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EF3 tornado in Vernon Parish, Louisiana

Tornado December 16, 2019 · Vernon Parish, Louisiana

EF3

Rating

62.6 mi

Whole path

550 yd

Path width

Death

$25.0M

Damage as recorded

NOAA records this tornado county by county. Its path ran through Beauregard Parish → Vernon Parish → Rapides Parish; the totals above are for the whole tornado.

EF0EF1EF2EF3EF4EF5Unrated

The path drawn at its surveyed width of 550 yards (0.31 mi) — zoom in and the swath grows to true scale. Other tornadoes recorded nearby that day are shown faint.

What EF3 means. On the Enhanced Fujita scale, EF3 is severe damage: whole stories of well-built houses destroyed, large buildings badly damaged, trains overturned, consistent with estimated gusts of 136–165 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 in Beauregard Parish and moved into Vernon Parish near the intersection of John Brewer and Borel Roads as an EF3 with winds estimated at 152 MPH. A fatality occurred on Borel Road as the tornado passed around 11:18 am CST. Extensive damage occurred to well built homes as well as mobile homes. This developing long track tornado continued moving northeast crossing Churchman Road where it ripped large open areas off home roofs. Winds were estimated at 135 mph. The tornado moved across forest areas of the southeast part of the Fort Polk Army Base. The tornado crossed into the east central part of Vernon Parish where trees and several homes were damaged around the Sandhill and Coral Roads area with winds estimated at 74 to 107 mph. The tornado moved in Rapides Parish 1 mile south of Highway 121. Roughly 26 structures were damaged along the path.

The wider storm

A cold front pushed across Louisiana with showers and storms ahead of the boundary. A couple storms produce tornadoes with one being long tracked.

Began near Rosepine (30.8832, -93.2135).

Other tornadoes from the same storm system

1 more tornado the National Weather Service filed under this storm episode.

EF2 Rapides Parish

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event 869482. Narratives are written by the National Weather Service forecast office that issued the report.

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