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EF1 tornado in Jefferson Parish, Louisiana

Tornado April 27, 2015 · Jefferson Parish, Louisiana

EF1
Rating
0.6 mi
Path length
50 yd
Path width
EF0EF1EF2EF3EF4EF5Unrated

The path drawn at its surveyed width of 50 yards (0.03 mi) — zoom in and the swath grows to true scale. Other tornadoes recorded nearby that day are shown faint.

What EF1 means. On the Enhanced Fujita scale, EF1 is moderate damage: roofs badly stripped, mobile homes pushed off foundations or overturned, windows broken, consistent with estimated gusts of 86–110 mph. The rating comes from a survey of the worst damage after the storm, not from a wind measurement, so it says as much about what the tornado hit as about how strong it was.

What the National Weather Service wrote

A weak tornado., along the leading edge of a squall line, touched down at the levee of Duncan Canal north of West Esplanade Avenue. Two wooden power poles were bent near an apartment complex. The storm tracked to the east-southeast with mainly light tree damage, and one area of light roof damage on Grandlake Boulevard. The tornado then crossed Canal Number 17, and lifted the roof off of the back porch of a house on Tulane Drive. On the opposite side of Tulane Drive, another house had a small portion of its roof ripped off. The tornado continued to the east-southeast and crossed West Louisiana State Drive and bent over one wooden power pole, and snapped a second one. The tornado then uprooted a hardwood tree in front of a house on West Loyola. The most significant damage occurred at the corner of Loyola and West Esplanade, where multiple wooden power poles and a few trees were snapped. The tornado then quickly lifted as it crossed West Esplanade. In addition to the tornado, sporadic light tree damage occurred south of the track. A large portion of the facade of a hotel on the corner of Loyola and the Interstate 10 Service Road was damaged due to straight line winds.

The wider storm

A strong upper level low over the southern Rockies aided in the development of surface low pressure over north Texas on the 26th. As this low moved east along a stationary front over Louisiana and Mississippi, a strong line of thunderstorms developed during the early morning hours of the 27th. This line of storms moved rapidly across southeast Louisiana during the daylight hours of the 27th. Numerous reports of thunderstorm wind damage were received, primarily downed trees and power lines. Several meso-cyclones embedded in the southern potion of the squall line spawned weak tornadoes.

Began near Moisant Arpt (30.0254, -90.2789).

Other tornadoes from the same storm system

4 more tornadoes the National Weather Service filed under this storm episode.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event 564645. Narratives are written by the National Weather Service forecast office that issued the report.

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