The February 2 - 4, 2018 tornado outbreak was a period of severe weather that allowed for favourable conditions for tornadoes to form. The outbreak was caused by a winterstorm moving into the Mississippi Gulf Coast and colliding with a dry line over the state, which led to the development of supercells, enabling tornadoes to touch down over Mississippi and Alabama as a result. An EF4 tornado tore through Meridian, Mississippi on February 3, causing over $150 million in damages and 7 deaths, and the first tornado emergency of the year. The other destructive tornado of the outbreak hit Hopewell,causing 60 million in damages and killing 7 people in the process. Other weak to strong tornadoes occurred during the outbreak, with an EF2 hitting Laurel, Mississippi on the first day of the outbreak