Tornado, Lafayette
- When
- November 21, 10:50 AM CST to 11:00 AM CST
- Where
- Lafayette County, Lafayette
- Rating
- F1
- Path length
- 3 mi
- Path width
- 200 yd
- Injuries
- 1 direct, 0 indirect
- Property damage
- $3.5 million
- Coordinates
- 30.220, -92.020
Tornado in Louisiana, November 21, 1997
An F1 tornado touched down in northern sections of the city of Lafayette, near Interstate 10, between Poplar Street and Hebert Road. Three permanent homes were destoyed, 12 had major damage, and another 22 had minor damage.
Where it happened
Every event with a place to put it. Tap one for its entry below.
- Tornadoes
- Tropical storms and surge
- Floods
- Wind
- Hail
- Winter weather
- Heat and drought
- Cold
- Fire, smoke and dust
- Marine and coastal
- Other
The toll
- Deaths
- 0
- Injuries
- 1
- Property damage
- $3.5 million
- Crop damage
- None recorded
- Events
- 1
Deaths and injuries are direct and indirect together, as the offices filed them. Damage is property and crops in the dollars of the year, not adjusted for inflation, and only where an office estimated it.
What happened
The episode as NWS LCH wrote it up.
An F1 tornado touched down in northern sections of the city of Lafayette, near Interstate 10, between Poplar Street and Hebert Road. Three permanent homes were destoyed, 12 had major damage, and another 22 had minor damage. There were also two mobile homes that were destroyed, four with major damage, and eight with minor damage. The Lafayette Utilities System power plant received the most damage, where over 3.0 million dollars worth of damages occurred when two water coolers were destroyed. This tornado first touched down in a mobile home park, then hit the power plant, followed by a residential area. Fortunately, only one injury occurred. A woman in one of the mobile homes destroyed was treated at a local hospital for a concussion.
The radar
The Lake Charles radar (KLCH), 115 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 16:50 UTC.
Event by event
1 tornado. Local standard time, as filed.
What these are
- Tornado
- A violently rotating column of air in contact with the ground and extending from a thunderstorm, filed with its path, width and Fujita or Enhanced Fujita rating from the damage survey.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
The same day elsewhere
- Tornadoes and Hail in Louisiana, November 21, 1997
- Tornado in Alabama, November 21, 1997
- Tornadoes and Hail in Mississippi, November 21, 1997
- Tornadoes and Hail in Georgia, November 21, 1997
- Tornado in Alabama, November 21, 1997
- Damaging Wind in Florida, November 21, 1997
- Flash Flooding in Georgia, November 21, 1997
- Damaging Wind in Florida, November 21, 1997
- Damaging Wind in Alabama, November 21, 1997
- Damaging Wind in Alabama, November 21, 1997
- Damaging Wind in Alabama, November 21, 1997
- Damaging Wind in Alabama, November 21, 1997
More
Every storm in Louisiana in 1997Every state in 1997This day in weather historyThe tornado archive for Louisiana, 1997Warnings in Louisiana, November 1997
Sources
NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database, compiled from the National Weather Service’s monthly Storm Data. Complete through 2026-06; NCEI adds each month about 75 days after it ends and revises past years a few times a year. Rebuilt 2026-10-01. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 5620707.