl River
16.8	1968-11-03	2	31°00'N / 89°22'W		2.00 Miles	50 Yards	0	5	0K	0	Pearl River
20.2	1958-02-26	2	30°59'N / 89°27'W	31°03'N / 89°24'W	5.70 Miles	50 Yards	0	5	250K	0	Lamar
20.5	1989-11-22	2	31°03'N / 89°24'W		2.50 Miles	400 Yards	0	0	250K	0	Lamar
20.8	1968-11-03	2	30°48'N / 89°39'W	30°48'N / 89°19'W	19.80 Miles	180 Yards	0	0	25K	0	Pearl River
22.2	1976-03-27	2	30°54'N / 89°37'W	30°59'N / 89°23'W	15.00 Miles	440 Yards	0	1	25K	0	Pearl River
22.4	1972-05-07	2	30°51'N / 89°32'W	30°54'N / 89°30'W	4.30 Miles	50 Yards	0	0	25K	0	Pearl River
23.7	1996-02-19	2	30°49'N / 89°40'W	31°01'N / 89°24'W	23.00 Miles	430 Yards	0	10	700K	0	Pearl River
		Brief Description: A strong tornado touched down just northwest of the White Sand community. The most significant damage occurred in the initial 2.2 miles just to the north of the White Sand community where ten people were injured; five seriously, requiring hospitalization. The most serious was a woman who suffered a broken back, broken ribs and a punctured lung. The tornado continued on the ground continuously to just north of Poplarville, then intermittently to near Hillsdale. The county suffered considerable property damage with five houses destroyed, 10 had major damage and 14 minor damage. Nine mobile homes were destroyed, 3 sustained major damage and 5 minor damage. Numerous barns and other buildings were damaged. Several farm animals were killed. Large areas of 8 to 12 inch diameter trees were downed. The tornado path was surveyed by National Weather Service employees.
24.5	1958-02-26	2	30°48'N / 89°39'W	30°59'N / 89°27'W	17.40 Miles	50 Yards	0	4	250K	0	Pearl River
25.2	1972-11-13	2	31°08'N / 89°25'W		0.80 Mile	50 Yards	0	0	250K	0	Lamar
25.6	1977-03-28	2	31°12'N / 89°18'W		0.10 Mile	33 Yards	0	0	25K	0	Forrest
27.4	1972-05-07	2	30°28'N / 89°03'W		0.80 Mile	33 Yards	0	0	25K	0	Harrison
27.4	1994-04-12	2	30°28'N / 89°03'W		2.00 Miles	100 Yards	2	15	5.0M	0	Harrison
		Brief Description: Twenty mobile homes were totally destroyed and four brick homes were partially destroyed. At least four businesses were damaged. The two deaths and the fifteen injuries all occurred in mobile homes. Numerous trees and power lines were blown down. Damage was estimated at near one million dollars. F57M M08M
28.9	1980-05-19	2	30°29'N / 88°53'W	30°32'N / 88°51'W	4.30 Miles	33 Yards	0	0	250K	0	Jackson
29.0	2005-01-07	2	31°11'N / 89°27'W	31°12'N / 89°25'W	3.00 Miles	300 Yards	0	0	200K	0	Lamar
		Brief Description: This tornado touched down at Hayden Road and Purvis Oloh Road and tracked north-northeast for 3 miles before lifting near Highway 589, 3 miles north of Purvis. The track basically was along Hayden Road and it was this area that receive the most significant damage. Six homes sustained minor to major roof damage and dozens of trees were uprooted and snapped. The worst damaged was to a home that lost most of its roof and second floor.
29.2	1980-05-19	3	30°23'N / 89°11'W	30°29'N / 89°03'W	10.60 Miles	800 Yards	0	4	2.5M	0	Harrison
29.3	1980-05-19	2	30°50'N / 89°38'W		0.30 Mile	50 Yards	0	0	25K	0	Pearl River
29.4	1985-09-23	2	30°26'N / 89°05'W		1.00 Mile	100 Yards	0	0	250K	0	Harrison
29.4	2004-11-24	2	30°26'N / 89°05'W	30°26'N / 89°05'W	1.50 Miles	50 Yards	0	0	3.0M	0	Harrison
		Brief Description: A tornado traveled east to west on path along Dedeaux Road between Highway 49 and Three Rivers Road in the Orange Grove community. Most of the damage was rated a F1 intensity by a NWS ground survey, however there were areas of F2 damage. A large church under-construction was heavily damaged or destroyed. Three homes and five businesses received major damage while twenty homes had minor damage. Early estimates were that damage would approach 3 million dollars.
29.4	1973-05-26	2	30°42'N / 89°36'W				0	4	25K	0	Pearl River
29.4	1964-10-03	2	30°48'N / 89°39'W	30°50'N / 89°37'W	3.30 Miles	33 Yards	0	0	0K	0	Pearl River
29.7	1987-11-16	2	30°31'N / 89°29'W	30°32'N / 89°26'W	3.00 Miles	73 Yards	0	0	250K	0	Hancock
30.3	1980-05-19	3	30°54'N / 88°39'W	30°57'N / 88°37'W	4.30 Miles	150 Yards	0	0	250K	0	George
30.4	1980-05-19	2	30°27'N / 88°55'W	30°29'N / 88°53'W	3.60 Miles	200 Yards	0	0	250K	0	Harrison
30.5	1971-02-12	2	30°44'N / 88°47'W	30°59'N / 88°28'W	25.50 Miles	33 Yards	0	2	250K	0	George
30.5	1980-04-13	3	30°22'N / 89°06'W	30°30'N / 88°53'W	15.90 Miles	400 Yards	0	25	25.0M	0	Harrison
31.2	1980-05-16	3	30°22'N / 89°09'W	30°27'N / 88°59'W	11.50 Miles	800 Yards	0	0	250K	0	Harrison
32.1	1973-04-07	2	30°54'N / 88°36'W				0	0	3K	0	George
32.6	2006-10-17	2	31°18'N / 89°20'W	31°18'N / 89°19'W	1.00 Mile	50 Yards	0	0	700K	0K	Lamar
		Brief Description: EVENT NARRATIVE: This strong tornado briefly touched down in the Oak Grove Community and was on the ground for 3/4 of a mile. Two homes had nearly the entire roof torn off and large wooden boards were wedged into the ground. Portions of awning were blown a mile away. Seven other homes sustained minor damage within the brief path. EPISODE NARRATIVE: A significant heavy rain and flash flooding event occurred on October 16 and into the first part of October 17. The event was set up by an anomalous pool of tropical type moisture (300% of normal) over the western Gulf of Mexico which was then pulled northward by strong low level winds in advance of a westward moving upper level disturbance. There were several other factors in play which contributed to the large amounts of rain, such as a northward moving warm front and a building upper ridge over the eastern Gulf of Mexico. The warm front helped lift the air while the building upper ridge served to weaken the westward moving upper disturbance. This then caused the progression of the heavy convective rains to slow and dump tremendous amounts of rain from southeast Texas to north and central Louisiana and then into west-central Mississippi. By late evening, dry mid level air began pushing east from Texas and allowed the heavy rain shield to move and exit the region by early Tuesday morning. Heavy rains were not the only weather type during this event, a couple of tornadoes occurred along with scattered reports of wind damage. What makes this event rare is that such a large area received 6 to 10 inches of rain and an even larger area received 4 to 6 inches. Embedded in that swath, a few locations in northern and central Louisiana received a whopping 12 to 17 inches! During this time of year, these kinds of rains usually occur from slow moving tropical cyclones, not from a warm front and westward moving upper disturbance. The result of all this rain was numerous reports of flash flooding, some even significant, across northeast Louisiana and west-central Mississippi. This event will go down in the record books for the amount of real estate covered by heavy rainfall and the several locations that measured extreme amounts.
32.8	1967-10-30	3	30°23'N / 89°05'W		2.00 Miles	400 Yards	4	17	25.0M	0	Harrison
33.1	1967-05-02	2	30°54'N / 88°35'W				0	0	0K	0	George
33.2	1982-05-07	3	31°17'N / 89°15'W	31°23'N / 89°09'W	8.00 Miles	100 Yards	0	1	250K	0	Forrest
33.6	1966-04-27	2	30°33'N / 88°42'W				0	1	25K	0	Jackson
33.7	1971-02-26	2	31°10'N / 88°42'W				0	0	0K	0	Greene
34.0	1968-11-03	3	30°22'N / 89°05'W		2.00 Miles	123 Yards	0	5	0K	0	Harrison
34.4	1973-04-07	2	30°28'N / 89°30'W				0	0	25K	0	Hancock
34.5	1988-03-03	2	30°24'N / 88°54'W		1.20 Miles	30 Yards	0	0	250K	0	Harrison
34.6	1958-02-26	2	30°25'N / 88°52'W	30°25'N / 88°51'W	1.30 Miles	30 Yards	0	0	25K	0	Harrison
34.9	1971-02-12	2	30°57'N / 88°35'W	31°00'N / 88°33'W	4.30 Miles	33 Yards	0	1	25K	0	George
35.4	1972-05-07	2	30°20'N / 89°18'W	30°23'N / 89°16'W	4.30 Miles	23 Yards	0	0	25K	0	Harrison
35.6	1972-05-07	2	30°21'N / 89°15'W		1.20 Miles	33 Yards	0	0	25K	0	Harrison
35.8	1958-02-26	2	30°25'N / 88°51'W	30°39'N / 88°29'W	27.10 Miles	30 Yards	0	1	25K	0	Jackson
35.8	1976-03-27	3	30°58'N / 88°40'W	30°59'N / 88°26'W	13.90 Miles	300 Yards	0	0	250K	0	George
35.9	1971-05-08	2	30°25'N / 88°49'W				0	0	25K	0	Jackson
36.0	1977-03-28	2	31°21'N / 89°20'W				0	0	250K	0	Forrest
37.1	1982-04-20	2	30°18'N / 89°19'W	30°21'N / 89°09'W	13.00 Miles	133 Yards	0	0	250K	0	Harrison
37.5	1958-02-26	3	31°20'N / 88°54'W	31°22'N / 88°51'W	4.10 Miles	100 Yards	2	20	250K	0	Perry
37.6	1982-05-07	3	31°23'N / 89°09'W	31°25'N / 89°06'W	5.00 Miles	100 Yards	0	0	250K	0	Perry
37.7	1970-02-01	2	30°19'N / 89°14'W		2.00 Miles	33 Yards	0	3	0K	0	Harrison
37.9	1985-05-21	2	30°23'N / 88°49'W	30°25'N / 88°45'W	3.50 Miles	100 Yards	0	0	250K	0	Jackson
38.0	1977-09-05	2	30°19'N / 89°16'W		0.10 Mile	77 Yards	0	0	250K	0	Harrison
38.2	1971-02-12	2	31°00'N / 88°33'W	31°03'N / 88°30'W	4.70 Miles	33 Yards	0	0	25K	0	Greene
38.7	1972-05-07	2	30°18'N / 89°20'W	30°20'N / 89°18'W	3.30 Miles	23 Yards	0	1	25K	0	Hancock
38.9	1977-02-23	2	31°09'N / 88°42'W	31°10'N / 88°28'W	13.90 Miles	50 Yards	0	0	25K	0	Greene
39.4	1982-11-30	2	31°05'N / 89°45'W		0.50 Mile	100 Yards	0	0	250K	0	Marion
39.5	1983-03-20	3	31°09'N / 88°34'W		1.00 Mile	200 Yards	0	0	2.5M	0	Greene
40.0	1975-05-07	2	31°24'N / 89°23'W	31°25'N / 89°18'W	5.40 Miles	150 Yards	0	0	250K	0	Forrest
40.2	1977-05-02	2	30°17'N / 89°24'W	30°20'N / 89°20'W	5.40 Miles	20 Yards	0	0	25K	0	Hancock
40.5	1980-05-19	3	30°14'N / 89°27'W	30°23'N / 89°19'W	13.10 Miles	800 Yards	0	8	25.0M	0	Hancock
41.0	1987-02-15	2	30°29'N / 89°42'W	30°31'N / 89°41'W	3.00 Miles	100 Yards	0	2	250K	0	Pearl River
41.4	1972-03-02	2	30°18'N / 89°26'W	30°18'N / 89°22'W	4.10 Miles	200 Yards	0	2	250K	0	Hancock
41.5	1982-04-20	2	30°16'N / 89°23'W	30°18'N / 89°19'W	5.00 Miles	133 Yards	0	0	250K	0	Hancock
41.6	1961-02-21	2	30°57'N / 89°50'W		0.80 Mile	283 Yards	0	9	250K	0	Washington
41.8	1996-02-19	2	31°21'N / 88°51'W	31°26'N / 88°46'W	5.00 Miles	400 Yards	0	4	150K	0	Greene
		Brief Description: NUMEROUS TREES WERE TOPPLED AND SEVERAL MOBILE HOMES WERE DAMAGED BY A TORNADO THAT FIRST TOUCHED DOWN IN THE NORTHWEST PART OF GREENE COUNTY. THE TORNADO FIRST TOUCHED DOWN ABOUT SIX MILES EAST OF RICHTON ON MS HWY 42 AT ABOUT 220 PM CDT. THE TORNADO THEN SKIPPED ALONG THE GROUND TO THE NORTHEAST AND MOVED INTO WAYNE COUNTY ALONG MS HWY 63. NUMEROUS TREES WERE BLOWN DOWN ALONG THE PATH OF THE TORNADO AND SEVERAL MOBILE HOMES WERE DAMAGED. FOUR PEOPLE IN ONE OF THE MOBILE HOMES WERE INJURED. THE TORNADO WAS ON THE GROUND FOR ABOUT 5 MILES IN GREENE COUNTY.
42.1	1981-02-10	2	30°31'N / 88°33'W		0.50 Mile	50 Yards	0	2	250K	0	Jackson
42.3	1958-02-26	3	31°22'N / 88°51'W	31°26'N / 88°46'W	7.10 Miles	100 Yards	0	0	3K	0	Greene
43.2	2006-11-15	3	31°21'N / 89°37'W	31°25'N / 89°27'W	12.00 Miles	500 Yards	0	6	1.5M	0K	Lamar
		Brief Description: EVENT NARRATIVE: This strong tornado touched down to the southwest of Sumrall and tracked east northeast across northern Lamar County and then into a small portion of extreme northwest Forrest County before dissipating. Approximately 25 homes were damaged, 16 of those suffering major damage or total destruction. The worst damage was along Old Salt Road, where a wood frame home on a concrete block foundation was totally destroyed, with the foundation cleared and the remnants of the home displaced dozens of yards away. A minivan was picked up and thrown/rolled a distance of approximately 150 yards, landing on top of a tractor and totally destroyed. Some large trees at this location were snapped at the base, denuded, and partially debarked. Heavy damage of F2 intensity was also observed along Foster Road, JD Hatten Road, and Rocky Branch road. Large swaths of trees were snapped and uprooted, and a few frame homes totally lost their roofs. Other damage along the path was weaker and generally of F1 intensity. The tornado then crossed Highway 42 and entered extreme northwest Forrest County. The total path length across Lamar and Forrest Counties was 13 miles. EPISODE NARRATIVE: An intense fall cyclone developed over the region and produced an episode of severe weather which included tornadoes. This strong weather system developed as a very strong jet stream, with winds between 160-200 mph, slammed into Oregon and Washington State. All that energy moved over the Rocky Mountains and caused a strong area of surface low pressure to develop. This low intensified as it moved east across the Red River Valley and then lifted across Arkansas and into Tennessee as it deepened to 990 mb! The strength of this deepening low caused warm and unstable air to lift northward across Louisiana and into central Mississippi. It was this northward moving warm front that became the focus of an area where tornadic supercell thunderstorms could thrive in an unstable and highly sheared environment. This large and powerful storm system produced numerous tornadoes across the south and south eastern United States where many were of the strong (F2 or F3) variety. Within the Jackson, MS forecast area, there were a total of 5 tornadoes to impact the counties serviced. Two F3s, one in Lamar County and the other in Jones County. The Jones County tornado actually contained a satellite tornado, F1, which briefly rotated around the parent tornado. Next was an F1 tornado in southern Marion County which was actually the end of a strong tornado that moved out of Walthall County. Lastly, a brief F1 tornado occurred in central Lamar County. Tornadoes were not the only type of severe weather, scattered wind damage also occurred across northeast Louisiana and portions of central Mississippi between midnight and 10 am Wednesday November 15th 2006.
43.5	1954-02-20	2	31°17'N / 89°39'W	31°26'N / 89°31'W	13.10 Miles	200 Yards	0	10	250K	0	Lamar
44.3	1973-04-24	2	31°28'N / 89°22'W		1.50 Miles	33 Yards	0	0	250K	0	Jones
44.3	1973-04-24	2	31°28'N / 89°22'W		1.00 Mile	33 Yards	0	0	250K	0	Jones
44.5	1980-04-13	2	30°14'N / 89°37'W	30°22'N / 89°25'W	15.10 Miles	300 Yards	0	0	250K	0	Hancock
45.2	1975-01-10	2	30°30'N / 88°30'W		0.10 Mile	70 Yards	0	0	250K	0	Jackson
45.8	1957-11-18	2	31°03'N / 89°53'W	31°04'N / 89°52'W	1.90 Miles	77 Yards	0	0	250K	0	Walthall
47.2	1977-05-02	2	30°28'N / 88°30'W	30°31'N / 88°26'W	5.20 Miles	440 Yards	0	0	25K	0	Jackson
48.1	2006-11-15	2	31°00'N / 90°01'W	31°04'N / 89°50'W	11.00 Miles	125 Yards	0	1	500K	0K	Walthall
		Brief Description: EVENT NARRATIVE: A tornado, of strong intensity at several locations, entered Walthall County from Washington Parish LA. The tornado moved northeast across the southeast portion of Walthall County before exiting into Marion County. Several mobile homes were destroyed and roofs were blown off several frame houses. One injury was reported from an occupant of one of the mobile homes. Trees and power lines were also downed in a number of locations. Overall, the emergency manager reported 11 structures with major damage and 5 structures with minor damage. EPISODE NARRATIVE: Severe thunderstorms developed in the vicinity of a warm front that moved north across south Mississippi during the afternoon and evening of the 14th and in advance and along a cold front that moved through the area during the morning of the 15th.
48.6	1982-04-25	2	30°23'N / 88°32'W				0	3	250K	0	Jackson
48.6	1957-11-18	2	31°04'N / 89°52'W	31°24'N / 89°48'W	23.40 Miles	77 Yards	0	2	25K	0	Marion
49.3	1950-04-29	2	31°16'N / 89°50'W	31°23'N / 89°42'W	11.30 Miles	100 Yards	0	0	250K	0	Marion

* The information on this page is based on the global volcano database, the U.S. earthquake database of 1638-1985, and the U.S. Tornado and Weather Extremes database of 1950-2010.