Isolated strong thunderstorms developed in a moist and unstable atmosphere.
Every event with a place to put it. 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 episode as NWS LIX wrote it up.
Isolated strong thunderstorms developed in a moist and unstable atmosphere.
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 Apr 2, 10:11 AM CST, 1 hour 24 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION...UPDATED NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NEW ORLEANS LA 1111 AM CDT WED APR 2 2008 .UPDATE... WILL NOT BE UPDATING ANYTHING AT THIS TIME THOUGH CLOUD COVER MAY RETARD WARMING FOR A WHILE EARLY THIS AFTERNOON. STATIONARY SURFACE FRONT STARTING TO SHOW SIGNS OF TRANSITIONING TO WARM FRONTOGENESIS ACROSS THE AREA. EXTENSIVE LOW CLOUD COVER SHOWING SOME EROSION FROM THE SOUTH AND THIS SHOULD ALLOW FOR RAPID WARMING ONCE THE CLOUDS DO BREAK. WITH TEMPERATURES ALREADY IN THE MID 70S...WOULD NOT TAKE MUCH TO GET INTO THE LOWER 80S WITH SOME SUNSHINE. ALSO CLOSELY MONITORING SLOW MOVING NARROW RAIN BAND ALONG THE I-12 CORRIDOR FROM THE LOWER PEARL RIVER...ACROSS SLIDELL TO THE HAMMOND AREA. THIS SMALL AREA SHOULD SLOWLY DIMINISH IN COVERAGE AS LOW LEVEL CONERGENCE WEAKENS AWAY FROM THE LAKE. REST OF CONVECTION TODAY SHOULD BE MORE CELLULAR AND STEADY MOVING AS THE FRONTAL ZONE PULLS NORTHWARD. && .PREV DISCUSSION... /ISSUED 418 AM CDT WED APR 2 2008/ DISCUSSION... LATEST SURFACE ANALYSIS SHOWED A SURFACE BOUNDARY FROM THE MID ATLANTIC TO CENTRAL ALABAMA TO LAKE PONTCHARTRAIN TO SOUTHWEST LOUISIANA TO SOUTH TEXAS AND A 1031MB HIGH OVER IOWA. UPPER AIR ANALYSIS SHOWED A WEST FLOW OVER CENTRAL CONUS...A SHORT WAVE OVER WASHINGTON STATE AND A CLOSED LOW OFF THE WEST COAST. PREVIOUS SHORT MODEL RUNS SHOWED AN INCREASE IN PW VALUE UP TO 1.7 TO 1.8 INCHES AT 06Z TUESDAY. LATEST 00Z WEDNESDAY SOUNDING AT LIX HAD A PW VALUE OF 1.8 INCHES. WE ARE INCLINED TO BELIEVE THE INITIALIZED MOISTURE/PW VALUE IN THE SOUNDING AND MOISTURE FIELDS TO BE TRUE. IN ADDITION...MODEL SOUNDING A SLOW DECREASE IN CAPE VALUES FROM 1100 J/KG DOWN 400 J/KG...DUE A WEST WARMING FLOW IN THE MID LAYERS. WITH THE WEST FLOW ALOFT...THE BOUNDARY UPPER LEVEL WILL REMAIN STATIONARY THROUGH NOON AND DRIFT NORTH THIS AFTERNOON. WILL MAINTAIN CHANCE POPS ACROSS THE FORECAST TODAY. TONIGHT...DEEPER LOW LEVEL FLOW FROM THE SOUTH WILL PUSH THE DECAYING OLD BOUNDARY NORTH OF THE FORECAST TONIGHT. EXPECT THE CLOSED LOW OUT TO OPEN AND LIFT EAST ACROSS THE SOUTHERN ROCKIES THURSDAY AND SLIGHTLY AMPLIFY BROAD RIDGE FOR CONUS EAST OF THE MISSISSIPPI VALLEY. DO EXPECT THE OPEN POSITIVELY TILT WAVE TO PUSH THROUGH THE FORECAST FRIDAY INTO FRIDAY NIGHT. THE ASSOCIATED UPPER LEVEL DISTURBANCE IS EXPECTED TO SWEEP ACROSS THE LOWER MISSISSIPPI VALLEY. ERGO...POSITIVELY TILTED AXIS WILL MOSTLY YIELD LINEAR CONVECTION BUT STRONG WITH DISTURBANCE PASSING OVER THE AREA DURING THIS TIME. WILL HIGHLIGHT STRONG STORMS IN HWO. DRY CONDITION AND NEAR NORM TEMPS CAN BE EXPECTED AFTER SATURDAY. AVIATION... AREAS OF FOG WITH LIFR CIGS/VSBYS HAS OCCURRED MCB AND GPT. FOG AND LOW CLOUDS SHOULD LIFT BY 14-15Z. THERE WILL BE A SLIGHT CHANCE OF SHOWERS OVERNIGHT AT THE TERMINALS...AND A SLIGHT CHANCE OF THUNDERSTORMS MAINLY DURING THE LATE MORNING AND AFTERNOON. MARINE... CONTINUATION OF LIGHT TO MODERATE ONSHORE TODAY AS A STALLED FRONT WILL NOT ENTER THE COASTAL WATERS AND DRIFT NORTH THIS AFTERNOON. ONSHORE FLOW SHOULD PERSIST THROUGH AT LEAST FRIDAY NIGHT WHEN NEXT PACIFIC TYPE FRONT MOVES ACROSS THE NORTH GULF WATERS. && .PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS... MCB 77 64 83 65 / 30 20 10 10 BTR 80 65 84 66 / 30 20 10 10 MSY 82 68 83 68 / 30 10 10 10 GPT 77 65 80 68 / 30 20 10 10 && .LIX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... LA...NONE. GM...NONE. MS...NONE. GM...NONE. && 24
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NEW ORLEANS LA 1104 AM CDT WED APR 2 2008 GMZ530-550-555-570-575-LAZ034>040-046>050-056>070-MSZ068>071-077- 080>082-030500- LAKE PONTCHARTRAIN AND LAKE MAUREPAS- COASTAL WATERS FROM THE SOUTHWEST PASS OF THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER TO LOWER ATCHAFALAYA RIVER LA OUT 20 NM- COASTAL WATERS FROM PASCAGOULA MS TO THE SOUTHWEST PASS OF THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER OUT 20 NM- COASTAL WATERS FROM THE SOUTHWEST PASS OF THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER TO LOWER ATCHAFALAYA RIVER LA FROM 20 TO 60 NM- COASTAL WATERS FROM PASCAGOULA MS TO THE SOUTHWEST PASS OF THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER FROM 20 TO 60 NM-POINTE COUPEE-WEST FELICIANA- EAST FELICIANA-ST. HELENA-TANGIPAHOA-WASHINGTON-ST. TAMMANY- IBERVILLE-WEST BATON ROUGE-EAST BATON ROUGE-ASCENSION-LIVINGSTON- ASSUMPTION-ST. JAMES-ST. JOHN THE BAPTIST-UPPER LAFOURCHE- ST. CHARLES-UPPER JEFFERSON-ORLEANS-UPPER PLAQUEMINES- UPPER ST. BERNARD-UPPER TERREBONNE-LOWER TERREBONNE- LOWER LAFOURCHE-LOWER JEFFERSON-LOWER PLAQUEMINES- LOWER ST. BERNARD-WILKINSON-AMITE-PIKE-WALTHALL-PEARL RIVER- HANCOCK-HARRISON-JACKSON- 1104 AM CDT WED APR 2 2008 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF GULF OF MEXICO...SOUTHEAST LOUISIANA AND SOUTHERN MISSISSIPPI. .DAY ONE...THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED TODAY AS A WEAK FRONTAL ZONE STARTS TO MOVE NORTH AS A WARM FRONT LATER TODAY. DUE TO WEAK STEERING WINDS...SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WILL BE SLOW MOVING WITH SOME LOCATIONS POSSIBLY RECEIVING UP TO 3 INCHES OF RAINFALL. SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS ARE NOT EXPECTED BUT LOCALIZED STREET FLOODING MAY BE POSSIBLE THIS AFTERNOON. MODERATE FLOODING IS EXPECTED ALONG THE ATCHAFALAYA RIVER AT MORGAN CITY AND ALONG THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER AT RED RIVER LANDING AND BATON ROUGE WITHIN THE NEXT SEVEN DAYS. MINOR FLOODING IS EXPECTED ALONG THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER AT DONALDSONVILLE AND RESERVE WITHIN THE NEXT FIVE TO SEVEN DAYS. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...THURSDAY THROUGH TUESDAY THERE IS A CHANCE OF THUNDERSTORMS ASSOCIATED WITH A COLD FRONTAL SYSTEM AND UPPER LEVEL DISTURBANCE FRIDAY AND FRIDAY NIGHT. A FEW OF THESE STORMS MAY BECOME STRONG TO SEVERE. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION WILL NOT BE NEEDED TODAY THROUGH THURSDAY. SPOTTER ACTIVATION MAY BE REQUIRED FRIDAY AND FRIDAY NIGHT. 24
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
2 funnel cloud. Local standard time, as filed.
A funnel cloud was observed near the intersection of Louisiana Highway 316 and U.S. Highway 90.
A funnel cloud was observed lowering to near tree top level before lifting.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Louisiana in 2008Every state in 2008This day in weather historyWarnings in Louisiana, April 2008
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: 95968, 95969.