Hail — Ascension, Louisiana

2024-02-12 · near Prairieville, Ascension, Louisiana

Event narrative

Ping pong ball sized hail reported in Prairieville.

Wider weather episode

By mid-afternoon on February 11th, an upper level trough over the Texas Panhandle was moving eastward. A cold front associated with this feature was moving east through Texas, eventually across southern Louisiana and Mississippi. As a warm front lifted north ahead of the approaching cold front, low level temps and moisture jumped up which substantially increased buoyancy. Afternoon and evening upper air soundings at KLIX showed ample instability and wind shear that was more than sufficient for convective development. Modest moisture in the atmospheric column was enough to support scattered to numerous thunderstorms but not so high that it would just be a heavy rain event. Lift from the cold front as it moved through the local area combined with the instability and shear resulted in multiple severe thunderstorms. The strongest storm produced hail up to 2 inches in diameter.

View location on OpenStreetMap → (30.3000, -90.9700)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 1162318. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.