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 Sep 4, 2:30 AM CST, 9 hours 30 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NEW ORLEANS/BATON ROUGE LA 330 AM CDT SAT SEP 4 2004 .DISCUSSION...GOING MAINLY ON POSITIONING AND TIMING OF FRANCES FROM TPC FOR POP VALUES OVER THE NEXT SEVERAL DAYS. WE WILL BE IMPACTED BY FRANCES...ALBEIT INDIRECTLY. A WEAK TROUGH ORIENTED NE THROUGH SW OVER THE AREA WILL HELP TO FOCUS SH/TS DEVELOPMENT TODAY. THIS WEAKNESS WILL EVENTUALLY BE DRIVEN NW AS THE STRONG SUBSIDENCE ON THE WEST SIDE OF FRANCES MOVES INTO THE REGION. THIS SHOULD SURPRESS SH/TS DEVELOPMENT FOR SUNDAY. SINCE THE HURRICANE IS INFLUENCING THE WEATHER HERE...THE FORECAST WILL HINGE ON FUTURE MOVEMENTS AND STRENGTH OF THE STORM AND ATTM FRANCES IS HEADING NW@5KT. THIS WILL KEEP THE 2+ PWS OVER THE AREA TODAY AND WE SHOULD SEE SOME TCU BY SUNRISE OVER LAND. SOUTHERLY FETCH FROM THE NEXT FRONTAL SYSTEM IS STARTING OVER THE EXTREME WESTERN GULF THIS MORNING. THIS SHOULD TRANSFER TO THE EASTERN GULF IN ABOUT 32 HOURS. LOW AND MID LEVEL CLOUDS OVER S TX HAS JUST STARTED RESPONDING TO THE FETCH AND ARE NOW MOVING QUICKLY NORTHWARD. THIS MAY BE THE ESTABLISHED FLOW THAT BRINGS FRANCES ON ITS NW THEN NORTHERLY TRACK. WITH THE CURRENT TRACK FROM TPC...WE SHOULD ENJOY SOME RATHER MODERATE NORTHERLY WINDS AS IT MOVES THROUGH THE NE GULF AND INTO THE FLA PANHANDLE MIDNIGHT SUNDAY. THIS SHOULD ACT TO DRIVE TIDES DOWN SOMEWHAT AND BRING SOME DRY AIR INTO THE AREA JUST IN TIME FOR LABOR DAY. WILL NOT CHANGE ANY EXTENDED. && .PRELIMINARY POINT TEMP/POPS... MCB 88 72 92 73 / 60 20 10 00 BTR 88 72 92 74 / 60 20 20 00 MSY 89 75 92 77 / 60 20 10 00 GPT 88 72 91 74 / 40 10 10 00 && .LIX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... LA...NONE. MS...NONE. SE LA AND MS COASTAL WATERS...NONE. && 17
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NEW ORLEANS LA 1114 AM CDT SAT SEP 4 2004 LAZ034>040-046>050-056>070-MSZ068>071-077-080>082-051130- 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- 1114 AM CDT SAT SEP 4 2004 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR EAST CENTRAL AND SOUTHEAST LOUISIANA AND EXTREME SOUTHWEST...AND COASTAL MISSISSIPPI. .DAY ONE...THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT THE COMBINATION OF DAYTIME HEATING...A WEAK UPPER LEVEL TROUGH OVER THE REGION AND A MOIST UNSTABLE AIRMASS WILL ALLOW SCATTERED TO NUMEROUS THUNDERSTORMS TO DEVELOP THIS AFTERNOON. THE STRONGER THUNDERSTORMS WILL BE ACCOMPANIED BY WIND GUSTS OF 30 TO 35 MPH AND FREQUENT LIGHTNING. DUE TO THE SLOW MOVEMENT OF THE THUNDERSTORMS... RAINFALL AMOUNTS OF 1.5 TO 2.5 INCHES WITHIN AN HOUR ARE POSSIBLE WITH THE STRONGER THUNDERSTORMS...PRODUCING FLOODING OF STREETS AND AREAS OF POOR DRAINAGE. THUNDERSTORM ACTIVITY SHOULD DIMINISH DURING THE EARLY EVENING. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...SUNDAY THROUGH FRIDAY SCATTERED SHOWERS AND A FEW THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED MONDAY INTO TUESDAY AS A WEAKENED FRANCES IS CURRENTLY FORECASTED TO MOVE ACROSS THE EXTREME NORTHEAST GULF OF MEXICO AND PANHANDLE OF FLORIDA. WINDS AND SEAS ARE EXPECTED TO INCREASE OVER THE COASTAL WATERS WITH SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY CONDITIONS POSSIBLE MONDAY AND TUESDAY...MAINLY EAST OF THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER. DRY WEATHER IS EXPECTED WEDNESDAY THROUGH FRIDAY. .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.
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
1 lightning. Local standard time, as filed.
An eighteen year old man was struck and killed by lightning while fishing in a boat.
As the offices recorded each death: direct deaths were caused by the weather itself, indirect ones by something it set in motion.
| Event | Date | Age | Sex | Where | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lightning, St. Bernard | 2004-09-04 | 18 | Male | Boat | Direct |
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, September 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: 5432673.