Scattered to numerous showers and thunderstorms developed during the afternoon of May 21st ahead of a weak cold front moving across the Deep South. Wind damage, large hail and some flash flooding all occurred as the activity moved across the region.
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 episode as NWS JAN wrote it up.
Scattered to numerous showers and thunderstorms developed during the afternoon of May 21st ahead of a weak cold front moving across the Deep South. Wind damage, large hail and some flash flooding all occurred as the activity moved across the region.
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 20, 3:10 PM CST, 3 hours 41 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE JACKSON MS 410 PM CDT SUN MAY 20 2012 .DISCUSSION... REMAINDER OF THE AFTERNOON INTO THE EARLY EVENING...CONVECTION HAS MANAGED TO DEVELOP IN MOIST INSTABILITY AXIS OVER NW AL AND THIS EVENTUALLY PROPAGATE INTO NE/EC MS AS WE GO THROUGH THE NEXT FEW HOURS. HAVE INCREASED POPS IN THAT AREA AND ADDED MENTION OF TSTMS THROUGH EARLY EVENING. OTHERWISE...A FEW SHOWERS AREA ALSO POSSIBLE OVER THE DELTA REGION WITH DRY CONDITIONS EXPECTED ELSEWHERE. FOR TONIGHT...THE MID LEVEL RIDGE AND NIGHTTIME COOLING WILL KEEP THINGS FAIRLY QUIET FOR MOST PART. THE MOST SIGNIFICANT SHOWER/TSTM ACTIVITY SHOULD HOLD OFF UNTIL A SHORTWAVE TROUGH APPROACHES THE ARKLAMISS DURING THE EARLY MORNING. CONVECTIVE ACTIVITY DEVELOPING OVER THE OZARK/MID MS VALLEY REGION OVERNIGHT COULD MOVE NORTHERN PORTIONS OF THE ARKLAMISS PRIOR TO DAYBREAK...BUT EXPECT THE BULK OF CONVECTIVE ACTIVITY TO HOLD OFF UNTIL LATER IN THE DAY MONDAY. WITH DAYTIME HEATING AND INCREASING MOISTURE CONVERGENCE/POSSIBLE OUTFLOW BOUNDARY AND SFC DEWPOINTS NEAR 70F UNDERNEATH STEEP MID LEVEL LAPSE RATES (~7 DEG C/KM)...EXPECT MIXED LAYER CAPE TO INCREASE TO NEAR 2000 J/KG. PRECIPITABLE WATER > 1.5 INCHES...K-INDICES NEAR 40...AND TT VALUES IN THE MID 50S SUPPORT TSTMS ERUPTING ACROSS NRN PORTIONS OF THE ARKLAMISS BY LATE MORNING/EARLY AFTN. DEEP NORTHWEST FLOW ~25KTS WILL SUPPORT MULTICELL CLUSTERS AND QUICK SE PROPAGATION OF COLD POOLS SO THAT STORMS COULD MOVE MORE QUICKLY INTO SRN PORTIONS OF THE ARKLAMISS THAN INDICATED BY GLOBAL MODELS. HAVE FOLLOWED WETTER AND GREATER COVERAGE OF MET MOS FOR THIS FORECAST. GIVEN STORM ORGANIZATION AND STRONG INSTABILITY...THERE WILL BE A RISK FOR STORMS TO PRODUCE FAIRLY LARGE SWATHS OF 40 TO 50 MPH WIND GUSTS AND LOCALIZED SEVERE WIND GUSTS (AS INDICATED BY LOCAL WRF DOWNDRAFT WIND GUST OUTPUT)...HAIL WILL BE POSSIBLE AS WELL. WE INCREASED WORDING A BIT TO MENTION THE POSSIBILITY OF SEVERE TSTMS IN THE HWO/GRAPHICAST. AS WE GO INTO MONDAY NIGHT...THUNDERSTORM POTENTIAL WILL CONTINUE AT LEAST INTO THE EARLY EVENING OVER THE SE HALF OF THE AREA. WOULD NOT BE SURPRISED TO SEE THE RISK END MORE QUICKLY IN NRN PORTIONS OF THE AREA GIVEN THE NW FLOW IN PLACE AND INDICATIONS OF A STRONG DRY MID LEVEL PUSH. (TUESDAY THROUGH SUNDAY) THE FRONTAL BOUNDARY SHIFTS EVEN FARTHER S THAN PREVIOUS FORECAST CYCLES ON TUESDAY KEEPING ANY LEFTOVER SHRA ACTIVITY CLOSER TO THE COAST. ONCE AFTERNOON HEATING ARRIVES...THE BEST INSTABILITY SHOULD BE CONFINED TO OUR FAR SRN SECTIONS S OF HIGHWAY 84. ABOUT THE COOLEST DAYTIME MAXES FOR THIS WEEK FEATURE MIDDLE 80S AND AS A RESULT LESS OVERALL INSTABILITY. WILL KEEP ONLY 15-20 PERCENT POPS SHIFTED SWD AS DRYING PWATS DIP BELOW 0.75 INCHES FOR MOST LOCATIONS TUESDAY EVENING. WEAKENING SURFACE RIDGE AXIS OF 1014MB CROSSES THE AREA EARLY WEDNESDAY AS RETURN FLOW SETS UP FOR WEDNESDAY AFTERNOON WHEN THE AXIS OF HIGHER PWATS NEAR 1.4 INCHES PIVOTS BACK INTO THE REGION. NOTEWORTHY WILL BE MIDDLE LEVEL WARMING ALOFT WEDNESDAY INTO THURSDAY WHICH SHOULD STABILIZE THE AIRMASS CONSIDERABLY. EVEN SO... SURFACE HEATING ALONG THE WEAK WARM FRONT DURING THE AFTERNOON MAY BE ENOUGH FOR SETTING OFF ISOLATED SHRA/TSRA. THE BOUNDARY FEATURES NEAR 2K J/KG MLCAPES AND 335K+ THETA E 850MB AIR BUT WEAKER VEERING WIND FIELDS BELOW 20K FEET. ANY PRECIP COVERAGE MAY END UP BEING LESS THAN 10 PERCENT. AFTERWARD...THE BUILDING MID AND UPPER LEVEL RIDGE ACROSS THE MID SOUTH AND TN RIVER VALLEY CAUSES WARMING LOW LEVELS THAT PUSH 850MB TEMPS TO THE 17-19C RANGE FRIDAY THROUGH SUNDAY. A MOSTLY THERMALLY CAPPED AIR MASS OF PWATS NEAR 1 INCH PRECLUDES ANY MENTION OF LATE AFTERNOON TSRA CHANCES UNTIL SATURDAY WHEN AN ENHANCED SEA BREEZE MOVES WELL INLAND. TEMPS OVERNIGHT WILL STAY PREDOMINANTLY 65-70F WHILE DAYTIME LOWER 90S SHOULD BECOME QUITE COMMON AS WE HEAD INTO THE MEMORIAL DAY WEEKEND./40/ && .AVIATION...MAINLY DRY CONDITIONS EXPECTED THROUGH THIS EVENING WITH FEW TO SCATTERED CU BASED LARGELY ABOVE 5 KFT. AGAIN THERE COULD BE A STRAY ISOLATED AFTERNOON STORM BUT LOW CHANCES ARE ONLY OF ANY SIGNIFICANCE AT GTR/MEI/GLH. BUT EVEN HERE CONFIDENCE STILL TOO LOW RIGHT NOW TO INCLUDE IN THE TAF FORECAST THROUGH THIS EVENING. FRONTAL BOUNDARY LOOKS TO DROP CLOSER TO THE REGION THIS LATER TONIGHT INTO VERY EARLY MONDAY AND COULD BRING SOME STORMS TO GLH/GWO/GTR. OTHERWISE...CONDITIONS TONIGHT INTO EARLY MONDAY SHOULD REMAIN MAINLY VFR. RAIN CHANCES MUCH HIGHER FOR MONDAY AS BOUNDARY SLIPS INTO THE REGION...ESPECIALLY FOR TAF SITES NORTH OF I-20. WINDS ON MONDAY WILL BE MAINLY FROM THE NORTHWEST AT 10 KTS AND SOME STORMS COULD BE SEVERE WITH GUSTY WINDS AND TURBULENCE. /BB/ && .PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS... JACKSON 61 88 63 83 / 8 43 33 3 MERIDIAN 58 88 62 85 / 9 57 38 11 VICKSBURG 59 88 62 84 / 8 40 25 3 HATTIESBURG 61 89 65 87 / 5 35 26 21 NATCHEZ 61 88 60 83 / 8 37 22 13 GREENVILLE 64 86 59 81 / 28 40 16 3 GREENWOOD 62 85 59 80 / 24 41 21 3 && .JAN WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... MS...NONE. LA...NONE. AR...NONE. && EC/40/BB
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE JACKSON MS 158 PM CDT SUN MAY 20 2012 ARZ074-075-LAZ007>009-015-016-023>026-MSZ018-019-025>066-072>074- 211900- 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- 158 PM CDT SUN MAY 20 2012 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR EXTREME SOUTHEAST ARKANSAS...NORTHEAST LOUISIANA AND CENTRAL MISSISSIPPI. .DAY ONE...TONIGHT AND MONDAY SCATTERED STRONG TO LOCALLY SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WILL BE POSSIBLE ACROSS THE ENTIRE ARKLAMISS MONDAY AFTERNOON THROUGH MONDAY EVENING AS A SURFACE FRONT MOVES SOUTH INTO THE REGION. THE PRIMARY RISK WILL BE SMALL BANDS OR CLUSTERS OF THUNDERSTORMS PRODUCING DAMAGING WIND GUSTS...ALTHOUGH AT LEAST SOME HAIL WILL ALSO BE POSSIBLE. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...MONDAY NIGHT THROUGH SATURDAY THE PROBABILITY FOR WIDESPREAD HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS LOW. .SPOTTER CALL TO ACTION STATEMENT... THE ACTIVATION OF STORM SPOTTERS...HAM RADIO OPERATORS...AND EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT PERSONNEL IN SUPPORT OF SEVERE WEATHER OPERATIONS...MAY BE NEEDED MONDAY AFTERNOON AND THROUGH MONDAY EVENING. FOR MORE INFORMATION PLEASE VISIT OUR WEBSITE AT WWW.SRH.NOAA.GOV/JAN. 50
The Jackson/Brandon,MS radar (KDGX), 132 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 00:51 UTC.
7 hail, 6 thunderstorm wind. Local standard time, as filed.
Trees and power lines were blown down.
Trees were down across a road.
The hail fell at the Vicksburg-Tallulah Regional Airport.
Power lines were blown down.
The hail fell at the grocery store at the Bees Bayou exit off I-20.
Trees and power lines were blown down in the area.
Crops were damaged in the area by the hail.
A few trees and a couple of power poles were blown down.
Power poles were blown down on Highway 65 and 566.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Louisiana in 2012Every state in 2012This day in weather historyWarnings in Louisiana, May 2012
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: 377275, 377277, 377278, 377279, 377280, 377282, 377283, 377284, 377285, 377286, 377287, 377288, 377289.