EF2 tornado in St. Tammany Parish, Louisiana

The beginning of a long-lived EF-2 tornado developed near Pearl River, LA near the intersection of US Highway 11 and LA Highway 41 where numerous tree branches were snapped and tossed east. A combination of high resolution satellite and radar imagery analysis indicated that this tornado quickly grew in size and intensity after it crossed Interstate 59. Widespread tree damage could be seen on true color satellite imagery growing to a damage path as wide as 300 yards over the Pearl River Basin. Extensive wind damage could be seen extending outward half a mile south of the tornado path as the tornado approached the Louisiana-Mississippi border. Damage to a metal outbuilding was observed after the tornado crossed into Stennis Space Center. This began a very complex interaction of tornado dissipation and genesis around southern Stennis where the damage path of this tornado abruptly ends.

A strong upper level disturbance, surface low, and cold front produced a line of severe thunderstorms that pushed across Southeast Louisiana and Southern Mississippi in the morning and early afternoon hours of Wednesday, April 10, 2024. The line of severe thunderstorms produced strong straight line winds, extensive flash flooding in the New Orleans metro area and several tornadoes. The strongest tornado was an EF-2 tornado that impacted the city of Slidell in St. Tammany Parish, LA on the morning of the 10th. 7 tornadoes have been confirmed from this event. 4 of those 7 touched down and tracked across just the city of Slidell. At one point, as many as 3 of those 7 were on the ground at the same time. These tornadoes have been determined to range in strength from EFU to EF2 after NWS storm surveys and high resolution satellite analysis were conducted.