Name: Damaging Wind in Louisiana, August 15, 2002
Start: 2002-08-15T09:55
End: 2002-08-15T09:55
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: $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 mobile home was destroyed along the beach during a severe thunderstorm.

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 Aug 15, 8:59 AM CST, 56 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Aug 15, 8:59 AM CST, 56 minutes before

SOUTHWEST LOUISIANA AND SOUTHEAST TEXAS FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES LA
959 AM CDT THU AUG 15 2002

IR SATELLITE SHOWING MCS OFF UPPER TX AND W LA COAST WITH CONTINUOUS
DEVELOPEMENT AND COOLING CLOUD TOPS IN STRONGLY DIFLUENT UPPER
LEVEL FLOW. UPDATED ZONES WITH FLOOD WATCH FOR LWR SE TX AND SW LA.
PRECEDING RAINFALL...WITH EXPECTED ADDITIONAL RAINFALL SHOULD PUT
THESE AREAS OVER FLASH FLOOD GUIDANCE VALUES OF AROUND 4 INCHES.

SATELITE PRECIP ESTIMATES AND SPENES GUIDANCE INDICATE NEW
DEVELOPMENT POISED TO MOVE INTO CAMERON PARISH NEXT COUPLE OF HOURS.
RUNOFF AFTER RAINS ABATE WILL CONTINUE TO CAUSE FLOODING PROBLEMS IN
THIS AREA WITH SLOW DRAINAGE NEAR THE COAST. SPS AND MWS ISSUED ON
RAINFALL AND COASTAL OVERWASH AS STRONG ONSHORE WINDS PUT TIDES AT
CAMERON UP TO 3.7 FEET AT HIGH TIDE. WILL LEAVE CURRENT UPDATED ZONES
ALONE. NO CHANGE ON PREVIOUS NUMBERS.

.UPDATED NUMBERS...
    TH    FR    SA SU  T F S S
BPT 85 76/88 76/90 76  935242
LCH 85 75/88 75/90 75  935242
LFT 87 74/88 74/90 75  735242
AEX 85 72/89 73/94 73  735242

.LCH...FFA FLOOW WATCH FOR LOWER SOUTHEAST TX AND SOUTHWEST LA TODAY.
       FLW FLOOD WARNING FOR LOWER SOUTHEAST TX AND SOUTHWEST LA
       UNTIL 3 PM.
       SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY HIGH ISLAND TO ATCHAFALAYA RIVER OUT
       60NM.

11-SWEENEY

In the hours before

Special weather statement, Aug 15, 8:28 AM CST, 1 hour 27 minutes before

LAZ027>033-041>045-051>055-TXZ180>182-201-215-216-152000-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES LA
928 AM CDT THU AUG 15 2002

...LOCALLY HEAVY RAINFALL POSSIBLE TODAY...

AN UPPER LEVEL DISTURBANCE MOVING UP THE TEXAS COAST AND A VERY
MOIST TROPICAL AIRMASS WILL COMBINE TO PRODUCE WIDESPREAD SHOWERS AND
THUNDERSTORMS TODAY. RAINFALL AMOUNTS WILL LIKELY AVERAGE 1 INCH
AREAWIDE...EXCEPT OVER LOWER SOUTHEAST TEXAS AND SOUTHWEST LOUISIANA
WHERE 3 TO 6 INCHES HAD ALREADY FALLEN AND AN ADDITIONAL 3 INCHES IS
EXPECTED.

A THUNDERSTORM COMPLEX WHICH DEVELOPED EARLY THIS MORNING OVER THE
WATERS OFF THE UPPER TEXAS AND WEST LOUISIANA COAST WILL LIKELY
CONTINUE TO PRODUCE THUNDERSTORMS WHICH WILL CONTINUOUSLY TRACK
INLAND OVER SOUTHEAST TEXAS AND SOUTHWEST LOUISIANA. A FLOOD WARNING
REMAINS IN EFFECT FOR THESE AREAS AS DRAINAGE SYSTEMS WILL LIKELY
BECOME OVERWHELMED.

ALL INTERESTS IN SOUTHEAST TEXAS AND SOUTHWEST LOUISIANA SHOULD KEEP
IN TOUCH WITH THE LATEST FORECASTS AND STATEMENTS FROM THE NATIONAL
WEATHER SERVICE ON THIS SITUATION.

SWEENEY

The radar

The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

1 thunderstorm wind. Local standard time, as filed.

Thunderstorm Wind, Cameron

When: August 15, 9:55 AM CST
Where: Cameron County, Cameron
Property damage: $50,000
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates: 29.800, -93.333

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 2002 Every state in 2002 This day in weather history Warnings in Louisiana, August 2002

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: 5317313.