Thursday's Severe Weather produces tornadoes in Acadiana...

Good morning on this Friday. Aside from mostly cloudy, an occasional sprinkle inland, and showers in the coastal parishes a much quieter weather day is in store in the wake of our late season cool front which passed through overnight.

All year it seems many areas of the country's mid-section have been getting ravaged by severe weather, and we've been fortunate down here the few times we've had a threat this year. Thursday's storms resulted in the most severe day weather wise in SW Louisiana this year. Damage reports were spread out across the area, but by far the worst of the damage was in Acadiana.

About 6:15 Thursday morning a Tornado Warning was issued for Lafayette Parish including the city of Lafayette itself. This was as a line of Westward moving thunderstorms merged with an individual thunderstorm that had developed in Vermilion Parish and was moving NE. The storm showed signs of rotation, and it was evident that a tornado was possible with the storm as it moved through the Lafayette area. Reports of damage in and around Lafayette starting trickling in about 7a.m.

The National Weather Service in Lake Charles sent a team out to Lafayette to survey the damage in the hardest hit areas of the city. Their findings thus far indicate 2 tornadoes touched down in the Lafayette vicinity Thursday, but there's a few more areas to investigate today.

Here's what the Weather Service determined in their storm survey Thursday afternoon:

The first tornado touched down in Northern Vermilion Parish about 4 miles West of the town of Maurice. It had a path length of about 2 miles, and was 25 yards wide. It was rated an EF0 on the Enhanced Fujita Tornado scale. This tornado had winds between 65-85 mph. A few trees were toppled producing minor damage to some outbuildings. A Mobile Home park had several homes receive minor damage along with some of their outbuildings or carports being destroyed.

The second and stronger tornado touched down in the heart of Lafayette in the area around the Oil Center at 6:40a.m. It had a path length of 1 mile, and was about 100 yards wide. It's EF-scale rating was an EF1. An EF-1 has winds of 86-110 mph. Several buildings in the Oil Center sustained significant roof damage. Flying debris caused some windows to be knocked out in a few buildings. Trees were uprooted and power lines downed in the area as well. Thankfully, no injuries or deaths resulted from these tornadoes.

There were other reports of tornadoes Thursday that have yet to be confirmed by the Weather Service. The other tornadoes that might have occurred are all in Lafayette or Vermilion Parish. A tornado may have touched down near the town of Gueydan in Vermilion Parish knocking off the roof to 2 homes there, as well as some large oak trees. Another tornado may have occurred in the Scott area. A power pole was pulled out of the ground, and some homes were damaged in the Western Lafayette Parish community. Yet, another possible tornado occurred near Abbeville. This possible tornado caused damage to trees and buildings between the small towns of Perry and Esther.

Damage was widespread in the St. Martin Parish community of Breaux Bridge. It hasn't been confirmed yet if this was from another tornado or if it was via straight line winds. Unfortunately, the storm resulted in one injury. An occupant of a home was injured was the home was blown off its cinder blocks. A couple of buildings in town received heavy damage, and another home has its roof blown off. Much of this area will likely be investigated by NWS storm survey teams today.

While no tornadoes were reported here across SW Louisiana, we still had our fair share of damage reports. All the reports from our area where wind damage. Some trees fell across the area including Starks, DeQuincy, Moss Bluff, Kinder, and Oakdale. Some large tree limbs were downed in Sulphur, and 50 miles winds were reported at the airport in Lake Charles. The high winds associated with the thunderstorms caused a trailer to overturn just West of DeRidder. Damage with these storms reached as far as Alexandria with some downed trees reported in that vicinity as well.

A severe weather outbreak in mid-May isn't uncommon around SW Louisiana. It is near the end of our typical severe weather season around here as we transition into our usual summer pattern. While Thursday certainly was a rough weather day for many, it doesn't hail in comparison to most of the severe weather and tornado outbreaks experienced to our North so far in 2008.

This severe weather was caused by a slow moving storm system that had produced severe weather since Tuesday. Large hail was reported with a thunderstorm that moved from Beauregard Parish and intensified north of Lafayette in St. Landry Parish. Golf-ball sized hail was reported in parts of St. Landry Parish, and an incredible report of baseball-sized hail was reported at Erwinville in West Baton Rouge Parish on Wednesday.

To better understand the magnitude of Thursday's tornadoes in Acadiana here's a complete breakdown of the Enhanced Fujita scale. The Enhanced Fujita scale has been used to measure the intensity of a tornado since February of 2007. The scale is divided into 6 categories:

EF0- 65-85 mph  (Gale)
EF1- 86-110 mph (Weak)
EF2- 111-135 mph  (Strong)
EF3- 136-165 mph (Severe)
EF4- 166-200 mph (Devastating)
EF5- 200+mph (Incredible)

Most tornadoes in SW Louisiana usually fall between an EF0 and EF2 rating, but there have been a couple of EF3's in the past. Although extremely rare, EF4 and EF5 tornadoes can and have occurred in Louisiana before. There has never been an EF4 or EF5 in SW Louisiana. Although, an EF4 (F4...before the new scale in 2007) tornado in Orange County, TX in November of 1957 did approach SW Louisiana before dissipating near the Sabine River. An EF5 tornado occurred in the town of Delhi in Northern Louisiana in February 1971. The larger tornadoes are extremely rare in Louisiana due to our close proximity to the Gulf of Mexico.

One other note about most tornadoes in SW Louisiana...there are usually rain-wrapped. That is, the tornado may likely not be visible because of the heavy rainfall associated with the thunderstorm. It is unusual, but can happen, that we see a tornado that is clearly visible without rain falling similar to those in the Great Plains. It is also very common that the greatest number of tornadoes that occurs in Louisiana during a given year were associated with tropical systems. For example, Hurricane Rita caused an unknown number of spin-off tornadoes across the area, and resulted in the largest single tornado outbreak in the United States that year.

Tornadoes can and have occurred in any month of the year in the Bayou State. It is essential to have a plan of action for your family at home and at work as well should a tornado threaten.

More updates on the Thursday, May 15, 2008 tornado outbreak to follow as more information becomes available from the National Weather Service.