Thunderstorms Across the Southeast U.S.; Elevated to Locally Critical Fire Weather in Colorado

A few strong to marginally severe thunderstorms are possible across the Southeast U.S. Friday. A Marginal Risk (Level 1 of 5) outlook has been issued. Strong winds and hail will be the main threats. Elevated to locally critical fire weather conditions will persist across south-central Colorado today due to dry conditions and gusty winds. Read More >

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Overview

Thunderstorms are nearly a daily occurrence in our region during the summer months. Rich tropical moisture and the summer-time heat provided a great deal of instability to support thunderstorm development. These storms are almost purely driven by daytime heating and will quickly dissipate as the atmosphere cools after sunset. Typically, these thunderstorms are not well organized, and any severe weather is usually in the form of damaging straight-line winds. Southerly surface winds will usually bring a sea breeze front northward from the Gulf of Mexico, which can provide a focus for thunderstorm development.

During the overnight and early morning hours of September 2, a large and organized thunderstorm complex developed along the Kansas/Oklahoma state line. Rain-cooled hour rushed outward away from this complex and formed an outflow boundary. This outflow travelled southeast-wards towards the Four State Area over the next several hours.

Scattered thunderstorms began to develop by noon on September 2. During the peak of the thunderstorm activity, the southeast-ward moving outflow boundary converged with the northward-moving sea breeze front. This microscale interaction resulted in a local enhancement of low-level wind shear within an already strong thunderstorm. This aided in the development of a tornado that affected portions of De Soto and Red River Parishes.

The most notable damage with this tornado occurred at the International Paper Plant northeast of Mansfield, LA. Numerous trees were snapped, a vehicle was flipped in the plant's parking lot, and metal walls and roofs were peeled back on some of the plant's buildings. Cell phone video taken by plant workers and shown on local television stations clearly showed the tornado. Meteorologists from the National Weather Service office in Shreveport surveyed the damage and rated the tornado and EF-1 with peak wind speeds near 95 mph.

TOTAL TORNADO COUNT = 1

EF1 = 1

Tornado Table

Graphics

Damage Map

TOR. #	START POINT	END POINT	RATING	PEAK WIND	START TIME	END TIME	LENGTH/ WIDTH	FATALITIES/ INJURIES	REMARKS
#1	11 miles NE of Mansfield, De Soto Parish, LA	10 miles WSW of Hall Summit, Red River Parish, LA	EF1	95 mph	2:09pm CDT	2:24pm CDT	5 miles/ 350 yards	None	This tornado began on La Coupe Road approx. 11 miles northeast of Mansfield, LA. It peeled back the metal roof of a barn and snapped numerous large tree limbs. The tornado moved on and struck the International Paper Plant where portions of metal walls and roofs were peeled back, several trees were snapped, one car was flipped, and numerous car windows were blown out. The tornado continued east across Sample Road before entering western Red River Parish. This tornado tracked across mainly open pasture north of Highway 509 snapping several trees as it crossed Highway 1. The tornado lifted just east of Highway 1 before crossing the Red River.

KSHV radar loop of the tornado with images of reflectivity (left) and storm-relative velocities (right).

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Thunderstorms Across the Southeast U.S.; Elevated to Locally Critical Fire Weather in Colorado

September 2, 2014: Tornado Northeast of Mansfield, LA