Tornado in Louisiana, October 3, 2002

Name: Tornado in Louisiana, October 3, 2002
Start: 2002-10-03T14:00
End: 2002-10-03T14:02
Location: Louisiana

October 3, 2002 · NWS LCH · 1 event in 1 county or zone

SKYWARN spotter reported a tornado in rural areas south of Alexandria, knocking down trees and damaging roofs to barns.

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.

SKYWARN spotter reported a tornado in rural areas south of Alexandria, knocking down trees and damaging roofs to barns.

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 Oct 3, 4:31 AM CST, 9 hours 29 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Oct 3, 4:31 AM CST, 9 hours 29 minutes before

SOUTHWEST LOUISIANA AND SOUTHEAST TEXAS FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES LA
531 AM CDT THU OCT 3 2002

LATEST ZONE PACKAGE ISSUED REFLECTS DECREASED INTENSITY OF LILI
AS IT MOVES ACROSS THE REGION.

.LCH...
TORNADO WATCH...LAZ027-029-032-033-042>045-028-030-031-041.
HURRICANE WARNING HIGH ISLAND TO LOWER ATCHAFALAYA RIVER...TXZ215-
216-LAZ051>055.
INLAND HURRICANE WIND WARNING...LAZ042>045.
INLAND TROPICAL STORM WIND WARNING...LAZ028-029-031-032-033.
FLASH FLOOD WATCH...LAZ027>033-041>045-051>055.

.UPDATED NUMBERS...
AEX NB 080 073/092 066/083 065 +70000
BPT NB 080 073/091 068/083 065 +30000
LCH NB 080 073/092 068/083 065 +40000
LFT NB 080 073/092 068/083 065 +40000

MARCOTTE

In the hours before

Local storm report, Oct 3, 10:11 AM CST, 3 hours 49 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES, LA
1111 AM CDT THU OCT 3 2002

TIME(CDT)  .....CITY LOCATION.....STATE   ...EVENT/REMARKS...
           ....COUNTY LOCATION....

1106 AM    LAFAYETTE                 LA   TORNADO
10/03/02   LAFAYETTE                      TORNADO TOUCHED DOWN AT
                                          PINHOOK AND VEROT SCHOOL
                                          ROAD. NO REPORT OF
                                          DAMAGE...REPORTED BY
                                          LAFAYETTE EOC.

MD

Local storm report, Oct 3, 10:34 AM CST, 3 hours 26 minutes before

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Local storm report, Oct 3, 11:02 AM CST, 2 hours 58 minutes before

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Local storm report, Oct 3, 1:03 PM CST, 57 minutes before

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The radar

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

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

1 tornado. Local standard time, as filed.

Tornado, Rapides

When: October 3, 2:00 PM CST to 2:02 PM CST
Where: Rapides County, 5 mi S of Alexandria
Rating: F0
Path length: 1 mi
Path width: 15 yd
Property damage: $10,000
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 31.233, -92.467

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 2002 Every state in 2002 This day in weather history The tornado archive for Louisiana, 2002 Warnings in Louisiana, October 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 2026-10-01. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 5319523.