Thunderstorm Wind in Claiborne Parish, Louisiana

Multiple trees and power lines were downed throughout Claiborne Parish, including near and north of the Athens area.

The upper level ridge of high pressure began to drift west of the region into Texas by July 31st, allowing for a north-northwest flow aloft to transition over the area. This pattern allowed a weak disturbance aloft to slide southeast into Southwest Arkansas, Northeast Texas, and North Louisiana during peak heating, where strong instability still developed given the extreme heating and available moisture in place. As a result, scattered strong to severe thunderstorms developed across the region during the afternoon, producing multiple reports of damaging winds which downed trees and power lines across portions of North Louisiana. These storms eventually diminished during the evening with the loss of heating and instability.