1840: Deadly Tornado strikes Natchez, MS

1840: Deadly Tornado strikes Natchez, MS

Author: AccuWeather May 7, 2022 Duration: 1:33
Natchez, Mississippi was a bustling and booming river town hard against the Mississippi River in 1840, it was 20 years after Mississippi joined the union and 20 years before the Civil War. But on May 7, 1840 the second deadliest tornado in U S history struck the city. A large and powerful tornado went right through the center of town, flattening most of the buildings. But even worse was the damage on the Mississippi River, which was filled with boats, including 120 flatboats and steamboats carrying people and goods along the main transport system in the part of the nation – the Mississippi River. The powerful tornado wrecked many boats at the Natchez Landing in Mississippi as well and then plowed through the city. The tornado killed 317 people and injured 109 others. The only storm on record this destructive to kill more than it injured. Many bodies were never found. The storm is still as of May 7, 2022, the second deadliest tornado on record. The actual death toll could be higher as enslaved persons were not counted.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.


Every day has a story written in the wind and rain, and This Date in Weather History uncovers those narratives. With AccuWeather Meteorologist Evan Myers as your guide, this daily podcast connects the present to pivotal moments where weather dramatically altered the course of events. You might hear about a forgotten blizzard that stranded a city, a hurricane that redirected a war, or a simple shift in the breeze that allowed a historic discovery. It’s more than just a list of facts; it’s a look at how the atmosphere has been a relentless and fascinating character in the human drama. Each brief episode offers a specific, grounded tale, revealing how the climate has shaped cultures, economies, and personal lives in ways we often overlook. Tune in for a thoughtful blend of meteorology and historical context, delivered with the authority of AccuWeather. This podcast turns the calendar into a map of atmospheric intrigue, reminding us that the past is always present in the sky above.
Author: Language: English Episodes: 50

This Date in Weather History
Podcast Episodes
1978: 11" of rain falls on "Sun Day" in New Orleans [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 2:20
Most of New Orleans, Louisiana is below the flowing water level of the Mississippi River, that also means that the city is below sea level and so both the Gulf of Mexico and Lake Pontchartrain surfaces are also above the…
2009: Storm collapses roof of Dallas Cowboys' practice facility [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 2:24
Twelve people were hospitalized Saturday May 2, 2009 after the roof of the Dallas Cowboys' indoor practice facility in Frisco, Texas collapsed during a thunderstorm. The giant blue Cowboys star atop the building lay crum…
1854: 90 consecutive hours of rain falls in New England [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 2:05
The winter of 1853-1854 had been a particularly snowy one across the mountains of Vermont and New Hampshire. Not record breaking, but it was a cold winter and the snows that fell during the winter months didn’t melt much…
1887: Massive Flooding at China's "Yellow River" [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 2:43
The Huang He (Wang He) or Yellow River is one of the longest rivers in China, at 3,398 miles, it loops northward from the mountains in western China, then flows east, each year bringing 1.6 billion tons of fine-grained s…
1991: Tropical storm surge floods Bangladesh [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 2:15
On April 22, 1991 an area of tropical thunderstorms began to organize in the Bay of Bengal it would grow to become one of the deadliest tropical cyclones ever recorded. The storm hit, one of the most populated areas in B…
1992: "Grapefruit-sized" hail devastates parts of Texas [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 2:11
A hailstone begins as a water droplet that is swept upward by an updraft inside of a thundercloud. Inside the cloud, there are a large number of other supercooled water droplets already present. These supercooled particl…
2004: High temperatures smash records across Southern California [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 2:05
Santa Ana Winds occur when air from an area of high pressure over the dry, desert region of the southwestern U.S. flows westward in its clockwise circulation toward the California coast. This creates dry winds that flow…
1986: The Chernobyl Nuclear Disaster [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 2:42
The Chernobyl, Russia nuclear disaster was the worst nuclear disaster in history and occurred at the Chernobyl Nuclear Reactor Plant. A catastrophic eruption ripped through the power plant on April 26, 1986, spewing radi…
1982: Lightning strike damages Alabama town's water supply [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 2:02
Most lightning strikes occur from cloud to cloud – but about 20% go from clouds to the ground. Lightening striking the ground has caused problems with pipes and water supplies.. Some people have also experienced cloudy o…