Hail and Damaging Winds in Mississippi, April 8, 1998

Name: Hail and Damaging Winds in Mississippi, April 8, 1998
Start: 1998-04-08T16:12
End: 1998-04-08T19:25
Location: Mississippi

April 8, 1998 · NWS MEG · 18 events in 9 counties and zones

10 hail, 8 thunderstorm wind, as filed by the National Weather Service.

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it. Tap one for its entry below.

Tornadoes
Tropical storms and surge
Floods
Wind
Hail
Winter weather
Heat and drought
Cold
Fire, smoke and dust
Marine and coastal
Other

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The toll

Deaths: 1
Injuries: 0
Property damage: $303,000
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 18

Deaths and injuries are direct and indirect together, as the offices filed them. Damage is property and crops in the dollars of the year, not adjusted for inflation, and only where an office estimated it.

The radar

The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

10 hail, 8 thunderstorm wind. Local standard time, as filed.

Thunderstorm Wind, Alcorn

When: April 8, 4:12 PM CST to 4:20 PM CST
Where: Alcorn County, Collinstown
Property damage: $1,000
Coordinates: 34.820, -88.730

Several trees were knocked down.

Hail, Alcorn

When: April 8, 4:12 PM CST to 4:20 PM CST
Where: Alcorn County, Collinstown
Measured: 1.75 in hail
Property damage: $750
Coordinates: 34.820, -88.730

Hail, Pontotoc

When: April 8, 5:12 PM CST to 5:25 PM CST
Where: Pontotoc County, Ecru
Measured: 1.75 in hail
Property damage: $850
Coordinates: 34.350, -89.030

Hail ranging from quarter to golfball size fell on Ecru.

Thunderstorm Wind, Union

When: April 8, 5:15 PM CST to 5:30 PM CST
Where: Union County, Ingomar to Sherman
Property damage: $25,000
Coordinates: 34.420, -89.030

Two mobile homes were lifted off their foundations. The frame work of a new house was knocked down. An awning over a front porch to a mobile home was ripped off. A tractor shed was demolished. A few other mobile homes were damaged. Several trees were knocked down.

Thunderstorm Wind, Lafayette

When: April 8, 5:20 PM CST to 5:25 PM CST
Where: Lafayette County, Lafayette Spgs
Property damage: $5,000
Coordinates: 34.320, -89.270

Several trees were knocked down with one landing on a house.

Hail, Lafayette

When: April 8, 5:20 PM CST to 5:25 PM CST
Where: Lafayette County, Denmark
Measured: 1.25 in hail
Property damage: $500
Coordinates: 34.320, -89.350

Hail, Pontotoc

When: April 8, 5:25 PM CST to 5:30 PM CST
Where: Pontotoc County, Sherman to Thaxton
Measured: 1.75 in hail
Property damage: $850
Coordinates: 34.370, -88.850

Quarter size hail fell in the Sherman area while golf ball size hail fell in Thaxton.

Thunderstorm Wind, Pontotoc

When: April 8, 5:25 PM CST to 5:30 PM CST
Where: Pontotoc County, Thaxton to 4 mi E of Thaxton
Deaths: 1 direct, 0 indirect
Property damage: $50,000
Coordinates: 34.320, -89.230

One person was killed when his mobile home was demolished. One house had its windows blown out of it. A shed lost its roof. Two mobile homes and one house were damaged. A horse was killed in the storm. Numerous trees were blown down.

Hail, Union

When: April 8, 5:40 PM CST to 5:45 PM CST
Where: Union County, Sherman
Measured: 1 in hail
Property damage: $100
Coordinates: 34.370, -88.850

Hail, Lee

When: April 8, 5:50 PM CST to 5:55 PM CST
Where: Lee County, Saltillo
Measured: 1.75 in hail
Property damage: $10,000
Coordinates: 34.380, -88.680

Several cars were damaged at the Birmingham Ridge Baptist Church by the hail including broken windows.

Thunderstorm Wind, Pontotoc

When: April 8, 5:50 PM CST to 5:55 PM CST
Where: Pontotoc County, Friendship
Measured: 55 kt (63 mph)
Property damage: $1,000
Coordinates: 34.320, -89.050

Several trees were knocked down.

Thunderstorm Wind, Lee

When: April 8, 5:50 PM CST to 5:55 PM CST
Where: Lee County, Guntown
Property damage: $1,000
Coordinates: 34.450, -88.670

A few trees were knocked down.

Hail, Tishomingo

When: April 8, 6:05 PM CST to 6:10 PM CST
Where: Tishomingo County, Golden
Measured: 0.75 in hail
Property damage: $10
Coordinates: 34.480, -88.200

Thunderstorm Wind, Tishomingo

When: April 8, 6:10 PM CST to 6:25 PM CST
Where: Tishomingo County, Belmont
Property damage: $200,000
Coordinates: 34.500, -88.220

A lumber truck was overturned. Several homes and businesses suffered roof damage and had windows blown out of them. Numerous power lines, telephone lines and trees were blown down with some of the trees landing on houses.

Hail, Itawamba

When: April 8, 6:15 PM CST to 6:20 PM CST
Where: Itawamba County, Ratliff
Measured: 1.75 in hail
Property damage: $750
Coordinates: 34.400, -88.530

Thunderstorm Wind, Chickasaw

When: April 8, 6:20 PM CST to 6:25 PM CST
Where: Chickasaw County, Houston
Property damage: $5,000
Coordinates: 33.900, -89.000

A few trees and some power lines were blown down.

Hail, Tishomingo

When: April 8, 7:15 PM CST to 7:20 PM CST
Where: Tishomingo County, Iuka
Measured: 0.75 in hail
Property damage: $10
Coordinates: 34.830, -88.170

Hail, Lowndes

When: April 8, 7:19 PM CST to 7:25 PM CST
Where: Lowndes County, Caledonia
Measured: 1.75 in hail
Property damage: $750
Coordinates: 33.680, -88.330

The people who died

As the offices recorded each death: direct deaths were caused by the weather itself, indirect ones by something it set in motion.

Event	Date	Age	Sex	Where	Kind
Thunderstorm Wind, Pontotoc	1998-04-08	16	Male	Mobile/Trailer Home	Direct

What these are

Thunderstorm Wind: Winds from a thunderstorm of 50 knots (58 mph) or more, or lower winds that caused damage or casualties. Measured gusts are marked MG, estimated EG.
Hail: Hail three-quarters of an inch or larger, or smaller hail that caused damage, filed with the largest stone measured.

After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.

The same day elsewhere

Every storm in Mississippi in 1998 Every state in 1998 This day in weather history Warnings in Mississippi, April 1998

Sources

NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database, compiled from the National Weather Service’s monthly Storm Data. Complete through 2026-06; NCEI adds each month about 75 days after it ends and revises past years a few times a year. Rebuilt 2026-09-24. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 5641868, 5643899, 5643900, 5641871, 5641874, 5643901, 5643902, 5643903, 5643904, 5641864, 5641869, 5641875, 5641873, 5641866, 5641865, 5641872, 5641867, 5641870.