1 lightning, as filed by the National Weather Service.
Every event with a place to put it; 1 filed by county or forecast zone are drawn at its center, in a lighter ring. 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 New Orleans, LA wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Mar 26, 3:00 AM CST, 4 hours earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NEW ORLEANS/BATON ROUGE LA 300 AM CST TUE MAR 26 2002 ACTIVE WEATHER PATTERN EXPECTED MUCH OF THE REGION DURING THE EARLY MORNING HOURS AS A COLD FRONT CONTINUES TO PUSH EWD INTO WRN SECTIONS OF THE CWA DURING THE PRE-DAWN HOURS. THE FRONTAL SYSTEM SHOULD MOVE THROUGH THE ENTIRE CWA BY MID-MORNING ACCOMPANIED BY SHOWERS AND TSTMS. SOME ISOLATED REPORTS OF SEVERE WEATHER HAVE BEEN RECEIVED FROM WILKINSON AND PIKE COUNTIES OF MS DURING THE OVERNIGHT HOURS AS THE SQUALL LINE MOVED THROUGH. CURRENT SEVERE TSTM WATCH WILL REMAIN IN EFFECT UNTIL 5 AM FOR SWRN MS AND PORTIONS OF EAST-CENTRAL LA. LATEST RUC/ETA MODELS SUGGEST THE SUB-TROPICAL AND POLAR JETS WILL BECOME OUT OF PHASE AROUND DAYBREAK AND THUS UNFAVORABLE FOR SUPPORTING A SIGNIFICANT THREAT OF SVR STORMS. HOWEVER NUMEROUS SHOWERS AND TSTMS SHOULD CONTINUE ALONG AND JUST BEHIND THE FRONT AS THE PWS ARE AROUND 1.5 INCHES AND K-INDICES ARE 30 OR HIGHER. LOCALLY HEAVY RAINS WILL BE POSSIBLE DURING THE EARLY MORNING HOURS WITH SOME AMOUNTS AROUND 2 INCHES. AS THE COLD FRONT CONTINUES TO MOVE EWD AND HIGH PRESSURE BUILDS SEWD OVER THE AREA CLOUDS WILL DECREASE. IN THE MEANTIME WARM..MOIST AIR FLOWING NWD OVER THE COOLER COASTAL AND LAKE WATERS WILL CONTINUE DENSE FOG ALONG THE IMMEDIATE MS COAST AND OVER THE TIDAL LAKES TO SEVERAL MILES INLAND. AS THE SHOWERS MOVE EWD OVER THE AREA THE FOG SHOULD GRADUALLY LIFT AND DISSIPATE AS THE FRONT MOVES EWD THIS MORNING. THE DENSE FOG ADVISORY WILL REMAIN AS ISSUED EARLIER. IN THE EXTENDED FORECAST...ANOTHER CLOSED UPPER LOW DEVELOPING OFF THE CALIF COAST WILL MOVE EWD TO SW TX BY SAT MORNING AND INTO THE SRN PLAINS BY SUN MORNING. THIS SHOULD SET THE STAGE FOR ANOTHER ROUND OF SHOWERS AND TSTMS BEGINNING SAT AND CONTINUING INTO SUNDAY. SOME SIGNIFICANT RAIN WILL BE POSSIBLE OVER PORTIONS OF THE LOWER MS VALLEY AS DEEP TROPICAL MOISTURE FEEDS NWD AHEAD OF THE SURFACE LOW AND ASSOCIATED UPPER LEVEL DISTURBANCE. PRELIMINARY NUMBERS: MCB 65/42/69/43 5000 BTR 67/43/70/46 4000 MSY 70/52/69/50 7000 GPT 74/46/68/45 8000 .NEW...NONE. LA...DENSE FOG ADVISORY TIDAL LAKES PONTCHARTRAIN...BORGNE AND MAUREPAS MS...DENSE FOG ADVZY...MS ZONES 80-81-82. 05
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NEW ORLEANS, LA
244 AM CST TUE MAR 26 2002
TIME(CST) .....CITY LOCATION.....STATE ...EVENT/REMARKS...
....COUNTY LOCATION....
0140 AM 6 W LIBERTY MS 1.00 INCH HAIL
03/26/02 AMITE OCCURRED BETWEEN LIBERTY
AND GLOSTER ON HIGHWAY 24.
REPORTED BY LAW ENFORCEMENT
0234 AM HOLMESVILLE MS 1.00 INCH HAIL
03/26/02 PIKE OCCURRED ON HIGHWAY 98.
REPORTED BY EMERGENCY
MANAGEMENT.LAZ034>037-046>049-MSZ068>071-261100- SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NEW ORLEANS LA 446 AM CST TUE MAR 26 2002 SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH NUMBER 42 HAS BEEN CANCELLED FOR THE SOUTHWESTERN COUNTIES OF MISSISSIPPI AND FOR THE FOLLOWING PARISHES IN EAST CENTRAL LOUISIANA...POINTE COUPEE...WEST FELICIANA...EAST FELICIANA...ST HELENA...WEST AND EAST BATON ROUGE...AND IBERVILLE. THE WATCH REMAINS IN EFFECT FOR ASCENSION...ASSUMPTION... LIVINGSTON...ST JAMES AND TANGIPAHOA PARISHES UNTIL 5 AM CST. NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR AT SLIDELL INDICATED THE SQUALL LINE CONTAINING SEVERE STORMS EARLIER HAS MOVED EASTWARD TO LIVINGSTON TO ASSUMPTION PARISHES. FOR MORE INFORMATION...VISIT OUR WEB SITE AT WWW.SRH.NOAA.GOV/LIX (ALL LOWER CASE).
LAZ034>040-046>050-056>070-MSZ068>071-077-080>082-261700- HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NEW ORLEANS LA 550 AM CST TUE MAR 26 2002 .SYNOPSIS... A BROAD AREA OF SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS EXTENDING ALONG A COLD FRONT STRETCHING FROM CENTRAL MISSISSIPPI SOUTHWEST TO ATCHAFALAYA BAY WILL CONTINUE TO MOVE EAST THROUGH THE LOWR MISSISSIPPI VALLEY THIS MORNING. .THUNDERSTORMS... SCATTERED TO NUMEROUS SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WILL CONTINUE TO SPREAD EAST OVER THE REGION EARLY HIS MORNING ENDING FROM THE WEST BY LATE MORNING. GUSTY WINDS TO 35 MPH...SMALL HAIL AND LOCALLY HEAVY RAINS WILL ACCOMPANY THE SQUALL LINE. SCATTERED SHOWERS WILL LINGER BEHIND THE FRONT FOR AN HOUR OR TWO. RAINFALL AMOUNTS WILL MOSTLY BE ONE TO TWO INCHES IN A FEW LOCATIONS. DANGEROUS LIGHTNING WILL ALSO BE ASSOCIATED WITH THE MORE INTENSE STORMS. .ACTIONS...ACTIVATION OF STORM SPOTTERS AND EMERGENCY PERSONNEL WILL NOT BE REQUIRED THIS MORNING. YOU CAN ACCESS FURTHER UPDATES ON THIS WEATHER SITUATION BY VISITING OUR LOCAL WEB SITE OR BY MONITORING NOAA WEATHER RADIO AND OTHER LOCAL MEDIA FOR FURTHER DETAILS OR UPDATES. FOR MORE INFORMATION...VISIT OUR WEB SITE AT WWW.SRH.NOAA.GOV/LIX (ALL LOWER CASE).
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
1 lightning. Local standard time, as filed.
A lightning strike caused a fire that damaged a duplex.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Louisiana in 2002Every state in 2002This day in weather historyWarnings in Louisiana, March 2002
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: 5286542.