Mississippi, 2002

Tornadoes and Hail in Mississippi, April 30, 2002

April 30, 2002 · NWS MEG · 23 events in 9 counties and zones

16 hail, 5 thunderstorm wind, 2 tornado, 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

Open the live radar over this ground

The toll

Deaths
0
Injuries
0
Property damage
$296,000
Crop damage
None recorded
Events
23

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 30, 1:04 AM CST, 6 hours 6 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Apr 30, 1:04 AM CST, 6 hours 6 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MEMPHIS TN
204 AM CDT TUE APR 30 2002

A BROAD RIDGE OVER THE SOUTHERN STATES FROM COAST TO COAST WILL
GRADUALLY SHIFT EASTWARD THIS FORECAST PERIOD. SHORT WAVES AND
IMPULSES WILL RIDE OVER THE RIDGE ACROSS THE CENTRAL PLAINS TO THE
SOUTHEAST. AT THE SURFACE A STATIONARY FRONT DRAPED ACROSS THE
GULF COAST STATES WILL MOVE NORTHWARD AS A WARM FRONT AND BE NORTH
OF THE MID SOUTH BY TONIGHT. WITH SUFFICIENT LOW LEVEL MOISTURE IN
PLACE AND WITH THE HELP OF THE UPPER LEVEL DISTURBANCES THE FRONT
WILL BE THE FOCUS OF THUNDERSTORM ACTIVITY OVER THE MID SOUTH.
MEANWHILE A SURFACE LOW OVER WEST TEXAS THIS MORNING WILL MOVE
EASTWARD AND BE CENTERED OVER NORTHEAST ARKANSAS BY LATE WEDNESDAY.
THE RESULT WILL BE WARM HUMID WEATHER WITH SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS
CONTINUING TONIGHT AND MAINLY NORTH PORTIONS OF THE MID SOUTH
WEDNESDAY.

.MEG...NONE.

The radar

The Memphis radar (KNQA), 114 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 13:09 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

16 hail, 5 thunderstorm wind, 2 tornado. Local standard time, as filed.

Hail, Lafayette

When
April 30, 7:10 AM CST to 7:15 AM CST
Where
Lafayette County, Oxford
Measured
0.75 in hail
Property damage
$10
Reported by
LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates
34.367, -89.517

Thunderstorm Wind, Lafayette

When
April 30, 7:10 AM CST to 7:15 AM CST
Where
Lafayette County, Oxford
Property damage
$10,000
Reported by
NEWSPAPER
Coordinates
34.367, -89.517

Some trees and power lines were blown down.

Thunderstorm Wind, Tate

When
April 30, 10:40 AM CST to 10:45 AM CST
Where
Tate County, New Town
Property damage
$5,000
Reported by
EMERGENCY MANAGER
Coordinates
34.617, -89.917

Several trees were blown down.

Hail, Pontotoc

When
April 30, 11:14 AM CST to 11:20 AM CST
Where
Pontotoc County, Pontotoc
Measured
0.88 in hail
Property damage
$50
Reported by
EMERGENCY MANAGER
Coordinates
34.250, -89.000

Hail, Pontotoc

When
April 30, 11:30 AM CST to 11:40 AM CST
Where
Pontotoc County, Pontotoc
Measured
0.88 in hail
Property damage
$200,000
Reported by
EMERGENCY MANAGER
Coordinates
34.250, -89.000

Numerous cars were damaged by the hail. Five homes and three businesses were also damaged.

Thunderstorm Wind, Pontotoc

When
April 30, 11:30 AM CST to 11:35 AM CST
Where
Pontotoc County, Pontotoc
Property damage
$5,000
Reported by
EMERGENCY MANAGER
Coordinates
34.250, -89.000

A few trees were blown down.

Hail, Pontotoc

When
April 30, 11:42 AM CST to 11:45 AM CST
Where
Pontotoc County, Pontotoc
Measured
0.88 in hail
Property damage
$60
Reported by
GENERAL PUBLIC
Coordinates
34.250, -89.000

Hail, Lee

When
April 30, 11:45 AM CST to 11:55 AM CST
Where
Lee County, Shannon
Measured
0.75 in hail
Property damage
$10
Reported by
EMERGENCY MANAGER
Coordinates
34.117, -88.717

Thunderstorm Wind, Lee

When
April 30, 11:45 AM CST to 11:55 AM CST
Where
Lee County, Shannon
Property damage
$50,000
Reported by
EMERGENCY MANAGER
Coordinates
34.117, -88.717

One mobile home was badly damaged. A barn and several uninhabited mobile home suffered some damage. Many trees and power lines were knocked down.

Hail, Monroe

When
April 30, 12:10 PM CST to 12:15 PM CST
Where
Monroe County, New Wren
Measured
2.75 in hail
Property damage
$8,000
Reported by
LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates
33.967, -88.617

Hail, Monroe

When
April 30, 12:30 PM CST to 12:35 PM CST
Where
Monroe County, Amory
Measured
0.88 in hail
Property damage
$50
Reported by
TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates
33.983, -88.500

Hail, Marshall

When
April 30, 1:20 PM CST to 1:25 PM CST
Where
Marshall County, Byhalia
Measured
1 in hail
Property damage
$100
Reported by
NWS EMPLOYEE(OFF DUTY)
Coordinates
34.883, -89.683

Hail, De Soto

When
April 30, 1:25 PM CST to 1:30 PM CST
Where
De Soto County, Olive Branch
Measured
0.75 in hail
Property damage
$10
Reported by
LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates
34.967, -89.817

Hail, Marshall

When
April 30, 1:45 PM CST to 1:50 PM CST
Where
Marshall County, Potts Camp
Measured
0.88 in hail
Property damage
$50
Reported by
LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates
34.650, -89.317

Thunderstorm Wind, Pontotoc

When
April 30, 2:05 PM CST to 2:10 PM CST
Where
Pontotoc County, Randolph
Property damage
$5,000
Reported by
EMERGENCY MANAGER
Coordinates
34.183, -89.167

Several trees were blown down.

Hail, Pontotoc

When
April 30, 2:10 PM CST to 2:15 PM CST
Where
Pontotoc County, Randolph
Measured
1.75 in hail
Property damage
$750
Reported by
EMERGENCY MANAGER
Coordinates
34.183, -89.167

Hail, Lafayette

When
April 30, 2:20 PM CST to 2:25 PM CST
Where
Lafayette County, Tula
Measured
1 in hail
Property damage
$100
Reported by
LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates
34.233, -89.367

Hail, Union

When
April 30, 2:25 PM CST to 2:30 PM CST
Where
Union County, New Albany
Measured
0.88 in hail
Property damage
$50
Reported by
LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates
34.500, -89.000

Hail, Pontotoc

When
April 30, 2:45 PM CST to 2:50 PM CST
Where
Pontotoc County, Randolph
Measured
2 in hail
Property damage
$5,000
Reported by
NWS STORM SURVEY
Coordinates
34.183, -89.167

Many trees in the area were stripped of their leaves.

Tornado, Pontotoc

When
April 30, 2:50 PM CST to 2:55 PM CST
Where
Pontotoc County, Gershorm
Rating
F0
Path length
3 mi
Path width
25 yd
Property damage
$1,000
Reported by
NWS STORM SURVEY
Coordinates
34.083, -89.033

A small tornado touched down near the town of Gershorn and tracked southeast. Little damage occurred with the tornado.

Hail, Chickasaw

When
April 30, 2:55 PM CST to 3:00 PM CST
Where
Chickasaw County, Okolona
Measured
1.75 in hail
Property damage
$750
Reported by
EMERGENCY MANAGER
Coordinates
34.000, -88.750

Tornado, Chickasaw

When
April 30, 2:55 PM CST
Where
Chickasaw County, 2 mi N of Houlka
Rating
F0
Path length
4 mi
Path width
25 yd
Property damage
$5,000
Reported by
NWS STORM SURVEY
Coordinates
34.067, -89.017

The same thunderstorm complex that produced a tornado in Pontotoc county also spawned a tornado in Chickasaw county. This tornado knocked some trees down across the northern part of the county as it tracked east-southeast.

Hail, Monroe

When
April 30, 3:15 PM CST to 3:20 PM CST
Where
Monroe County, Becker
Measured
1.25 in hail
Property damage
$250
Reported by
STORM CHASER
Coordinates
33.933, -88.483

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.
Tornado
A violently rotating column of air in contact with the ground and extending from a thunderstorm, filed with its path, width and Fujita or Enhanced Fujita rating from the damage survey.

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

The same day elsewhere

More

Every storm in Mississippi in 2002Every state in 2002This day in weather historyThe tornado archive for Mississippi, 2002Warnings in Mississippi, April 2002

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: 5293505, 5293600, 5293506, 5293507, 5293511, 5293512, 5293508, 5293509, 5293510, 5293513, 5293514, 5293588, 5293589, 5293590, 5293593, 5293592, 5293591, 5293594, 5293597, 5293598, 5293596, 5293599, 5293595.