Thunderstorm Wind — Morehouse, Louisiana

2023-06-16 · near Marcarco, Morehouse, Louisiana

Event narrative

Trees and power lines were blown down in a swath across central portions of the parish including some which fell onto LA Highway 139 and US Highway 165.

Wider weather episode

During the afternoon and evening of June 15th, an upper-level disturbance triggered a cluster of thunderstorms along a stationary front boundary around the Texas and Oklahoma border. These storms intensified and grew upscale into an intense mesoscale convective system (MCS) as they moved east-southeast along an axis of increased moisture and strong instability that extended toward the Central Gulf Coast. As the MCS moved into central Louisiana with a bow and arrow structure, it exhibited an unusually intense rear-inflow jet with velocities as high as 85 to 90 mph between 10,000 feet to 15,000 feet above the ground, as viewed by the KDGX NEXRAD site. A wide swath of significant severe wind gusts at the surface caused widespread wind damage including snapped and uprooted trees, downed tree limbs and power lines, and damage to homes and other structures. Surveys of the wind damage indicated that peak wind gusts of 90 to 100 mph likely occurred in the most intense portions of the line. Power outages in portions of the area continued for several days following these and other storms that occurred during the middle of June.

View location on OpenStreetMap → (32.7400, -92.0300)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 1150069. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.