EF2 tornado in Acadia Parish, Louisiana

The Atwood Acres tornado touched down near the Interstate 10 and Highway 1121 intersection just northwest of Crowley, then moved north-northeast for 7 miles before ending just east of the Schule Road/Casanova Road intersection about 2 miles east of Maxie. The tornado first knocked down a few trees at a business along Interstate 10, with one tree falling on a car. Several trees were blown down behind some homes along Highway 1121 before more trees and a fence were blown down along Hensgen Road just west of Highway 13. The tornado crossed Highway 13 and caused roof damage to a home on the east side of the highway, before moving into the Atwood Acres subdivision. Here, the tornado caused major damage to 4 well-constructed homes and minor to moderate damage to approximately 26 other homes across the eastern half of the subdivision. One brick home completely lost its roof, with four family members inside receiving cuts and bruises, and three other homes received major damage to their roofs and walls. numerous trees, fences, and power lines were also blown down, with debris littering much of the subdivision and adjacent forests. The tornado continued northeastward and damaged another home just north of the subdivision, before passing through unaccessible forested areas. Several more trees were damagd at the Ellis Road/Parish Road 4-46 intersection. Curving more northward, the tornado moved generally along and just east of Ellis Road, with one barn destroyed at the intersection with Floyd Williams Road, and one oil storage tank blown down east of the Rifle Lane intersection. The final damage noted was to more trees near the Schule Road/Casanova Road intersection.

A powerful upper level storm system moved across the Southern Plains and Lower Mississippi Valley from Wednesday, December 23, 2009, through Thursday, December 24, 2009. Numerous showers and elevated thunderstorms, including some supercells, repeatedly developed and moved northward across much of southwest Louisiana and the northern Gulf of Mexico from late Wednesday evening into Thursday morning. As the main upper level system approached Louisiana early Thursday morning, a squall line developed across east Texas and moved rapidly eastward across Louisiana, causing several reports of wind damage in southern Louisiana. Meanwhile, some of the elevated supercells became surface-based and tracked north-northeastward across south-central and east-central Louisiana, spawning at least a dozen tornadoes. In addition, the widespread rainfall caused flooding in some of these same areas.

In total, at least 12 tornadoes affected portions of Vermilion, Acadia, St. Landry, Evangeline, and Avoyelles Parishes within a two hour timespan from 7-9 AM. Seven tornadoes affected Acadia Parish alone, the biggest single outbreak of tornadoes ever recorded in that parish. Three tornadoes were rated EF2, three were rated EF1, and six were rated EF0. Other tornadoes likely occurred that were reported by area residents but could not be confirmed by NWS storm surveys. These included a likely tornado just east of I-49 in extreme northeastern Evangeline Parish, a possible tornado about 8 miles southwest of Gueydan, and another east of Palmetto in far northeastern St. Landry Parish. This was the largest outbreak of tornadoes in the NWS Lake Charles county warning area since November 23, 2004.