EF1 Tornado — Terrebonne, Louisiana

2023-01-24 · near Houma, Terrebonne, Louisiana

Event narrative

A brief tornado touched down near Holley Street and moved quickly northeast. A RV that was not tied down was flipped here along with minor fence damage. Farther northeast, a large piece of roof was removed from a house along with a barn shifted and damaged. A house to the north also had minor damage. Around this, debris was thrown in all directions as well as evidence on the ground of debris digging in and being dragged. This path was extended through the support of high resolution satellite imagery NDVI differencing which provided evidence of damage to vegetation on a path cutting through the marsh before concluding after the tornado crossed Highway 90.

Wider weather episode

A strong upper level trough ejected over the Southern Plains which caused rapid surface cyclogenesis to occur in southeast Texas. This surface low traversed across central and northern Louisiana. The rapid development of the surface low gave way to very high shear values, and with enough instability, a line of thunderstorms formed along its cold front. A couple of brief tornadoes occurred with the line in Pointe Coupee and Terrebonne Parishes. The Pointe Coupee Parish tornado resulted in 3 injuries. Otherwise, damaging wind gusts were noted with the line due to the extreme shear. The line exited southeast Louisiana in the early morning hours of the 25th.

View location on OpenStreetMap → (29.6677, -90.7027)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 1077276. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.