EF2 tornado in St. Tammany Parish, Louisiana

Tornado February 7, 2017 · St. Tammany Parish, Louisiana

EF2

Rating

23.1 mi

Whole path

500 yd

Path width

Injuries

NOAA records this tornado county by county. Its path ran through Livingston Parish → Tangipahoa Parish → St. Tammany Parish; the totals above are for the whole tornado.

EF0EF1EF2EF3EF4EF5Unrated

The path drawn at its surveyed width of 500 yards (0.28 mi) — zoom in and the swath grows to true scale. Other tornadoes recorded nearby that day are shown faint.

What EF2 means. On the Enhanced Fujita scale, EF2 is considerable damage: roofs torn off well-built houses, mobile homes destroyed, large trees snapped or uprooted, consistent with estimated gusts of 111–135 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 tornado continued into St. Tammany Parish from Tangipahoa Parish. It moved in a generally east-northeast direction through uninhabited marsh until it reached the Guste Island area. By the time it reached this area, it had contracted from its maximum width of around 500 yards in Tangipahoa Parish back to around 350 yards. The tornado produced damage consistent with wind speeds around 125 mph as it crossed Chenier Road. It shifted a home from its concrete and rebar piers and caused extensive roof damage to the home. The tornado continued to move east-northeast and dissipated over a marshy area on the southwest side of Madisonville.

The wider storm

Severe thunderstorms developed ahead of an approaching cold front across southeast Louisiana, southern Mississippi, and the adjacent coastal waters.

Began near Houltonville (30.3871, -90.2435).

Other tornadoes from the same storm system

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

EF3 Orleans Parish EF3 Livingston Parish EF1 St. James Parish 1 dead EF1 Livingston Parish EF0 Jefferson Parish

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event 675309. Narratives are written by the National Weather Service forecast office that issued the report.

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