Hail and Damaging Winds in Mississippi, July 15, 2002

Name: Hail and Damaging Winds in Mississippi, July 15, 2002
Start: 2002-07-15T12:12
End: 2002-07-15T14:20
Location: Mississippi

July 15, 2002 · NWS JAN · 5 events in 5 counties and zones

4 thunderstorm wind, 1 hail, 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

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The toll

Deaths: 0
Injuries: 0
Property damage: $7,000
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 5

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 Jackson, MS wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Jul 15, 1:55 AM CST, 10 hours 17 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jul 15, 1:55 AM CST, 10 hours 17 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE JACKSON MS
255 AM CDT MON JUL 15 2002

FORECAST IS MOST PROBLEMATIC IN THE SHORT TERM AS STRONG UPPER LEVEL
WESTERLIES CONTINUE IN ASSOCIATION WITH A MID/UPPER LEVEL LOW
CENTERED OVER THE OZARKS. BY MID WEEK...A QUICK TRANSITION IS
PROGGED AS MODELS BRING THE CENTER OF SUBTROPICAL RIDGE OVER THE
REGION.

FOR TODAY...THE FORECAST AREA WILL BE UNDER FAVORABLE CONDITIONS FOR
HIGH COVERAGE OF CONVECTIVE PRECIPITATION...A VERY MOIST AIRMASS
WITH PRECIP WATER VALUES 2+ INCHES...CLOSE PROXIMITY TO 50+ KT UPPER
JET...PERSISTENT LOW LEVEL THETAE ADVECTION AND PERTURBED MID LEVEL
FLOW...ARE ALL PROGGED BY THE ETA AND AVN TO COINCIDE. YESTERDAYS
RELATIVELY INACTIVE CONVECTIVE REGIME HAS LEFT MINIMAL CONVECTIVE
DEBRIS COVERAGE OVER AREA...SO EXPECT INSOLATION WILL KICK IN EARLY
TO HELP INITIATE DEVELOPMENT. CURRENTLY...SCATTERED SHOWERS/TSTMS
ARE DEVELOPING OVER THE ARKLAMISS REGION...APPARENT SIGNS OF UPWARD
VERTICAL MOTION IN PLACE. WILL ADJUST PRECIP CHANCES UPWARD TODAY...
IN LINE WITH AVN/ETA MOS GUIDANCE. AS HAS BEEN THE CASE RECENTLY...
AFTN TEMPS SHOULD HAVE A HARD TIME REACHING 90 WITH CLOUDS AND
PRECIP EXPECTED TO DEVELOP EARLY ON.

FOR TUESDAY THRU WEDNESDAY...BUILDING MID LEVEL RIDGE WILL DRY
THINGS OUT WITH MORE TYPICAL SUMMER WX REGIME EXPECTED. BEST
MOISTURE AXIS AND CONVERGENCE WILL BEGIN TO FOCUS FARTHER
NORTHWEST...ESPECIALLY BY WEDNESDAY. A CORRESPONDING INCREASE IN
AFTN TEMPS SHOULD BE FELT. CURRENT FORECAST OF ISOLATED TSTM
COVERAGE FOR MOST AREAS TUES/WED LOOKS IN LINE WITH LATEST GUIDANCE.

IN THE EXTENDED...THE LATEST AVN AND UKMET AGREE THAT THE VISIT BY
THE SUBTROPICAL RIDGE CENTER TO THE FORECAST AREA WILL BE BRIEF...
AND THAT ANOTHER DIP IN THE WESTERLIES WILL SEND MORE MID LEVEL
ENERGY SOUTHWARD. WILL ADJUST PRECIP WORDING UP A BIT IN LATTER
PERIODS OF FORECAST.

PRELIM NUMBERS...
JAN 88/72/91/73/93 73321
MEI 88/72/92/72/94 73221

.JAN...
AR...NONE.
LA...NONE.
MS...NONE.

43

The radar

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

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

4 thunderstorm wind, 1 hail. Local standard time, as filed.

Thunderstorm Wind, Jefferson

When: July 15, 12:12 PM CST
Where: Jefferson County, Fayette
Property damage: $2,000
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates: 31.717, -91.067

Several trees and powerlines were blown down in the city.

Thunderstorm Wind, Copiah

When: July 15, 1:10 PM CST
Where: Copiah County, Jack
Property damage: $1,000
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates: 32.017, -90.583

Several trees were blown down on Morningstar Road.

Thunderstorm Wind, Hinds

When: July 15, 1:30 PM CST
Where: Hinds County, 5 mi W of Terry
Property damage: $2,000
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates: 32.100, -90.383

Several powerlines were blown down in the area.

Thunderstorm Wind, Rankin

When: July 15, 1:30 PM CST
Where: Rankin County, 3 mi N of Brandon
Property damage: $1,000
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates: 32.317, -89.983

Numerous trees were blown down around Bluebird Lane, near Grant's Ferry Road.

Hail, Jones

When: July 15, 2:20 PM CST
Where: Jones County, 26 mi W of Laurel
Measured: 1 in hail
Property damage: $500
Reported by: EMERGENCY MANAGER
Coordinates: 31.700, -89.583

Quarter-sized hail resulted in broken windows in several buildings.

What these are

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.
Hail: Hail three-quarters of an inch or larger, or smaller hail that caused damage, filed with the largest stone measured.

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

The same day elsewhere

Every storm in Mississippi in 2002 Every state in 2002 This day in weather history Warnings in Mississippi, July 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: 5309340, 5309341, 5309342, 5309343, 5309344.