EF3 Tornado — Rapides, Louisiana

2019-12-16 · near Hineston, Rapides, Louisiana

Event narrative

The tornado moved into Rapides Parish from Vernon Parish crossing Highway 121 as an EF1. Large branches were snapped off. The tornado was about 230 yards wide as it crossed Hwy 1199 and Clint Louis Road. The tornado continued to uproot or snap trees and at this point was about 8 miles southwest of Alexandria.

The tornado strengthened again briefly to an EF3 as it began entering the western part of the Alexandria area. Mobile homes, warehouses, and homes on slabs were all heavily damaged or destroyed in the Ross Lane and Hwy 128 locations. A recreational baseball park was destroyed as well as a Chevron Gas station. The tornado then weakened to an EF2 as it moved further east into the Cloverleaf Blvd and Larkspur Drive residential areas. Trees were uprooted onto homes and carports with a few homes with significant roof structure damage noted.

The tornado continued to weaken to an EF1 as it move east tossing or turning over travel trailers at the Cenla RV Center. The tornado then moved across the Red River snapping the tops of trees at Highway 165 and Rainbow Drive. Finally, the tornado moved to Edgewood Drive where trees were snapped and home damage occurred as very tall pine trees were snapped or uprooted and fell onto several homes. The tornado then moved further east where it quickly weakened and dissipated. Max estimated winds in Rapides Parish was 158 MPH. Roughly 575 structures were damaged.

Wider weather episode

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

View location on OpenStreetMap → (31.1284, -92.8285)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 869483. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.