Louisiana, 2003

Lightning Strike in Louisiana, August 12, 2003

August 12, 2003 · NWS SHV · 1 event in 1 county or zone

1 lightning, as filed by the National Weather Service.

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 1 filed by county or forecast zone are drawn at its center, in a lighter ring. 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 12, 9:48 AM CST, 3 hours 42 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Aug 12, 9:48 AM CST, 3 hours 42 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SHREVEPORT LA
1045 AM CDT TUE 12 AUG 2003

THE RAIN SHIELD...ASSOCIATED WITH UPPER LOW NOW ACROSS E TX BETWEEN
TYR AND NORTHERN END OF TOLEDO BEND...HAS ALL BUT DIMINISHED.
VISIBLE IMAGERY SHOWS PLENTY OF SUNSHINE ACROSS NW LA/SE OK/SW AR
AND EXTREME NE TX.  HOWEVER...CLOUDS SHOULD FILL IN MOST OF THE AREA
WITH THE ONGOING HEATING OVER THE NEXT FEW HOURS...DUE TO THE UPPER
LOW IN THE AREA...AND PLENTY OF LOW AND MID LEVEL MOISTURE.

WILL LOWER LIKELY POPS TO CHANCE POPS WITH ONGOING RADAR TRENDS.
THUNDERSTORM REDEVELOPMENT IS EXPECTED THIS AFTERNOON WITH SOME
HEATING AND LIFT WITH UPPER LOW.  A SHORTWAVE ACROSS E KS/W MO WILL
CONTINUE DIVING SOUTH SOUTHWEST THIS AFTERNOON...AND HELP INITIATE
SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS ACROSS THE NORTH.  LARGE HAIL IS POSSIBLE
WITH THE STRONGER STORMS THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING...DUE TO THE
COOLER MID LEVEL TEMPERATURES AND STEEPER LAPSE RATES ASSOCIATED
WITH THE UPPER LOW.

WILL LOOK AT 11 AM TEMPERATURES...AND ADJUST TEMPS ACCORDINGLY.

22

.SHV...NONE.
Hazardous weather outlook, Aug 12, 11:00 AM CST, 2 hours 30 minutes before
ARZ050-051-059>061-070>073-LAZ001>006-010>014-017>022-OKZ077-TXZ096-
097-108>112-124>126-136>138-149>153-165>167-131100-

HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SHREVEPORT LA
1200 PM CDT TUE AUG 12 2003

THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR SOUTHEAST OKLAHOMA...NORTHEAST
TEXAS...SOUTHWEST ARKANSAS...NORTHWEST AND NORTH CENTRAL LOUISIANA.

.DAY ONE...THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT...
SCATTERED SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS ACROSS NORTHEAST LOUISIANA LATE
THIS MORNING...WILL MOVE WESTWARD INTO NORTH CENTRAL LOUISIANA EARLY
THIS AFTERNOON.  IN ADDITION...SCATTERED SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORM
ARE EXPECTED TO DEVELOP THIS AFTERNOON ACROSS THE REST OF THE
REGION...WITH DAYTIME HEATING AND PROXIMITY OF AN UPPER LEVEL LOW.
AN UPPER LEVEL DISTURBANCE ACROSS EASTERN KANSAS AND WESTERN
MISSOURI...WILL TRACK SOUTHWARD AND COULD INITIATE ADDITIONAL
SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS...LATE THIS AFTERNOON AND EARLY
EVENING...ACROSS SOUTHEAST OKLAHOMA...SOUTHWEST ARKANSAS AND EXTREME
NORTHEAST TEXAS.  A FEW STORMS COULD BECOME SEVERE THIS AFTERNOON
AND INTO THE EVENING...WITH LARGE HAIL BEING THE PRIMARY
THREAT...WITH ISOLATED DAMAGING WINDS ALSO POSSIBLE.  LATER
TONIGHT...AN AREA OF SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS COULD DEVELOP NEAR
THE UPPER LOW ACROSS EAST TEXAS.  THE SLOW MOVEMENT OF THE STORMS
NEAR THE UPPER LOW...COULD RESULT IN SOME HEAVY RAINFALL TOTALS.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...WEDNESDAY THROUGH MONDAY...
NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME.

.SPOTTER CALL TO ACTION STATEMENT...
ACTIVATION OF EMERGENCY MANAGERS...SKYWARN NETWORKS...AND STORM
SPOTTERS...SHOULD NOT BE NEEDED TODAY AND TONIGHT.

The radar

The Shreveport radar (KSHV), 56 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 19:27 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

1 lightning. Local standard time, as filed.

Lightning, Webster

When
August 12, 1:30 PM CST
Where
Webster County, Minden
Reported by
NEWSPAPER
Coordinates
32.714, -93.335 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Several lightning strikes caused a transformer to blow and burned down the power pole at the Homer Road-Fincher Road intersection, which cut out power to most businesses on the south side of town. It took crews about three hours to make repairs including setting a new pole, replacing the transformer and repairing the breaker.

What these are

Lightning
A lightning strike that killed, injured or caused damage.

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

The same day elsewhere

More

Every storm in Louisiana in 2003Every state in 2003This day in weather historyWarnings in Louisiana, August 2003

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: 5379034.