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F3 tornado in La Salle Parish, Louisiana

Tornado November 23, 2004 · La Salle Parish, Louisiana

F3
Rating
15.0 mi
Whole path
300 yd
Path width
1
Death
20
Injuries
$5.8M
Damage as recorded

NOAA records this tornado county by county. Its path ran through La Salle Parish → Caldwell Parish; the totals above are for the whole tornado.

EF0EF1EF2EF3EF4EF5Unrated

The path drawn at its surveyed width of 300 yards (0.17 mi) — zoom in and the swath grows to true scale. Other tornadoes recorded nearby that day are shown faint.

What F3 means. This tornado was rated on Fujita’s original scale, used until 2007. F3 meant severe damage: whole stories of well-built houses destroyed, large buildings badly damaged, trains overturned; the scale paired it with winds of 158–206 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 SUPERCELL THUNDERSTORM MOVED INTO EXTREME NORTHWEST LA SALLE PARISH AND TRACKED TOWARDS THE TOWN OF OLLA. THE TRACK BEGAN ON THE SOUTH SIDE OF OLLA AND TRACKED NORTHEAST FOR 3 MILES TOWARDS THE LA SALLE/CALDWELL PARISH LINE. THE LA SALLE PARISH HIGH SCHOOL SUSTAINED SIGNIFICANT ROOF DAMAGE WHERE THE TORNADO WAS RATED A LOW END F2. THE DAMAGE PATH EXTENDED INTO THE MIDDLE OF OLLA WERE NUMEROUS HOMES SUSTAINED SEVERE DAMAGE. SOME HOMES LOST THE ROOF...EXTERIOR WALLS AND A FEW INTERIOR WALLS. THE TORNADO WAS RATED AN F3 AT THIS LOCATION. ACROSS THE NORTHEAST PART OF TOWN...5 MOBILE HOMES WERE COMPLETELY DESTROYED AND A PICKUP WAS LAUNCHED 200 FEET AND SMASHED UPSIDE DOWN. IN THE COMMUNITY OF STANDARD...4 HOMES AND A STORE WERE DESTROYED. THE TORNADO WAS RATED AN F3 AT THIS LOCATION. TOTAL DAMAGE CONSISTED OF MINOR TO MAJOR DAMAGE TO 106 HOMES AND THE HIGH SCHOOL.

Began near Olla (31.8833, -92.2500).

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event 5432590. Narratives are written by the National Weather Service forecast office that issued the report.

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