Cold/Wind Chill — Caddo, Louisiana

2021-02-14 to 2021-02-16 · Caddo, Louisiana

Wider weather episode

On the heels of the first significant winter storm to affect all of the Southern Plains and much of the Lower Mississippi Valley, where widespread snow ranged from 2-8 inches across North Louisiana on February 14th-15th, temperatures plunged to near historic values by the morning of the 16th, as readings fell well into the single digits above zero across most areas, with a few locations falling below zero. Strong north winds during and in wake of the winter storm also resulted in extremely low wind chills from the 14th through midday on the 16th, which fell to as low as -10F. As a result, a Wind Chill Advisory was issued for all of North Louisiana during this time. In all, temperatures remained below freezing (32F) across much of North Louisiana for 3-5 days, before finally climbing back above freezing on February 18th-19th.

Here are the lowest temperatures recorded at various locations in North Louisiana on February 16th: (Please note that low clouds lingered over portions of Union, Ouachita, and Caldwell Parishes throughout the early morning hours of the 16th, which kept temperatures in the middle teens and thus, were not included here.)

Caddo Parish: Blanchard: 0F, 6 N Stonewall: 1F, Shreveport Regional Airport: 1F, Shreveport Southern Hills: 2F, 1 N Mooringsport: 2F, 12 W Hall Summit: 2F.

Bossier Parish: Plain Dealing: -1F, 3 S Plain Dealing: 1F, Barksdale Air Force Base: 2F, Haughton: 2F, 4 N Bossier City: 2F, Shreveport Downtown Airport: 3F.

Desoto Parish: Mansfield: 3F.

Webster Parish: Minden: 1F.

Bienville Parish: Bienville: -1F.

Claiborne Parish: 1 N Homer: 0F, Caney: 1F.

Lincoln Parish: Ruston Regional Airport: 11F.

Natchitoches Parish: Natchitoches: 3F.

Grant Parish: Dry Prong: 10F, Catahoula: 10F.

La Salle Parish: Tullos: 10F, Jena: 12F.

During this historic winter blast, the Monroe Regional Airport (Ouachita Parish) observed 142 consecutive hours where temperatures remained at or below freezing (from Feb. 13th-19th), which set an all-time record for such temperatures. The Shreveport Regional Airport (Caddo Parish) observed 111 consecutive hours where temperatures remained at or below freezing (from Feb. 14th-18th), which ranked as the 7th longest duration with such temperatures.

In addition, the Shreveport Regional Airport shattered a record low temperature on the 16th, falling to 1F and surpassing the previous record low temperature of 20F set back in 1903.

The record cold led to widespread water main breaks and major pipe bursts across much of the area, cutting off water for many communities for up to a week and leading to Boil Water Advisories for several weeks in some communities. Recovery during the event was hampered further as treacherous roads slowed recovery crews from fixing water main breaks.

Unfortunately, one fatality was reported in Caddo Parish when a homeless man died of exposure in Downtown Shreveport on the night of February 15th.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 938856. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.