1 thunderstorm wind, as filed by the National Weather Service.
Every event with a place to put it. Tap one for its entry below.
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 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 May 21, 1:44 AM CST, 2 hours 46 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MEMPHIS TN 244 AM CDT MON MAY 21 2001 UPDATE AT 3 AM TO CLEAR WATCH...WITH MAIN PACKAGE AT 4 AM. APPEARS FROM PRESSURE PATTERN THAT COLD FRONT HAS CLEARED THE OZARKS. CONVECTION HAS DISTURBED WIND FIELD CONSIDERABLY. LINE OF CONVECTION HAS MOVED ACROSS MISSISSIPPI RIVER IN LAST 30 MINUTES... NO SEVERE REPORTS BUT OBS HAVE BEEN CARRYING 40 KT GUSTS AND VERY HEAVY RAIN. AIRMASS HAS BEEN WORKED OVER PRETTY WELL ACROSS ERN AR AND W TN. COMPLEX OVER SE OK HAS BEEN DRIFTING SOUTH. MOST FAVORABLE AIRMASS FOR CONVECTION IS OVER NORTH MS...AND WILL PROBABLY CONCENTRATE ON THIS AREA FOR SEVERE WORDING. OUTFLOW BOUNDARIES FROM CURRENT CONVECTION MAY ALLOW REDEVELOPMENT THIS AFTERNOON...SO WILL KEEP WITH SWODY1. LIKELY TO CATEGORICAL POPS AREA-WIDE TODAY. WILL LINGER SHOWERS INTO THE EVENING...AS FRONT SLOWLY DEPARTS AREA. CLOUDS WILL BE SLOW TO CLEAR...PROBABLY LATE MONDAY NIGHT OR TUESDAY MORNING. PLENTY OF MOISTURE TO AID DIURNAL CUMULUS DEVELOPMENT ON TUESDAY. UPPER LOW GETS CLOSER ON WEDNESDAY WITH MORE CLOUDS. AVN VERTICAL MOTION FIELD LOOKS OVERDONE FOR WEDNESDAY...AND WILL LEAVE PRECIP OUT FOR NOW...CLOSER TO ETA SOLUTION. WILL PROBABLY NOT HAVE A CHANCE TO LOOK AT MRF CLOSELY... SO NOT PLANNING CHANGES TO EXTENDED. FIRST PERIOD POPS WILL BE BASED ON RADAR TRENDS PLUS ANY INPUT FROM 06Z MESO-ETA IF AVAILABLE IN TIME. 10 PRELIMINARY NUMBERS...VERY SUBJECT TO CHANGE. MEM TB 076/057 068/052 068 951 MKL TB 077/053 065/047 066 961 JBR TB 075/052 066/047 068 731 TUP TB 080/056 069/046 068 971 .MEG...NONE.
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MEMPHIS, TN
1204 AM CDT MON MAY 21 2001
TIME(CDT) .....CITY LOCATION.....STATE ...EVENT/REMARKS...
....COUNTY LOCATION....
0917 PM FAIR OAKS AR 1.75 INCH HAIL
05/20/01 CROSS REPORTED BY FOREST CITY
STATE WARNING POINT
0925 PM WYNN AR WIND DAMAGE
05/20/01 CROSS POWER LINE DOWN REPORTED
BY LAW ENFORCEMENT
1115 PM MUNFORD TN MPH TSTM WIND GUST
05/20/01 TIPTON SEVERAL LARGE TREE LIMBS
DOWN. REPORTED BY LAW
ENFORCEMENT
1120 PM COVINGTON TN MPH TSTM WIND GUST
05/20/01 TIPTON AWNING BLOWN OFF SOME
BUSINESSES REPORTED BY LAW
ENFORCEMENTARZ008-009-017-018-026>028-035-036-048-049-058-MOZ113-115-MSZ001>017- 020>024-TNZ001>004-019>021-048>055-088>092-211700- SEVERE WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MEMPHIS TN 401 AM CDT MON MAY 21 2001 THIS OUTLOOK COVERS WEST TENNESSEE...NORTH MISSISSIPPI...EAST ARKANSAS AND THE MISSOURI BOOTHEEL. THERE IS A SLIGHT RISK OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS TODAY ACROSS WEST TENNESSEE AND NORTH MISSISSIPPI. THIS INCLUDES THE CITIES OF MEMPHIS...JACKSON...DYERSBURG...OXFORD AND TUPELO. A COLD FRONT EXTENDED FROM NORTH CENTRAL ARKANSAS INTO NORTHEAST TEXAS EARLY THIS MORNING. THUNDERSTORMS HAVE DEVELOPED IN ADVANCE OF THE FRONT...AND WILL MOVE ACROSS WEST TENNESSEE AND NORTH MISSISSIPPI DURING THE DAY. SOME OF THESE STORMS MAY BECOME SEVERE WITH LARGE HAIL AND DAMAGING WINDS. THE MOST LIKELY TIME PERIOD FOR SEVERE WEATHER WILL BE BETWEEN 10 AM AND 6 PM. STORM SPOTTER GROUPS AND EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT PERSONNEL SHoOULD BE PREPARED FOR POSSIBLE ACTIVATION THIS MORNING AND AFTERNOON. MONITOR NOAA WEATHER RADIO...COMMERCIAL RADIO...TELEVISION AND CABLE TELEVISION OUTLETS FOR THE LATEST FORECASTS AND INFORMATION.
The Memphis radar (KNQA), 44 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 10:29 UTC.
1 thunderstorm wind. Local standard time, as filed.
A microburst produced significant damage in a housing subdivision just southeast of Olive Branch. Twenty-nine homes and several vehicles were damaged.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Mississippi in 2001Every state in 2001This day in weather historyWarnings in Mississippi, May 2001
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: 5245104.