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EF2 tornado in Rapides Parish, Louisiana

Tornado April 2, 2017 · Rapides Parish, Louisiana

EF2
Rating
6.1 mi
Path length
800 yd
Path width
$250K
Damage as recorded
EF0EF1EF2EF3EF4EF5Unrated

The path drawn at its surveyed width of 800 yards (0.45 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

The tornado began near Bayou Clear and moved north across Bayou

Clear Road where 4 homes were damaged by falling trees. The tornado continued

north across Castor Plunge Road where it reached its maximum width of around

half a mile. Many pine trees were snapped or uprooted. The tornado dissipated

near Bayou Boeuf. Most of the path was in the Kisatchie National Forest. This

tornado was seen and filmed by many people in the area. The maximum wind speed was estimated at 120 MPH.

The wider storm

A cold front and upper trough pushed through the region with severe storms ahead of the system. The very soupy air mass also produced high amounts of rainfall that lead to flooding.

Began near Woodworth Arpt (31.1255, -92.5368).

Other tornadoes from the same storm system

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

EF1 St. Martin Parish 2 deadEF1 Rapides ParishEF1 Rapides ParishEF1 Lafayette ParishEF0 Rapides Parish

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event 695076. Narratives are written by the National Weather Service forecast office that issued the report.

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