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F1 tornado in Iberia Parish, Louisiana

Tornado January 4, 2007 · Iberia Parish, Louisiana

Rating

15.1 mi

Path length

100 yd

Path width

Deaths

Injuries

$1.5M

Damage as recorded

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The path drawn at its surveyed width of 100 yards (0.06 mi) — zoom in and the swath grows to true scale. Other tornadoes recorded nearby that day are shown faint.

What F1 means. This tornado was rated on Fujita’s original scale, used until 2007. F1 meant moderate damage: roofs badly stripped, mobile homes pushed off foundations or overturned, windows broken; the scale paired it with winds of 73–112 mph, figures later judged too high, especially toward the top of the scale, and revised downward in the Enhanced Fujita scale. Ratings then, as now, came from the damage.

What the National Weather Service wrote

A tornado struck at 3:45 pm near the town of Lydia, causing minor damage to trees and barns. As the tornado raced northward at close to 50 mph, it strengthened to what would later be classified as a strong F1 on the Fujita Tornado Scale, with winds approximated near 110 mph. In the area of Neco Town Road and US 90, between Lydia and New Iberia, three mobile homes were flipped and completely destroyed. Seven people, including children, were able to crawl out of their homes with only minor injuries.

Upon crossing Highway 90, the storm destroyed another mobile home, fatally injuring two occupants and severely injuring 3 other people. As the storm got to LA 674 (East Admiral Doyle Drive), several brick homes received major damage. The storm continued north to the eastern fringe of New Iberia, heavily damaging several brick homes in the Bellaire subdivision. The tornado finally dissipated around 3:52 pm near Loreauville.

The wider storm

As a low pressure system in the northwest Gulf of Mexico moved inland over south central Louisiana, environmental parameters briefly lined up to produce a deadly tornado in New Iberia.

Began near Lydia (29.9190, -91.7980).

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event 13767. Narratives are written by the National Weather Service forecast office that issued the report.

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