Mississippi, 2001

Lightning Strikes in Mississippi, June 7, 2001

June 7, 2001 · NWS LIX · 3 events in 2 counties and zones

A lightning strike killed a 25 year old women in Gulfport shortly after lightning injured a 53 year old man in the nearby community of Pass Christian. Lightning also started a fire at a business in Oceans Springs which resulted in $60,000 damage.

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 3 filed by county or forecast zone are drawn at its center, in a lighter ring. Tap one for its entry below.

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The toll

Deaths
1
Injuries
1
Property damage
$60,000
Crop damage
None recorded
Events
3

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 happened

The episode as NWS LIX wrote it up.

A lightning strike killed a 25 year old women in Gulfport shortly after lightning injured a 53 year old man in the nearby community of Pass Christian. Lightning also started a fire at a business in Oceans Springs which resulted in $60,000 damage.

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 New Orleans, LA wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Jun 7, 2:25 PM CST, 2 hours 35 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jun 7, 2:25 PM CST, 2 hours 35 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NEW ORLEANS/BATON ROUGE LA
325 PM CDT THU JUN 7 2001

...HEAVY RAINFALL EXPECTED TO CONTINUE WITH FLASH FLOOD/FLOOD WATCH
EXTENDED THROUGH FRIDAY...

BREVITY WILL BE THE RULE THIS AFTERNOON AS RECORD RAINFALL TOTALS
CONTINUE TO BUILD ACROSS SOUTHERN MISSISSIPPI AND SOUTHEASTERN
LOUISIANA. THE AVN 310K ISENTROPIC CHART/CONDITIONAL PRESSURE
DIFFERENTIAL AND 200 MB JET FORECAST CHARTS HAVE PERFORMED VERY WELL
FOR THE PAST TWO DAYS IN DEPICTING THE AREAS OF HEAVY RAINFALL AND
WILL GO WITH THIS COMBO AGAIN. HAVE USED THE 30-50MB OF LIFT
REQUIRED AREAS FROM THE CONDITIONAL PRESSURE DIFFERENTIAL CHART AS
THE DEMARCATION OF 70 PERCENT OR GREATER POPS. ADDITIONALLY WITH THE
SUPER SATURATED AIRMASS HAVE ALSO USED THESE AREAS AS THE FOCUS
LOCATION FOR HEAVY RAINFALL. THE 250 MB JET FORECAST SHOWS WANING
SUPPORT FRI NIGHT BUT THEN THE SUPPORT REBOUNDS QUICKLY WITH AN AREA
OF 250 MB DIFFLUENCE AND 500/700MB VORTICITY MAX PHASING TOGETHER AT
18Z SATURDAY. ADDITIONALLY THE CWA FALLS UNDER WEAK BUT TRICKY
NORTHWEST FLOW ON SATURDAY WHICH HOLDS THROUGH THURSDAY. WILL KEEP
RAINFALL CHANCES FROM 50 PERCENT TO 80 PERCENT THROUGH SATURDAY AND
CHANCE CATEGORY THROUGH EXTENDED FORECAST.

KMCB 70/84/69/86 8657   KBTR 72/84/70/86 8657
KMSY 74/85/74/87 8657   KGPT 72/85/72/84 8867

.NEW...NONE.
LA...FLOOD WATCH LAZ034>040-046>050-056>070.
MS...FLOOD WATCH MSZ068>071-077-080.

13

The radar

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

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

3 lightning. Local standard time, as filed.

Lightning, Jackson

When
June 7, 5:00 PM CST
Where
Jackson County, Ocean Spgs
Property damage
$60,000
Reported by
NEWSPAPER
Coordinates
30.463, -88.623 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Lightning, Harrison

When
June 7, 5:15 PM CST
Where
Harrison County, Gulfport
Deaths
1 direct, 0 indirect
Reported by
EMERGENCY MANAGER
Coordinates
30.416, -89.082 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Lightning, Harrison

When
June 7, 5:21 PM CST
Where
Harrison County, Pass Christian
Injuries
1 direct, 0 indirect
Reported by
NEWSPAPER
Coordinates
30.416, -89.082 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

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.

EventDateAgeSexWhereKind
Lightning, Harrison2001-06-0725FemaleOutside/Open AreasDirect

What these are

Lightning
A lightning strike that killed, injured or caused damage.

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

The same day elsewhere

More

Every storm in Mississippi in 2001Every state in 2001This day in weather historyWarnings in Mississippi, June 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: 5256245, 5256243, 5256244.