Marine Thunderstorm Wind — Lake Ponchartrain and Lake Maurepas, Gulf of Mexico

2025-05-07 · near New Canal Station (nwcl1), Lake Ponchartrain and Lake Maurepas, Gulf of Mexico

Event narrative

The New Canal NOS gauge measured a thunderstorm wind gust of 43 mph or 37 knots.

Wider weather episode

A generally stalled front had been the focal point for showers and thunderstorms for a couple days by the early morning of May 7th. A Mesoscale Convective vortex began to develop on the western edge of the shield of convection moving east across the southwestern Louisiana coastline. As these storms reached the New Orleans metro, a wake low developing on the back side of the rain shield began to enhance the intensity of downdrafts from this storm. Surface observations confirmed both pressure rises right as the MCS reached the city and quick drops in pressure post event. What happened in between that was a swath of widespread severe winds across the local marine waters.

View location on OpenStreetMap → (30.0300, -90.1100)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 1260076. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.