Name: Damaging Wind in Louisiana, April 16, 2001
Start: 2001-04-16T02:00
End: 2001-04-16T02:00
Location: Louisiana

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

Open the live radar over this ground

The toll

Deaths: 0
Injuries: 0
Property damage: $10,000
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 large 100 year old oak tree toppled onto a unoccupied parked car, destroying it.

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before the first event, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.

NWS Lake Charles, LA wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Apr 16, 1:30 AM CST, 30 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Apr 16, 1:30 AM CST, 30 minutes before

SOUTHEAST TEXAS AND SOUTHWEST LOUISIANA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES LA
230 AM CDT MON APR 16 2001

EARLY THIS MORNING...SOMEWHAT COMPLEX SURFACE MAP OVER THE REGION.
OUTFLOW/TROF FROM AFTERNOON CONVECTION HAS SETTLED NEAR COASTAL
LOUISIANA. OLD BOUNDARY EXTENDS FROM SAN ANTONIO...NORTHEAST TO
SHREVEPORT...AND THROUGH NORTH MISSISSIPPI AND NORTH ALABAMA.
STRONG UPPER LOW MOVING INTO GREAT LAKES REGION WITH ASSOCIATED COLD
FRONT NOW PUNCHING INTO MISSOURI AND KANSAS. LCH 88-D CURRENTLY
CLEAR. IR AND SURFACE OBS SHOWING CONSIDERABLE STRATOCU GENERALLY
ALONG AND EAST OF OLD BOUNDARY.

GUIDANCE DOWNPLAYING ANY PRECIP OVER THE AREA TODAY...BUT FEEL
SOMEWHAT UNEASY WITH THIS SOLUTION. WITH MESO BOUNDARY OVER REGION...
AND STRONG COLD FRONT ON THE WAY...BELIEVE AT LEAST SOME MENTION OF
POPS WARRANTED. THIS ESPECIALLY TRUE LATER THIS AFTERNOON AS LOW
LEVEL CONVERGENCE BEGINS TO INCREASE AHEAD OF MAIN FRONT DURING MAX
HEATING OF DAY. WILL CONTINUE WITH CHANCE OF SHOWERS AND
THUNDERSTORMS OVER REGION TONIGHT UNTIL FRONT EXITS REGION. NGM AND
MAV MOS SHOWING SOME POPS AGAIN ON TUESDAY. LOOKING AT DRY FCST
SOUNDINGS FOR TUESDAY HOWEVER...BELIEVE SPRINKLES WOULD BE WORST CASE
SCENARIO...THUS WILL LEAVE PRECIP WORDING OUT.

TEMPERATURE WISE...EXPECTING HIGHS TODAY AGAIN WARMING INTO THE
80S. PASSAGE OF FRONT WILL BRING COOLEST TEMPERATURES WE'VE SEEN
FOR SOMETIME. HIGHS NEAR 70 TUESDAY AND WEDNESDAY...LOWS IN THE 40S.
EXPECTING TEMPS TO BEGIN MODERATING THURSDAY...AS HIGH PRESSURE
MOVES OFF TO THE EAST RETURNING THE REGION TO A RETURN FLOW.

.LCH...NONE

.PRELIMINARY NUMBERS...
BPT 83/61 70/49 3200
LCH 83/60 72/k47 3200
LFT 84/60 72/45 3200
AEX 80/54 68/42 2100

MARCOTTE

The radar

The Lake Charles radar (KLCH), 92 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 07:57 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

1 thunderstorm wind. Local standard time, as filed.

Thunderstorm Wind, Acadia

When: April 16, 2:00 AM CST
Where: Acadia County, Rayne
Property damage: $10,000
Reported by: NEWSPAPER
Coordinates: 30.233, -92.267

What these are

Thunderstorm Wind: Winds from a thunderstorm of 50 knots (58 mph) or more, or lower winds that caused damage or casualties. Measured gusts are marked MG, estimated EG.

After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.

The same day elsewhere

More

Every storm in Louisiana in 2001 Every state in 2001 This day in weather history Warnings in Louisiana, April 2001

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 2026-09-24. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 5240580.