1 lightning, as filed by the National Weather Service.
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.
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.
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 New Orleans, LA wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Jul 18, 1:22 AM CST, 5 hours 23 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NEW ORLEANS/BATON ROUGE LA 222 AM CDT SUN JUL 18 2004 .DISCUSSION... H500 SHORTWAVE MOVING THROUGH CWA EARLY THIS MORNING SETTING OFF LINE OF THUNDERSTORMS. SURFACE FRONTAL BOUNDARY NEAR JAN TO SHV LINE. WILL KEEP A SLIGHT CHANCE OF SHOWERS IN THE SOUTHWEST MS ZONES FOR THIS MORNING. WITH SURFACE BOUNDARY PROGGED TO DRIFT SOUTH ACROSS CWA THIS AFTERNOON...WILL HAVE TO KEEP A THREAT OF CONVECTION IN THE ZONES UNTIL 00Z. DRY AIRMASS WILL GRADUALLY WORK ITS WAY SOUTH INTO THE CWA TONIGHT AND CONTINUE THROUGH WEDNESDAY. WILL HOLD OFF RETURN FLOW TIL LATE WEDNESDAY/THURSDAY. OTHERWISE REMAINDER OF FORECAST LEFT AS IS. MARINE ZONES...WILL PUT SMALL CRAFT ADVISORIES UP FOR THE FIRST PERIOD. STRONG INFLOW INTO THUNDERSTORMS PRODUCING WINDS OF 20 TO 23 KNOTS IS SUFFICIENT TO WARRANT THE SCA. WILL LOWER WINDS BY SECOND PERIOD. && .PRELIMINARY POINT NUMBERS... MCB 90 68 92 68 / 20 00 00 00 BTR 91 70 93 71 / 40 00 00 00 MSY 89 78 92 77 / 60 10 00 00 GPT 89 71 91 70 / 50 10 00 00 && .LIX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... LA...NONE. MS...NONE. SE LA AND MS COASTAL WATERS...SMALL CRAFT ADVZY PQL TO INTRACOASTAL WATERS FOR TODAY. && 25
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NEW ORLEANS LA 500 AM CDT SUN JUL 18 2004 LAZ034>040-046>050-056>070-MSZ068>071-077-080>082-181700- AMITE-ASCENSION-ASSUMPTION-EAST BATON ROUGE-EAST FELICIANA-HANCOCK- HARRISON-IBERVILLE-JACKSON-LIVINGSTON-LOWER JEFFERSON- LOWER LAFOURCHE-LOWER PLAQUEMINES-LOWER ST BERNARD-LOWER TERREBONNE- ORLEANS-PEARL RIVER-PIKE-POINTE COUPEE-ST CHARLES-ST HELENA-ST JAMES- ST JOHN THE BAPTIST-ST TAMMANY-TANGIPAHOA-UPPER JEFFERSON- UPPER LAFOURCHE-UPPER PLAQUEMINES-UPPER ST BERNARD-UPPER TERREBONNE- WALTHALL-WASHINGTON-WEST BATON ROUGE-WEST FELICIANA-WILKINSON- 500 AM CDT SUN JUL 18 2004 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR EAST CENTRAL AND SOUTHEAST LOUISIANA AND EXTREME SOUTHWEST...SOUTH CENTRAL AND COASTAL MISSISSIPPI. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT THUNDERSTORMS... SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED OVER SOUTHEAST LOUISIANA THIS MORNING. SCATTERED SHOWERS AND A FEW THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED THIS AFTERNOON. THE MAIN THREAT FROM THESE THUNDERSTORMS WILL BE FREQUENT LIGHTNING AND LOCALLY HEAVY RAINFALL. SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS ARE NOT EXPECTED. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...MONDAY THROUGH SATURDAY NO THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED MONDAY AND TUESDAY. EXPECT ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS WEDNESDAY AND SCATTERED AFTERNOON THUNDERSTORMS THURSDAY THROUGH SATURDAY MAINLY IN THE AFTERNOON AND EARLY EVENING HOURS. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... THE ACTIVATION OF STORM SPOTTERS...HAM RADIO OPERATORS...AND EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT PERSONNEL...IN SUPPORT OF SEVERE WEATHER OPERATIONS...IS NOT REQUESTED AT THIS TIME.
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NEW ORLEANS LA 152 AM CDT SUN JUL 18 2004 LAZ040-060>064-180740- ORLEANS-ST CHARLES-ST TAMMANY-UPPER JEFFERSON-UPPER PLAQUEMINES- UPPER ST BERNARD- 152 AM CDT SUN JUL 18 2004 ...STRONG THUNDERSTORMS MOVING ACROSS METROPOLITAN NEW ORLEANS... AT 149 PM CDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A CLUSTER OF STRONG THUNDERSTORMS OVER INTERSTATE 10 NEAR KENNER... AND OVER SOUTHWEST LAKE PONTCHARTRAIN...JUST NORTH OF KENNER. MOVEMENT WAS SOUTHEAST AT 25 MILES AN HOUR. THE THUNDERSTORMS WILL MOVE ACROSS KENNER...METAIRIE...THE SOUTH END OF THE CAUSEWAY BRIDGE...AND NEW ORLEANS THROUGH 230 AM. THE PRIMARY THREATS FROM THESE STORMS ARE FREQUENT TO CONTINUOUS CLOUD TO GROUND AND CLOUD TO WATER LIGHTNING...SMALL HAIL AND WIND GUSTS OF 35 TO 45 MPH...WHICH MAY KNOCK DOWN TREE LIMBS AND BLOW AROUND UNSECURED OBJECTS. SEEK SHELTER IN A SAFE HOME OR BUILDING UNTIL THE STORMS HAVE PASSED. 22
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NEW ORLEANS LA 410 AM CDT SUN JUL 18 2004 LAZ056-057-059-065-181015- ASSUMPTION-ST JAMES-UPPER LAFOURCHE-UPPER TERREBONNE- 410 AM CDT SUN JUL 18 2004 ...DANGEROUS LIGHTNING STORM AND TORRENTIAL RAINSTORM POUNDING ASSUMPTION PARISH... AT 409 AM CDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A LARGE STRONG THUNDERSTORM OVER ASSUMPTION PARISH...NEAR PIERRE PART...PAINCOURTVILLE...AND NAPOLEONVILLE...MOVING SOUTHEAST AT 15 MILES AN HOUR. OTHER STRONG STORMS EXTENDED EAST NEAR THIBODAUX. THUNDERSTORMS ARE LIKELY TO CONTINUE AFFECTING THESE SAME AREAS THROUGH AT LEAST 5 AM. THE PRIMARY THREATS FROM THESE STORMS ARE CONTINUOUS CLOUD TO GROUND LIGHTNING...TORRENTIAL RAINFALL THAT MAY CAUSE FLOODING...SMALL HAIL AND WIND GUSTS OF 35 TO 45 MPH...WHICH MAY KNOCK DOWN TREE LIMBS AND BLOW AROUND UNSECURED OBJECTS. SEEK SHELTER IN A SAFE HOME OR BUILDING UNTIL THE STORMS HAVE PASSED. 22
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
1 lightning. Local standard time, as filed.
A house was damaged after a lightning strike to a tree caused large sections of the trunk to be thrown through the roof and windows.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Louisiana in 2004Every state in 2004This day in weather historyWarnings in Louisiana, July 2004
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: 5412542.