Tornado in Louisiana, January 12, 1998

Name: Tornado in Louisiana, January 12, 1998
Start: 1998-01-12T04:45
End: 1998-01-12T04:45
Location: Louisiana

January 12, 1998 · NWS LCH · 1 event in 1 county or zone

A small tornado touched down north of Sulphur at a horse farm. One barn was destroyed, and a race horse inside was killed from flying debris.

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

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The toll

Deaths: 0
Injuries: 0
Property damage: $50,000
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.

A small tornado touched down north of Sulphur at a horse farm. One barn was destroyed, and a race horse inside was killed from flying debris. The storm was on the ground for less than one minute, and was observed by the farm owner.

The radar

The Lake Charles radar (KLCH), 32 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 10:40 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

1 tornado. Local standard time, as filed.

Tornado, Calcasieu

When: January 12, 4:45 AM CST
Where: Calcasieu County, 10 mi N of Sulphur
Rating: F0
Path length: 0.5 mi
Path width: 10 yd
Property damage: $50,000
Coordinates: 30.380, -93.370

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

Every storm in Louisiana in 1998 Every state in 1998 This day in weather history The tornado archive for Louisiana, 1998 Warnings in Louisiana, January 1998

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: 5628986.