EF2 tornado in Winn Parish, Louisiana

The National Weather Service conducted a storm survey in Winn Parish and found evidence of an EF2 tornado. Maximum winds are estimated at 110-120 mph in the tornado. This tornado was a continuation of the tornado that first touched down in Natchitoches Parish earlier. The tornado crossed over the Red River into Winn Parish and took on more of an easterly track along Harrisonburg Road snapping and uprooting trees. The heaviest damage occurred near the community of Wheeling where the tornado grew to nearly half mile across and snapped nearly all the trees in its path. Several homes were severely damaged along Harrisonburg Road including a trailer which was flipped and destroyed. The tornado continued east crossing Hwy. 34 snapping trees and powerlines. The tornado knocked trees onto Hwy. 471 before lifting east of Hwy. 471.

A very volatile atmosphere developed during the late afternoon...evening and overnight hours of April 26th across the Four State Region. An area of low pressure moved from the Texas Hill Country into Northeast Texas during the afternoon. Meanwhile, a warm front had moved northward from central Louisiana and was oriented west to east near the Arkansas/Louisiana state line. A dry line had moved just east of the I-35 corridor of North Central Texas and a strong cold front trailed the dry line. Very strong speed and directional shear was noted in the low and mid levels of the atmosphere such that supercells developed. Many of these produced tornadoes across the region. Other storms produced strong straight line wind gusts with bowing segments and large hail.