Severe Weather Scrapes Region
April 6, 2003
Most areas of north Louisiana
dodged the bullet but severe weather was indeed scattered throughout the
region. Mother Nature gave us a one-two punch. Early Sunday
morning storms fired ahead of a northward moving warm front. Some
of the storms became severe and were even warned for tornadoes indicated
by Doppler radar. As of this writing, no confirmed touchdowns had
been reported; although, a tornado did touch down in northeast Texas.
Most of the damage reported came from Richland and other northeast Louisiana
parishes. Only a few limbs and small trees were broken or uprooted.
A few reports of shingles torn from roofs occured in Richland parish along
Louisiana Highway 15 between Alto and Archibald. Reports of hail
were also received. For the most part, hail was confined to 1/4 to
1/2 inch.
Minor Damage Reported So Far...
A Doppler warned tornadic thunderstorm
caused this damage prior to noon CDT this Sunday, April 4 between the communities
of Alto and Archibald along Louisiana Highway 15. The storm had a
tornado warning with a well developed mesocyclone. However, no tornado
touchdowns were sighted. The wind damage path was several miles in
length with estimated winds of 45-55 mph (based on tree damage).
Some residents also reported shingle damage to their roofs.
Below are pics of the thunderstorm
as it approached the area some 3-5 miles west of the town of Mangam, Louisiana.
The photos show the large mesocyclone. Low level scud was sweeping
rapidly into the storm from the northeast and the southeast. Occasional
cloud rotation was observed with this storm however the rotation was not
sustained for any length of time.
Photo looking west. Shown is the northern
portion of the mesocyclone with scud feeding in from the north.
Photo taken looking north. The lower clouds
to the left of the trees were slowly rotating.
Reformation of the mesocyclone looking northeast
3 miles west of Crowville.
A second round of severe weather developed
by early afternoon in the form of a broken squall line over northeast Texas.
Imbedded supercells formed. One developed a tornado in Rusk county.
The line advanced eastward dropping very heavy amounts of rain (2-4 inches)
with flash flooding. A supercell developed over Jackson parish and
moved east taking aim on the Monroe/West Monroe area around 5PM.
The skies turn quite dark. A photo of the storm's mesocyclone is
shown below.
Photo looking west 3 miles south of Richwood,
Louisiana. This storm pounded the Monroe/West Monroe area.
The mesocyclone can be seen here although no tornadic activity developed
with this storm.
Radar image of the storm as it moves over Monroe.
Image courtesy of Mike Ridgeway.