EF1 Tornado — Madison, Louisiana

2022-03-30 · near Talla Bena, Madison, Louisiana

Event narrative

This tornado started on the south side of Tallulah near Mississippi Street and Clinton Street and tracked northeast. Initial damage was a combination of downed or damaged trees along with several homes having minor to moderate roof damage from shingle loss. One home had a large tree through it. Intensity increased quickly as the tornado crossed Johnson Street and moved into the area of Tallulah Academy and the ballpark. The school took a direct hit with a large section of the roof taken off and some peeled back. While the outer walls remained intact, damage was noted on the eastern side of the building. Along Wood Street, several mobile homes were damaged with one heavily damaged from being pushed off the blocks. Other homes on the south side of the street sustained various degrees of roof damage along with downed power lines. The ballpark took a direct hit, and several metal buildings there were heavily damaged. Also, large sections of fencing were torn down. The tornado continued across Silver Cross Cemetery where more trees were downed, and the brick archway was demolished. The tornado then moved across an open field as it approached the south side of Tallulah Airport. In the field, 12 power poles were taken down. Further down across Airport Road, an irrigation pivot system was flipped. As the tornado crossed

Thomastown Road, several trees were damaged and a large metal tractor shed was demolished. The tornado then continued across open fields and crossed the Mississippi River where tree damage was noted on either side. The tornado then continued into the Eagle Lake community. Multiple structures were damaged in the 1500-1700 blocks with a metal roof blown off and metal structures damaged. Multiple trees were downed along with power lines. Damage to trees was noted on the tree line as the tornado moved into the wooded area then dissipated. Total path length was 17.3 miles, and peak winds were 115 mph.

Wider weather episode

A strong weather system interacted with an unstable airmass to bring widespread severe weather to the region. There was copious amounts of wind energy in the atmosphere ahead of the squall line to bring down trees and power lines from gradient winds. In addition, damaging winds and tornadoes occurred within the squall line as it moved through Louisiana, Arkansas and Mississippi.

View location on OpenStreetMap → (32.4870, -91.0280)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 1051606. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.