EF2 Tornado — Orleans, Louisiana

2007-02-13 · near New Orleans, Orleans, Louisiana

Event narrative

A tornado crossed the Mississippi River form Jefferson Parish and moved on a northerly course through portions of the Uptown and Carrollton areas with continuous damage noted. The damage path became isolated as the tornado appeared to turn more northeast with damage to a warehouse noted in the Mid City area. Significant damage was observed to houses and commercial structures. The roofs and portions of roofs were removed from a number of houses. The collapse of some exterior walls was also noted. The damage observed indicated an intensity in the mid to upper range of an EF 2 tornado on the Enhanced Fujita Scale with winds estimated to be in the 125-130 mph range.

Wider weather episode

Isolated supercell thunderstorms developed in the early morning hours over sections of southeast Louisiana well in advance of a squall line associated with a strong upper air storm system and cold front moving through the lower Mississippi Valley. These rogue rotating supercell storms produced tornadoes as well as large hail and isolated wind damage. A tornado in Jefferson Parish destroyed 23 houses and damaged 231 others. Tornadoes in Orleans Parish destroyed 32 houses and damaged 295 others.

View location on OpenStreetMap → (29.8970, -90.1530)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 16783. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.