Name: Damaging Wind in Mississippi, March 20, 2002
Start: 2002-03-20T17:50
End: 2002-03-20T17:50
Location: Mississippi

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: $1,000
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 1

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 Mar 20, 3:20 PM CST, 2 hours 30 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Mar 20, 3:20 PM CST, 2 hours 30 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE JACKSON MS
320 PM CST WED MAR 20 2002

FORECAST HIGHLIGHTS...FRONT PUSHING STEADILY EWD ALONG THE NATCHEZ
TRACE PARKWAY WITH TSRA KICKING OFF THE SPRING SEASON FOR MOST
LOCATIONS. EXPECT GENERALLY 1-2 RAINS BY 12Z THURSDAY. STRONG POLAR
FRONT ARRIVES THURSDAY AFTERNOON WITH A POTENTIAL FREEZE LIKELY N OF
I-20 EARLY FRIDAY AND MUCH OF CWFA EARLY SATURDAY. THE WEEKEND THEN
MODIFIES NICELY WITH NEXT RAIN THREAT FROM MONDAY NIGHT INTO
WEDNESDAY WHEN MORE TSRA BECOME LIKELY.

LOCALLY HEAVY RAINS THIS EVENING WILL BE IN THE EAST AND SOUTH
PORTIONS OF THE AREA AS WEAKENING RAIN SHIELD DISSIPATES IN THE
NORTHWEST. DO NOT LOOK FOR ANY BIG PROBLEMS FOR FLOODING AND DO NOT
EXPECT TO KEEP A MENTION OF SEVERE FOR THE EVENING AS MOST OF THE
WARMER UNSTABLE AIR WILL BE USED UP BY ONGOING CONVECTION. AIRMASS
ALREADY STABILIZING IN THE BOUNDARY LAYER DUE TO CONVECTIVE COMPLEX
THAT MOVED INTO SERN MS FROM LA. SURFACE WAVE NEAR KMCB ON THE
FRONTAL BOUNDARY NOT VERY IMPRESSIVE AS PRESSURES HAVE ONLY FALLEN
ABOUT 2MB IN 6 HOURS. COOLER AIR DOMINATES FOR THURSDAY AHEAD OF
INCOMING MOUND OF MODIFIED ARCTIC AIR HEADING FOR THE DEEP SOUTH.
THE LEADING EDGE OF THIS COLD AIR ENTERING NRN NEBRASKA SHOULD REACH
NWRN MS ABOUT MIDDAY THURSDAY AND SWEEP TO THE COAST BY MIDNIGHT.

MEDIUM RANGE MODELS CONTINUE TO MOVE CENTER(NEAR 1030MB) OF THE COLD
AIR THROUGH NRN MS FRIDAY INTO FRIDAY NIGHT SO THAT WHILE RECORD
LOWS NOT AS LIKELY...A BRIEF FREEZE IS LIKELY ACROSS HIGHWAY 82
CORRIDOR FRIDAY MORNING AND MOST LOCATIONS SATURDAY MORNING.
NEXT LONGWAVE TROUGH MOVES THROUGH WRN UNITED STATES SUNDAY AND
HEADS TOWARD THE PLAINS ON MONDAY WHEN GULF MOISTURE BEGINS TO
RETURN. BEST UPPER DIVERGENCE AND LOW LEVEL INFLOW PROBABLY TEAMING
UP ON TUESDAY BUT TIMING PROBLEMS DICTATE KEEPING PRECIPITATION
CHANCES INTO WEDNESDAY.

PRELIM NUMBERS...
JAN 051/065 035/055 030 +100-
MEI 052/068 036/056 028 +100-

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

The radar

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

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

1 thunderstorm wind. Local standard time, as filed.

Thunderstorm Wind, Jones

When: March 20, 5:50 PM CST
Where: Jones County, 1 mi SW of Laurel
Property damage: $1,000
Reported by: EMERGENCY MANAGER
Coordinates: 31.683, -89.150

A few trees were blown down across town.

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.

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

The same day elsewhere

More

Every storm in Mississippi in 2002 Every state in 2002 This day in weather history Warnings in Mississippi, March 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: 5280899.