1 tornado, 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 Jackson, MS wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at May 13, 4:00 AM CST, 31 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE JACKSON MS 500 AM CDT MON MAY 13 2002 UPDATING FORECAST TO REMOVE SEVERE WORDING IN NORTHERN ZONES AS THREAT HAS DIMINISHED SIGNIFICANTLY. -------------PREVIOUS DISCUSSION----------------------------- MAIN FORECAST PROBLEM IS FIRST PERIOD POPS ALONG THE FRONTAL BOUNDARY/SQUALL LINE CURRENTLY MOVING RAPIDLY EAST TOWARDS THE WESTERN CWFA. LAST MINUTE ADJUSTMENTS TO POPS WILL BE LIKELY FROM PRELIM NUMBERS. FRONT IS PROGGED TO RAPIDLY MOVE EAST OVER THE CWFA TODAY. BOTH THE ETA AND AVN INITIALIZED THE BOUNDARY FAIRLY WELL AND STILL SEEM TO BE ON TRACK...ONLY CONCERN IS THE BOUNDARY COULD BE SPEEDING UP WITH THE UPPER DYNAMICS DIRECTLY INTERACTING WITH THE FRONT. WILL BOOST POPS IN THE FIRST PERIOD SIGNIFICANTLY ACCORDING TO CURRENT TRENDS. SEVERE STORMS ARE STILL A CONCERN WITH THE FRONT...BUT SHOULD MAINLY BE CONFINED TO THE NORTHERN THIRD OF THE CWFA AS BEST DYNAMICS STAY OVER THAT AREA. IN ADDITION...WITH THE FRONT MOVING SO RAPIDLY...DAYTIME HEATING SHOULD NOT BE A MAJOR CONTRIBUTOR... ESPECIALLY IN THE SOUTH...FOR THE SEVERE WEATHER THREAT AS FRONT IS PROGGED TO BE OVER THE EXTREME SOUTHEAST ZONES BY MIDDAY. WEAK UPPER DYNAMICS AND FRONTAL FORCING WILL MAINLY SUPPORT ANY DEVELOPMENT LATER IN THE FIRST PERIOD. HIGH PRESSURE BEGINS SETTLING OVER THE CWFA BEHIND THE BOUNDARY...WITH GOOD NORTHERLY FLOW IN THE MID AND UPPER LEVELS USHERING IN A COOLER AND MORE SEASONABLE AIRMASS. TEMPS WILL BE COOLER...MAINLY IN THE 70S TODAY...WITH NEAR 80 TOMORROW IN MOST LOCALES. THE EXTENDED STILL LOOKS DRY...WITH HIGH PRESSURE DOMINATING THROUGH SUNDAY. WILL NOT MAKE ANY MAJOR CHANGES TO THE EXTENDED...ONLY MINOR CHANGES ASSOCIATED WITH SOME RE-GROUPING OF ZONES. TEMPS LOOK DECENT AND WILL TAKE COMPROMISE. PRELIM NUMBERS... JAN 76/52/82/52/83 60000 MEI 79/50/82/49/83 50000 .JAN... AR...NONE. LA...NONE. MS....NONE. 32
ARZ074-075-LAZ007>009-015-016-023>026-MSZ018-019-025>066-072>074- 141200- HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE JACKSON MS 517 AM CDT MON MAY 13 2002 ...THUNDERSTORMS... SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS WILL BE POSSIBLE TODAY. NO SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED...HOWEVER THE STRONGER STORMS THAT DEVELOP COULD PRODUCE WIND GUSTS TO 40 MPH AND BRIEF HEAVY RAIN. A COLD FRONT...EXTENDING ALONG THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER JUST PRIOR TO SUNRISE... WILL PASS THROUGH THE REGION RAPIDLY THIS MORNING. AS THE FRONT PLOWS INTO THE UNSTABLE AIRMASS IN PLACE...SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS WILL RESULT. DUE TO LIMITED INSTABILITY...THE THUNDERSTORMS THAT DEVELOP ARE NOT EXPECTED TO BECOME SEVERE. ACTIVATION OF STORMS SPOTTERS IS NOT ANTICIPATED. ...NON PRECIPITATION... THE TIGHTENING PRESSURE GRADIENT BEHIND THE PASSING COLD FRONT WILL ALLOW WINDS TO BECOME QUITE GUSTY BY AFTERNOON. SUSTAINED WINDS FROM 15 TO 25 MPH WILL BE COMMON AFTER THE FRONTAL PASSAGE WITH SOME GUSTS TO 30 MPH. THESE WINDS WILL ALLOW AREA LAKES TO BECOME CHOPPY AND CAUTION IS ADVISED. FOR MORE INFORMATION PLEASE VISIT OUR WEBSITE AT WWW.SRH.NOAA.GOV/JAN. THIS INCLUDES THE GRAPHICAL HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK.
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
1 tornado. Local standard time, as filed.
A weak tornado touched down within the city limits, producing damage along a 1.5 mile track between West Monroe Street and Silverleaf Drive. The tornado produced minor damage to Grenada Lakes Hospital, a realty office, 3 homes, 3 trailers, and 2 cars.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Mississippi in 2002Every state in 2002This day in weather historyThe tornado archive for Mississippi, 2002Warnings in Mississippi, May 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: 5287975.