Louisiana, 2009

Hail in Louisiana, March 31, 2009

March 31, 2009 · NWS JAN · 2 events in 2 counties and zones

A potent upper level disturbance combined with good instability ahead of a cold front utilized cold temperatures aloft to produce hail producing storms. It produced hail from penny to nickel size.

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
None recorded
Crop damage
None recorded
Events
2

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 happened

The episode as NWS JAN wrote it up.

A potent upper level disturbance combined with good instability ahead of a cold front utilized cold temperatures aloft to produce hail producing storms. It produced hail from penny to nickel size.

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 31, 3:36 AM CST, 5 hours 8 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Mar 31, 3:36 AM CST, 5 hours 8 minutes before
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Hazardous weather outlook, Mar 31, 4:54 AM CST, 3 hours 50 minutes before
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE JACKSON MS
554 AM CDT TUE MAR 31 2009

ARZ074-075-LAZ007>009-015-016-023>026-MSZ018-019-025>066-072>074-
011100-
ASHLEY-CHICOT-MOREHOUSE-WEST CARROLL-EAST CARROLL-RICHLAND-
MADISON LA-FRANKLIN LA-CATAHOULA-TENSAS-CONCORDIA-BOLIVAR-
SUNFLOWER-LEFLORE-GRENADA-CARROLL-MONTGOMERY-WEBSTER-CLAY-LOWNDES-
CHOCTAW-OKTIBBEHA-WASHINGTON-HUMPHREYS-HOLMES-ATTALA-WINSTON-
NOXUBEE-ISSAQUENA-SHARKEY-YAZOO-MADISON MS-LEAKE-NESHOBA-KEMPER-
WARREN-HINDS-RANKIN-SCOTT-NEWTON-LAUDERDALE-CLAIBORNE-COPIAH-
SIMPSON-SMITH-JASPER-CLARKE-JEFFERSON-ADAMS-FRANKLIN MS-LINCOLN-
LAWRENCE-JEFFERSON DAVIS-COVINGTON-JONES-MARION-LAMAR-FORREST-
554 AM CDT TUE MAR 31 2009

THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR CENTRAL MISSISSIPPI...
NORTHEAST LOUISIANA...AND EXTREME SOUTHEAST ARKANSAS.

.DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT

ISOLATED TO SCATTERED SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WILL BE POSSIBLE TODAY AS
A STRONG UPPER LEVEL SYSTEM DEVELOPS TO OUR NORTH AND A COLD FRONT
MOVES THROUGH THE REGION. INCREASING MOISTURE AND INSTABILITY WILL
COMBINE WITH COLD TEMPERATURES ALOFT AND STRONG WINDS TO SUPPORT THE
SEVERE WEATHER RISK FOR AREAS ALONG AND SOUTH OF A LINE FROM NATCHEZ
TO GREENWOOD TO MERIDIAN TO HATTIESBURG. QUARTER TO GOLF BALL SIZED
HAIL AND DAMAGING WINDS ARE THE PRIMARY RISK WITH THE STRONGER STORMS
TODAY. THE MAIN TIME FOR THIS ACTIVITY WILL FROM 11 AM TILL 7 PM.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...WEDNESDAY THROUGH MONDAY

A POWERFUL SPRING STORM SYSTEM WILL EVOLVE OVER THE REGION THURSDAY
AND BRING THE POTENTIAL FOR A SEVERE WEATHER OUTBREAK. VERY STRONG
WINDS AND LIFT WILL COMBINE WITH HIGH LEVELS OF INSTABILITY TO
DEVELOP INTENSE THUNDERSTORMS. VERY LARGE HAIL...DESTRUCTIVE WINDS
AND TORNADOES WILL ALL BE POSSIBLE THURSDAY. WHILE DETAILS ARE NOT
KNOWN ON THE EXACT EVOLUTION OF THIS EVENT...MANY ELEMENTS LOOK TO BE
PRESENT TO PRODUCE SIGNIFICANT SEVERE WEATHER. EVERYONE SHOULD
MONITOR THE LATEST FORECASTS AND OUTLOOKS CONCERNING THIS POTENTIAL
SEVERE WEATHER OUTBREAK.

.SPOTTER CALL TO ACTION STATEMENT...
THE ACTIVATION OF STORM SPOTTERS...HAM RADIO OPERATORS...AND
EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT PERSONNEL IN SUPPORT OF SEVERE WEATHER
OPERATIONS WILL LIKELY BE NEEDED TODAY AND THEN AGAIN THURSDAY.

FOR MORE INFORMATION PLEASE VISIT OUR WEBSITE AT
WWW.SRH.NOAA.GOV/JAN. THIS INCLUDES THE GRAPHICAL HAZARDOUS
WEATHER OUTLOOK.

CME

In the hours before

Local storm report, Mar 31, 7:15 AM CST, 1 hour 29 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE JACKSON MS
815 AM CDT TUE MAR 31 2009

..TIME...   ...EVENT...      ...CITY LOCATION...     ...LAT.LON...
..DATE...   ....MAG....      ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
            ..REMARKS..

0750 PM     HAIL             6 W MORGANTOWN          31.31N 90.02W
03/27/2009  E0.75 INCH       MARION             MS   PUBLIC

0800 AM     TSTM WND DMG     MOSS                    31.82N 89.18W
03/26/2009                   JONES              MS   EMERGENCY MNGR

            A COUPLE TREES WERE BLOWN DOWN...ONE WAS ON A CAR.

&&

CME

The radar

The Jackson/Brandon,MS radar (KDGX), 165 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 14:44 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

2 hail. Local standard time, as filed.

Hail, Franklin

When
March 31, 8:44 AM CST
Where
Franklin County, 0.52 mi ESE of Baskin
Measured
0.75 in hail
Reported by
Public
Coordinates
32.266, -91.742

Penny size hail occurred around Baskin.

Hail, Catahoula

When
March 31, 9:22 AM CST to 9:32 AM CST
Where
Catahoula County, 6.36 mi W of Maitland to 1.18 mi ENE of Foules
Measured
0.88 in hail
Reported by
Post Office
Coordinates
31.736, -91.727

Nickel size hail occurred northwest and north of Clayton.

What these are

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

More

Every storm in Louisiana in 2009Every state in 2009This day in weather historyWarnings in Louisiana, March 2009

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 2026-10-01. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 158718, 158719.