Hail and Damaging Winds in Mississippi, March 30 to 31, 2025

Name: Hail and Damaging Winds in Mississippi, March 30 to 31, 2025
Start: 2025-03-30T22:01
End: 2025-03-31T05:03
Location: Mississippi

March 30 to 31, 2025 · NWS MEG · 13 events in 9 counties and zones

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: $10,000
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 13

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 MEG wrote it up.

Significant instability built across the Mid-South as temperatures climbed into the upper 70s and lower 80s and dewpoints topped out in the mid to upper 60s. This warm moist air provided very high instability for this time of year. Additionally, plentiful shear and exceptional lapse rates were available. A shortwave was able to pivot through the area during the overnight hours resulting in damaging winds and hail.

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 Memphis, TN wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Mar 30, 7:49 PM CST, 2 hours 12 minutes earlier. Its key messages:

Updated at 845 PM CDT Sun Mar 30 2025 -Severe thunderstorms will move through the Mid-South this evening through the early morning hours on Monday. Damaging winds, tornadoes, large hail and flash flooding will be possible. -Dry and cool conditions are forecast Monday and Tuesday. -An active weather pattern will reemerge Wednesday and persist through next weekend. Multiple rounds of strong thunderstorms will produce potential for significant flooding, especially along and north of Interstate 40. In addition, thunderstorms may bring damaging winds and tornadoes. By the end of next weekend, 7 to 12 inches of rainfall is expected north of Interstate 40, with 3 to 7 inches to the south.

Area forecast discussion, Mar 30, 7:49 PM CST, 2 hours 12 minutes before

Area Forecast Discussion
National Weather Service Memphis TN
849 PM CDT Sun Mar 30 2025

...New UPDATE...

.KEY MESSAGES...
Updated at 845 PM CDT Sun Mar 30 2025

-Severe thunderstorms will move through the Mid-South this evening
 through the early morning hours on Monday. Damaging winds,
 tornadoes, large hail and flash flooding will be possible.

-Dry and cool conditions are forecast Monday and Tuesday.

-An active weather pattern will reemerge Wednesday and persist
 through next weekend. Multiple rounds of strong thunderstorms
 will produce potential for significant flooding, especially along
 and north of Interstate 40. In addition, thunderstorms may bring
 damaging winds and tornadoes. By the end of next weekend, 7 to
 12 inches of rainfall is expected north of Interstate 40, with 3
 to 7 inches to the south.

&&

.UPDATE...
Issued at 845 PM CDT Sun Mar 30 2025

Severe thunderstorms continue to track east across portions of
east Arkansas and west Tennessee. Have cleared portions of
northeast Arkansas and the Missouri bootheel from Tornado Watch
72. Added counties in west Tennessee to Tornado Watch 78 which
expires at 3:00 AM CDT Monday morning. Remainder of forecast looks
good.

ARS

&&

.DISCUSSION...
(This evening through next Saturday)
Issued at 345 PM CDT Sun Mar 30 2025

Primary concern remains short term severe weather threat.
Several hours of clearing over AR have allowed surface-based CAPE
to build in excess of 3000 J/kg, as measured by the 18Z LZK
sounding. This sounding also showed an elevated mixed layer (EML),
yielding very steep midlevel lapse rates of 9.3 C/km. Deep moist
convection has been capped thus far by the EML, but this capping
should weaken as the EML translates east in tandem with an
approaching midlevel trough. The LZK sounding measured 0-3km SRH
of 180 m2/s2, but this should increase with the development of a
45KT low level jet over the delta after 22Z. This low level jet
will largely be responsible for Energy Helicity Index (EHI) and
Significant Tornado Parameter (STP) ramping up over delta by
sunset. 18Z HRRR depicts the STP increasing to 5-8 over the
Memphis metro between 8-10PM CDT / 01-03Z. STP values this high
indicate a potential for strong, long-track tornadoes.

By midnight, convection mode will transition to quasi-linear,
as a midlevel shortwave lifts eastward into the Ohio River
Valley. Orientation of the QLCS will roughly orient parallel to
I-40, as it sinks south into north MS after midnight. Wind threat
will likely increase over north MS during the overnight, with
the approach of an upstream shortwave trough from TX. Post-
midnight HRRR hodographs over northeast MS indicate a likelihood
of embedded supercells and tornadoes through 3-4 AM.

Relatively quiet zonal flow aloft will prevail Monday and Tuesday.
By Tuesday night, low level return flow will develop and intensify
under increasingly diffluent flow aloft. By Wednesday afternoon,
a longwave trough will occupy the western two-thirds of the CONUS.
The Midsouth will remain under southwest flow aloft, situated
between the longwave trough and a 589 DM 500mb Bermuda high.
This setup will prevail through late week, slowly becoming more
amplified. A belt of midlevel Pacific tropical moisture will
combine with surface dewpoints in the 60s to produce PWAT values
around 2 inches over the Midsouth, at the maximum value of
climatology. A quasi-stationary surface front will extend across
AR into the lower OH River Valley, oscillating as a series of
shortwaves eject from the western trough. Multiple rain events
will combine to produce weekly rainfall totals of 7 to 12 inches
north of I-40, and 3 to 7 inches to the south. In addition to a
river and areal flooding threat, damaging winds will be possible.
In particular, Wednesday stands out, with LREF mean surface based
CAPE of 2000 J/kg and mean 0-3 km SRH of 270 m2/s2 along and south
of I-40.

By late next weekend into early the following week, a deepening
northern branch longwave trough over the eastern CONUS will
displace the tropical moisture fetch and allow a relatively strong
surface cold front to pass. The cooler and drier conditions will
prevail for several days as we wrap up the first week of April.

PWB

&&

.AVIATION...
(00Z TAFS)
Issued at 607 PM CDT Sun Mar 30 2025

A line of showers and thunderstorms will sweep across the Midsouth
this evening, lasting through the overnight hours. 01-03Z at JBR,
04z at MKL and MEM, and 07-08z at TUP looks to the the greatest
impact although storms could develop ahead of the main line.
Showers will likely continue behind the line. IFR to MVFR cigs are
likely through the night. South to southwest winds around 15 kts
tonight will shift from the northwest before sunrise at around
10kts. VFR conditions will prevail at all sites after 15z
tomorrow.

&&

.MEG WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
AR...None.
MO...None.
MS...None.
TN...None.
&&

PUBLIC FORECAST...PWB
AVIATION...JDS

In the hours before

Local storm report, Mar 30, 8:55 PM CST, 1 hour 6 minutes before

Preliminary Local Storm Report
National Weather Service Memphis TN
955 PM CDT Sun Mar 30 2025

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

0954 PM     Hail             3 NNE Jackson           35.67N 88.81W
03/30/2025  E1.25 Inch       Madison            TN   Trained Spotter

&&

Local storm report, Mar 30, 9:03 PM CST, 58 minutes before

Preliminary Local Storm Report
National Weather Service Memphis TN
1003 PM CDT Sun Mar 30 2025

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

0955 PM     Hail             2 ENE Dixonville        35.44N 89.71W
03/30/2025  E1.00 Inch       Tipton             TN   Public

&&

Local storm report, Mar 30, 9:11 PM CST, 50 minutes before

Preliminary Local Storm Report
National Weather Service Memphis TN
1011 PM CDT Sun Mar 30 2025

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

1010 PM     Hail             Ellendale               35.23N 89.83W
03/30/2025  E1.50 Inch       Shelby             TN   Public

&&

Local storm report, Mar 30, 9:24 PM CST, 37 minutes before

Preliminary Local Storm Report
National Weather Service Memphis TN
1024 PM CDT Sun Mar 30 2025

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

1018 PM     Hail             3 S Blue Goose          35.66N 88.59W
03/30/2025  M1.00 Inch       Henderson          TN   Public

&&

Local storm report, Mar 30, 9:26 PM CST, 35 minutes before

Preliminary Local Storm Report
National Weather Service Memphis TN
1026 PM CDT Sun Mar 30 2025

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

1020 PM     Hail             Bartlett                35.24N 89.77W
03/30/2025  E1.00 Inch       Shelby             TN   Public

            several reports coming in of quarter to half
            dollar sized hail in the
            Bartlett/Lakeland/Arlington area.

&&

Local storm report, Mar 30, 10:00 PM CST, 1 minute before

Preliminary Local Storm Report
National Weather Service Memphis TN
1100 PM CDT Sun Mar 30 2025

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

1030 PM     Hail             Marianna                34.78N 90.76W
03/30/2025  E1.50 Inch       Lee                AR   Trained Spotter

&&

The radar

The Memphis radar (KNQA), 73 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 04:01 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

8 hail, 5 thunderstorm wind. Local standard time, as filed.

Thunderstorm Wind, Tunica

When: March 30, 10:01 PM CST to 10:06 PM CST
Where: Tunica County, Bowdre
Measured: 50 kt (58 mph) estimated gust
Reported by: Emergency Manager
Coordinates: 34.800, -90.330

A few power poles downed on Old Hwy 61 near Bowdre.

Hail, Tunica

When: March 30, 10:21 PM CST to 10:26 PM CST
Where: Tunica County, 1.38 mi N of Tunica
Measured: 1.75 in hail
Reported by: Law Enforcement
Coordinates: 34.700, -90.380

Hail, Tate

When: March 30, 10:43 PM CST to 10:48 PM CST
Where: Tate County, Arkabutla
Measured: 1.75 in hail
Reported by: Public
Coordinates: 34.700, -90.130

Hail, Tippah

When: March 30, 11:23 PM CST to 11:28 PM CST
Where: Tippah County, 0.89 mi NE of Tiplersville
Measured: 1 in hail
Reported by: Public
Coordinates: 34.890, -88.910

Hail, Alcorn

When: March 31, 12:35 AM CST to 12:40 AM CST
Where: Alcorn County, 0.76 mi NW of Rienzi
Measured: 1.5 in hail
Reported by: Broadcast Media
Coordinates: 34.777, -88.540

Ping pong ball sized hail, just north of Rienzi.

Hail, Tishomingo

When: March 31, 12:45 AM CST to 12:50 AM CST
Where: Tishomingo County, 1.38 mi N of Burnsville
Measured: 0.88 in hail
Reported by: Public
Coordinates: 34.850, -88.320

Hail, Tishomingo

When: March 31, 12:47 AM CST to 12:52 AM CST
Where: Tishomingo County, 2.24 mi SSW of Walker
Measured: 1 in hail
Reported by: Public
Coordinates: 34.799, -88.293

Hail, Prentiss

When: March 31, 12:53 AM CST to 12:58 AM CST
Where: Prentiss County, 2.68 mi NE of Booneville Bldwyn Ar
Measured: 1 in hail
Reported by: Public
Coordinates: 34.630, -88.620

Quarter sized hail in Blackland.

Hail, Prentiss

When: March 31, 12:58 AM CST to 1:03 AM CST
Where: Prentiss County, 1.33 mi WNW of Booneville
Measured: 1 in hail
Reported by: Trained Spotter
Coordinates: 34.660, -88.570

Thunderstorm Wind, Calhoun

When: March 31, 3:37 AM CST to 3:42 AM CST
Where: Calhoun County, 0.9 mi NE of Calhoun City
Measured: 50 kt (58 mph) estimated gust
Property damage: $5,000
Reported by: Broadcast Media
Coordinates: 33.860, -89.310

Large tree snapped and downed. Landed on a home off of Caldwell Ave.

Thunderstorm Wind, Chickasaw

When: March 31, 4:16 AM CST to 4:21 AM CST
Where: Chickasaw County, 2.76 mi N of Vanfleet
Measured: 50 kt (58 mph) estimated gust
Property damage: $500
Reported by: Public
Coordinates: 34.020, -88.900

Large tree downed across Natchez Trace, north of Hwy 32.

Thunderstorm Wind, Monroe

When: March 31, 4:45 AM CST to 4:50 AM CST
Where: Monroe County, 0.9 mi NE of Amory
Measured: 50 kt (58 mph) estimated gust
Property damage: $1,000
Reported by: Amateur Radio
Coordinates: 33.990, -88.490

Trees downed on 9th Ave N in Amory.

Thunderstorm Wind, Monroe

When: March 31, 4:58 AM CST to 5:03 AM CST
Where: Monroe County, 0.9 mi NE of Greenwood Spgs
Measured: 50 kt (58 mph) estimated gust
Property damage: $3,000
Reported by: Broadcast Media
Coordinates: 33.890, -88.310

Winds blown out of residence along Hwy 8 between Greenwood Springs and Westville.

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 2025 Every state in 2025 This day in weather history Warnings in Mississippi, March 2025

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: 1248162, 1248124, 1248126, 1248128, 1248138, 1248142, 1248141, 1248144, 1248159, 1248169, 1248170, 1248168, 1248171.