Name: Damaging Wind in Louisiana, July 11, 2002
Start: 2002-07-11T16:30
End: 2002-07-11T16:30
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.

Numerous trees and power lines were blown down.

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 Jul 11, 1:35 PM CST, 2 hours 55 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jul 11, 1:35 PM CST, 2 hours 55 minutes before

SOUTHWEST LOUISIANA AND SOUTHEAST TEXAS FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES LA
ISSUED BY NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HOUSTON/GALVESTON TX
235 PM CDT THU JUL 11 2002

SEABREEZE HAD DIFFICULTY TRYING TO GET CRANKED UP TODAY IN THE TEETH
OF OFFSHORE FLOW IN THE LOWER 2-3 KM.  HOWEVER... WARM TEMPS AND
CONDITIONAL INSTABILITY TO NORTH HAVE LED TO WIDELY SCATTERED TSRA
OVER NORTHERN/NORTHWESTERN PTNS OF CWA.

AS FOR THE FRONT... IF IT CAN BE CALLED THAT... THE EXISTENCE OF THE
SURFACE BOUNDARY MAY BE SIGNIFICANT AS A FORCING MECHANISM THROUGH
LATE TOMORROW... BUT AFTER THAT ITS SIGNIFICANCE WANES IN COMPARISON
TO THE EAST-WEST ORIENTATION OF THE UPPER LEVEL CYCLONE AXIS ACROSS
NORTH TX/LA/MS PLACING THE FORECAST AREA IN THE ACTIVE REGION OF THE
UPPER LEVEL TROUGH.  WEAK 700 MB WAVELETS TRAVELING EAST ACROSS THE
CWA WILL HAVE PERSISTENT PW VALUES NEAR 2 INCHES AND MODERATE CAPE
EACH DAY TO WORK WITH IN ADDITION TO ANY LAND/SEA CONFLUENCE.

THE RESULT IS A FAIR SHOT AT CONVECTION ACROSS THE REGION EVERY DAY
THROUGH SUNDAY... WHEN THE UPPER LEVEL CIRCULATION CUTS OFF AND
BEGINS TO RETROGRADE INTO TX AND A SURFACE RIDGE BUILDS OVER THE
NORTHER GULF OF MEXICO.

CLOUDINESS OVER THE WEEKEND WILL BRING SLIGHTLY COOLER MAX TEMPS BUT
MOISTURE CONTENT WILL ALSO PRODUCE MUGGY WARM NIGHTS.

FOR MARINE... FAIRLY LIGHT NORTHWEST/WEST WIND REGIME TO PERSIST
THROUGH SATURDAY UNTIL SFC TROF PULLS NORTHWARD... THEN BECOME
SOUTHWEST SUNDAY AND SOUTH ON MONDAY.  GRADIENTS NOT EXPECTED TO BE
STRONG ENOUGH TO WARRANT SCEC OR SCA.

38

.KLCH...NONE.

.PRELIMS...
AEX 74/92/74/90/73/89 254535
BPT 76/91/75/89/74/90 144434
LCH 76/91/75/89/73/89 144434
LFT 75/91/74/89/74/89 144435

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, Rapides

When: July 11, 4:30 PM CST
Where: Rapides County, Alexandria
Property damage: $10,000
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates: 31.300, -92.467

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, July 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: 5312309.