Flash Flood and Flood in Mississippi, April 3, 2001

Name: Flash Flood and Flood in Mississippi, April 3, 2001
Start: 2001-04-03T03:20
End: 2001-04-03T14:00
Location: Mississippi

April 3, 2001 · NWS MEG · 11 events in 6 counties and zones

8 hail, 1 thunderstorm wind, 1 flood, 1 flash flood, as filed by the National Weather Service.

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 2 filed by county or forecast zone are drawn at its center, in a lighter ring. 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

Open the live radar over this ground

The toll

Deaths: 0
Injuries: 0
Property damage: $22,000
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 11

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.

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before the first event, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.

NWS Memphis, TN wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Apr 3, 1:35 AM CST, 1 hour 45 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Apr 3, 1:35 AM CST, 1 hour 45 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MEMPHIS TN
235 AM CDT TUE APR 3 2001

CURRENTLY...WARM FRONT POSITIONED ACROSS THE NRN TIER OF THE CWFA W/
DWPTS IN THE MID 50S TO NEAR 60 IN THE WARM SECTOR. A COLD FRONT WAS
POSITIONED FROM NRN MO INTO CENTRAL IL/IN. KNQA RADAR SHOWS WDLY SCT
SHRA W/ A SLIGHTLY HIGHER CONCENTRATION NEAR THE LAND BETWEEN THE
LAKES. SOLID AREA OF CONVECTION NOTED NORTH OF THE WARM FRONT ACROSS
SRN IL AND WRN KY.

MAIN FCST CONCERNS CONTINUE TO BE POSITION OF THE SFC FEATURES AND
CONCURRENT PCPN POTENTIAL. MODEL QPFS ALL OVER THE BOARD THIS
MORNING. IT IS DIFFICULT TO PINPOINT ANY UPPER LEVEL FEATURES OR
FOCUSING MECHANISMS FOR ORGANIZED WARM SECTOR DEVELOPMENT TODAY.
THUS...CURRENT THINKING IS TO GO WITH EXPERIENCE OF THE LAST 24 HRS
AND FOCUS POPS VCNTY THE SFC BOUNDARY.

EXPECT FRONT TO REMAIN NEARLY STATIONARY TODAY. HOWEVER...WARM FRONT
WILL LIKELY GET ABSORBED BY THE SWD MOVING COLD FRONT TNGT/WED AS A
SFC HIGH BUILDS ACROSS THE GREAT LAKES. THUS...WILL INCLUDE SLIGHTLY
HIGHER POPS ACROSS SRN ZONES FOR WED AND WED EVENING...BUT STILL IN
THE CHC POPS RANGE. MID LEVE RIDGE AMPLIFIES ACROSS THE MID SOUTH
LATER IN THE WORK WEEK AS A TROUGH DIGS ACROSS THE INTERMTN REGION.
THUS...WILL CONTINUE DRY FCST FOR THU/FRI TIME RANGE.

AS FOR TEMPS...TRENDED SLIGHTLY HIGHER THAN FWC MOS THE NEXT COUPLE
OF PERIODS. OHX...THANKS FOR THE COORDINATION.
f
MEM 078/064 078/063 4343
MKL 074/060 074/059 6432
JBR 077/061 077/062 4332
TUP 078/062 078/063 5353

.MEG...NONE.

CBD

The radar

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

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

8 hail, 1 thunderstorm wind, 1 flood, 1 flash flood. Local standard time, as filed.

Hail, Lee

When: April 3, 3:20 AM CST to 3:25 AM CST
Where: Lee County, Saltillo
Measured: 0.75 in hail
Property damage: $10
Reported by: EMERGENCY MANAGER
Coordinates: 34.383, -88.683

Hail, Panola

When: April 3, 4:20 AM CST to 4:25 AM CST
Where: Panola County, Como
Measured: 0.75 in hail
Property damage: $10
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates: 34.517, -89.933

Hail, Union

When: April 3, 4:45 AM CST to 4:50 AM CST
Where: Union County, 3 mi S of Ingomar
Measured: 0.75 in hail
Property damage: $10
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 34.367, -89.033

Hail, Lee

When: April 3, 4:59 AM CST to 5:05 AM CST
Where: Lee County, 4 mi N of Tupelo
Measured: 1.75 in hail
Property damage: $2,000
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 34.317, -88.717

Hail, Lee

When: April 3, 5:15 AM CST to 5:20 AM CST
Where: Lee County, 1 mi S of Chapelville
Measured: 0.75 in hail
Property damage: $10
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 34.433, -88.583

Hail, Union

When: April 3, 5:36 AM CST to 5:40 AM CST
Where: Union County, New Albany
Measured: 0.75 in hail
Property damage: $10
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 34.500, -89.000

Hail, Monroe

When: April 3, 6:10 AM CST to 6:15 AM CST
Where: Monroe County, 2 mi N of Aberdeen
Measured: 0.75 in hail
Property damage: $10
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 33.850, -88.550

Thunderstorm Wind, Panola

When: April 3, 6:50 AM CST to 6:55 AM CST
Where: Panola County, 2 mi S of Sardis
Property damage: $5,000
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates: 34.400, -89.917

A few trees were knocked down.

Flood, Lafayette

When: April 3, 8:00 AM CST to 2:00 PM CST
Where: Lafayette County, Oxford
Property damage: $5,000
Reported by: NEWSPAPER
Coordinates: 34.357, -89.485 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

A combination of 3 inches of rain and a plugging of a nearby culvert caused one home to be flooded.

Hail, Pontotoc

When: April 3, 8:50 AM CST to 8:55 AM CST
Where: Pontotoc County, Ecru
Measured: 1.75 in hail
Property damage: $100
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates: 34.350, -89.033

Flash Flood, Lee

When: April 3, 9:50 AM CST to 10:30 AM CST
Where: Lee County, Tupelo
Property damage: $10,000
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates: 34.290, -88.680 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Some homes were flooded as over 4 inches fell in the Tupelo area over a 24 hour period. The gymnasium at Tupelo Middle School was flooded. Several roads had water over them.

What these are

Hail: Hail three-quarters of an inch or larger, or smaller hail that caused damage, filed with the largest stone measured.
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.
Flood: Flooding that develops more slowly than a flash flood: rivers leaving their banks, or water standing over land for an extended time.
Flash Flood: Flooding that begins within six hours of the rain that causes it, or of a dam or levee failure or ice jam release, often with deadly speed.

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

The same day elsewhere

Every storm in Mississippi in 2001 Every state in 2001 This day in weather history Warnings in Mississippi, April 2001

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: 5242098, 5242099, 5242100, 5242101, 5242102, 5242103, 5242104, 5242105, 5242196, 5242106, 5242107.