EF1 tornado in St. James Parish, Louisiana

An NWS Storm Survey team determined that an EF-1 tornado with peak winds of 105 mph embedded in a line of storms touched down just north of the Ascension/Assumption Parish line shortly after midnight on February 15th. This tornado started by snapping large branches and uprooting a tree on Te Nom Landry Rd and Highway 308 south. It continued moving east-northeast over open fields until reaching the intersection of Highway 3089 and Highway 70. Here, the tornado strengthened to EF-1 intensity where a power pole and tree trunk were snapped. This tornado maintained intensity as it continued moving to the east-northeast where it snapped a series of powerlines off of Baxter Rd on the south side of the CF Industries complex. The tornado then started to intensify to peak intensity as it crossed into St. James Parish while moving through mainly open fields before it hit a series of powerlines in an open field, snapping 4 lines. It maintained strength as it crossed another open field along Badger Rd before snapping another series of powerlines along Highway 18. The tornado appeared to weaken as it continued to move east-northeast across the Mississippi River. When the tornado reached Highway 3125, it partially snapped/bent another powerline. The tornado then moved into the marsh north of Highway 3025 before reaching Highway 61 where it uprooted another tree. The last damage point for this tornado is along I-10 where it snapped more large branches.

A line of strong to severe thunderstorms developed during the evening of February 14, 2026, ahead of a cold front and moved eastward across southeast Louisiana and southern Mississippi overnight, maintaining organization as a QLCS with embedded circulations. The environment featured a moist and unstable airmass with increasing low-level shear, supporting the development of multiple brief tornadoes and widespread damaging winds. The first impacts occurred across southwest Mississippi late in the evening where several EF-1 tornadoes caused numerous snapped and uprooted trees, downed powerlines, and minor structural damage. As the line progressed into southeast Louisiana between late evening and the early overnight hours, additional EF-0 and EF-1 tornadoes were confirmed across East Feliciana, Ascension, St. James, Tangipahoa, Washington, Lafourche, and St. Tammany Parishes, generally producing tree damage with localized impacts to homes and infrastructure, including roof damage, a flipped RV, and snapped power poles. Widespread straight-line winds accompanied the convective line, with gusts frequently reaching 50 to 60 mph, resulting in numerous reports of downed trees, broken limbs, minor structural damage, and isolated industrial impacts, including damage to a fiberglass cooling tower in Ascension Parish. The line continued east into coastal Mississippi during the early morning hours of February 15, producing additional brief tornadoes and wind damage, while marine observations across adjacent coastal waters recorded thunderstorm wind gusts generally between 35 and 45 knots with isolated higher values.