Name: Damaging Wind in Louisiana, August 18, 2001
Start: 2001-08-18T05:05
End: 2001-08-18T05:05
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: None recorded
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 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 Shreveport, LA wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Aug 18, 1:30 AM CST, 3 hours 35 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Aug 18, 1:30 AM CST, 3 hours 35 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SHREVEPORT LA
230 AM CDT SAT AUG 18 2001

ANOTHER DIFFICULT FORECAST THIS MORNING WITH THE MODELS SUGGESTING
A DRIER WEATHER PATTERN IS IN OUR NEAR FUTURE...WHETHER OR NOT TO
BELIEVE THIS IS A DIFFERENT STORY.

LATEST SFC ANALYSIS LOOKS VERY SIMILAR TO THE ONE I DREW LAST NIGHT
WITH A STATIONARY FRONT ACROSS NE OK INTO NW AR/BACKDOORING INTO
CENTRAL AR/N MISS. SFC TROUGH HAS NOT MOVED ACROSS THE HILL COUNTY
OF SOUTHERN TX TO JUST WEST OF MLC. SEVERAL OUTFLOW BOUNDARIES
LIKELY EXIST AS WELL BUT NOT SHOWING UP IN ANALYSIS.

MODELS VERY SIMILAR THIS MORNING WITH SHORTWAVE ENERGY DIVING SE
OUT OF CENTRAL OK AND INTO THE MIDDLE RED VALLEY OF NE TX/SE OK/SW AR
BY MIDDAY. THIS REGION IN FAVORABLE UPPER JET REGION THROUGH THE
AFTERNOON AS WELL WITH DEPARTING JET INTO THE TENN VALLEY BY TNGT.
NOT QUITE SURE TO BUY INTO THE MODELS DRYING US OUT SO QUICKLY BY
THIS AFTERNOON ACROSS THE NORTHERN SECTIONS AND ACROSS THE REMAINDER
OF THE REGION BY TONIGHT. WHILE SOME DRIER AIR IS TO BE EXPECTED
IN THE WAKE OF THE SHORTWAVE THIS AFTERNOON...FAVORABLE 850MB THETA-E
AXIS REMAINS ANCHORED ACROSS THE I-20 CORRIDOR OF E TX/NW LA THROUGH
TONIGHT. THIS HAS BEEN THE CORNERSTONE FOR CONVECTIVE DEVELOPMENT THE
LAST COUPLE OF DAYS AND WITH THIS FEATURE STILL IN PLACE...CANNOT
DROP POPS COMPLETELY TONIGHT THROUGH SUNDAY. ONE NOTICEABLE DIFFERENCE
IS THE 850MB FLOW DOES SWING AROUND TO THE W AND NW WHICH WILL HELP
TO DRY THINGS OUT SOMEWHAT BUT WILL HEDGE THE DIFFERENCE WITH SLIGHT
CHANCE POPS AREA WIDE TONIGHT THROUGH SUNDAY.

TEMPS WERE A KILLER ON FRIDAY WITH THE CLOUD COVER AND BUYING INTO
THE IDEA OF DRIER AIR ADVECTING SOUTHWARD INTO THE REGION MAKES THIS
TEMP FORECAST JUST AS DIFFICULT AS FRIDAYS. MOS TEMPS ALL OVER THE
PLACE TODAY SO WILL GO WITH THE GENERALLY COOLER NUMBERS...EXCEPT
DOWN SOUTH WHERE MID 90S WILL WORK WELL AGAIN TODAY. FRONT CURRENTLY
ACROSS THE CENTRAL PLAINS MAKES A CHARGE SOUTH OVER THE NEXT 24 HRS
BUT IS EXPECTED TO PULL UP STATIONARY ACROSS NE TX/N LA BY EARLY
SUNDAY...ANOTHER REASON NOT TO DROP POPS OUT TOTALLY FOR SUNDAY.
FRONT SHOULD THEN WASH OUT OR BEGIN TO MOVE BACK NORTH IN RESPONSE
TO SFC CYCLOGENESIS IN THE LEE OF THE ROCKIES ON MONDAY.

PRELIMS TO FOLLOW...13

SHV 92/74/96/73 3221
MLU 90/71/94/71 4222
TXK 92/73/96/70 3221
TYR 93/74/97/74 3221
LFK 96/73/97/71 3121

.SHV...NONE.

The radar

The Shreveport radar (KSHV), 75 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 11:03 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

1 thunderstorm wind. Local standard time, as filed.

Thunderstorm Wind, Bienville

When: August 18, 5:05 AM CST
Where: Bienville County, Gibsland
Measured: 65 kt (75 mph)
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates: 32.550, -93.050

Trees down along Hwy 154 and a traffic pole toppled across an intersection.

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, August 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: 5263194.