Strong to severe thunderstorms developed and moved across southeast Louisiana as a couple of strong upper level disturbances and a cold front moved across the area.
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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.
Strong to severe thunderstorms developed and moved across southeast Louisiana as a couple of strong upper level disturbances and a cold front moved across the area.
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 May 2, 2:34 PM CST, 17 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NEW ORLEANS LA 334 PM CDT FRI MAY 2 2008 .SHORT TERM... A 500 MB SHORT WAVE TROUGH COMBINED WITH WARM ADVECTION AND SURFACE HEATING IS PROVIDING ENOUGH SUPPORT TO ERODE LOW LEVEL CAP OVER AREAS WEST OF INTERSTATE 55 LATE THIS AFTERNOON. THERE IS A RISK OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS THIS AFTERNOON SINCE THERE IS PLENTLY OF LOW LEVEL SHEAR ASSOCIATED WITH A 40 KNOT LOW LEVEL SOUTHERLY JET WHICH COVERS LOUISIANA AND MISSISSIPPI AT THIS TIME. THE THUNDERSTORMS SHOULD DIMINISH BY MIDNIGHT AS THE SHORT WAVES MOVES EAST OF THE AREA. HOWEVER...ANOTHER UPPER LEVEL SHORT WAVE SHOULD START IMPACTING OUR REGION EARLY SATURDAY MORNING AS THE LEFT FRONT QUADRANT OF THE UPPER LEVEL JET MOVES INTO SOUTHERN LOUISIANA. AT THE LOWER LEVELS A COLD FRONT WILL MOVE INTO LOUISIANA TONIGHT AND THEN MOVE VERY SLOWLY SOUTHEAST DURING THE DAY. THE COLD FRONT WILL PROVIDE A FAVORABLE LOW LEVEL FOCUS FOR HEAVY RAIN. THE COLD FRONT SHOULD MOVE OFF THE LOUISIANA AND MISSISSIPPI COAST BY SATURDAY EVENING. FLASH FLOOD GUIDANCE IS BETWEEN 3 TO 5 INCHES. I COULD NOT RULE OUT THAT THERE COULD BE SOME ISOLATED RAINFALL AMOUNTS IN THIS RANGE. SO HAVE HAVE PLACED LOCALLY HEAVY RAINFALL POSSIBLE IN THE FORECAST AND HAVE HELD OFF ON ISSUING A FLOOD WATCH AT THIS TIME TO SEE IF THIS SCENARIO UNFOLDS. .LONG TERM... AS THE UPPER LEVEL LOW IN THE PLAINS MOVES NORTHEAST TOWARDS THE GREAT LAKES ON TONIGHT AND SATURDAY...IT WILL WEAKEN AND THE UPPER LEVEL FLOW OVER THE GULF STATES WILL BECOME MORE WEST AND EVENTUALLY NORTHWEST AS THE UPPER LEVEL RIDGE BUILDS OVER TEXAS AND LOUISIANA EARLY NEXT WEEK. THIS SHOULD ALLOW A WARM...DRY PERIOD OF WEATHER TO TAKE HOLD THIS WEEK. && .AVIATION... SCATTERED CONVECTION WILL CONTINUE THROUGH THE AFTERNOON AND EARLY EVENING HOURS...MAINLY AFFECTING BTR AND MCB...WITH MSY POSSIBLY AFFECTED BY 00Z. CONVECTION GENERALLY MOVING FROM 220 DEGREES AT 20 TO 25 KNOTS. WINDS WILL DIMINISH BELOW 15 KNOTS AND THERE SHOULD BE A BREAK FOR 4 TO 6 HOURS BEFORE CONVECTION WITH MAIN FRONT APPROACHES FROM NORTHWEST. CEILINGS SHOULD REMAIN IN THE MVFR TO VFR RANGE FOR MOST OR ALL NIGHT. OUTSIDE OF CONVECTION...ANTICIPATE SEVERAL HOURS OF MVFR VISIBILITIES AROUND SUNRISE AS AIRMASS WILL BE MOIST AND WINDS RELATIVELY LIGHT WITH FRONT IN THE AREA. 35 && .MARINE... WINDS GENERALLY BELOW ADVISORY CRITERIA AT MID-AFTERNOON AND SEE LITTLE INDICATION THAT GRADIENT WILL INCREASE SIGNIFICANTLY...SO HAVE DROPPED SCA...BUT WILL CONTINUE EXERCISE CAUTION WITH WINDS 15 TO 20 KNOTS. SEAS WILL TAKE SEVERAL HOURS TO RELAX SLIGHTLY WITH NEARSHORE 4 TO 5 FEET...AND OFFSHORE PROBABLY ABOUT 7 FEET. WHILE THERE IS NO CONVECTION OFFSHORE AT PRESS TIME...SCATTERED CONVECTION WILL MOVE INTO THE COASTAL WATERS OVERNIGHT AND CONTINUE INTO SATURDAY. 35 && .PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS... MCB 67 81 58 79 / 70 60 0 10 BTR 68 81 59 81 / 70 60 10 10 MSY 70 81 66 80 / 60 60 20 10 GPT 70 78 66 79 / 40 60 30 10 && .LIX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... LA...NONE. GM...NONE. MS...NONE. GM...NONE. &&
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NEW ORLEANS LA 945 AM CDT FRI MAY 2 2008 GMZ530-550-555-570-575-LAZ034>040-046>050-056>070-MSZ068>071-077- 080>082-030030- PASCAGOULA TO SW PASS MISSISSIPPI RIVER OUT 20 NM- PASCAGOULA TO SW PASS MISSISSIPPI RIVER 20-60 NM OUT- SW PASS MISSISSIPPI RIVER TO ATCHAFALAYA RIVER OUT 20 NM- SW PASS MISSISSIPPI RIVER TO ATCHAFALAYA RIVER 20-60 NM OUT-AMITE- ASCENSION-ASSUMPTION-EAST BATON ROUGE-EAST FELICIANA-HANCOCK- HARRISON-IBERVILLE-JACKSON-LAKES PONTCHARTRAIN AND MAUREPAS- 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- 945 AM CDT FRI MAY 2 2008 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF GULF OF MEXICO...SOUTHEAST LOUISIANA AND SOUTHERN MISSISSIPPI. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT THUNDERSTORMS... THERE IS A SLIGHT CHANCE OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS TODAY MAINLY IN SOUTHWEST MISSISSIPPI AND EAST-CENTRAL LOUISIANA. THE PRIMARY THREATS WILL BE LARGE HAIL AND DAMAGING WINDS. ISOLATED WEAK TORNADOES ARE POSSIBLE AS WELL AS FREQUENT LIGHTNING AND HEAVY RAINFALL. FOR SOUTHEAST LOUISIANA AND COASTAL MISSISSIPPI... SCATTERED MODERATE TO STRONG INTENSITY THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED TODAY BUT WILL LIKELY REMAIN BELOW SEVERE LEVELS. WIND GUSTS TO 50 MPH AND PEA TO MARBLE SIZED HAIL WILL BE THE GREATEST THREAT FROM THE STRONGER STORMS ALONG WITH OCCASIONAL LIGHTNING AND BRIEF HEAVY RAINFALL. WIND... STRONG SOUTH WINDS OF 15 TO 20 MPH WITH GUSTS TO 30 MPH AT TIMES CAN BE EXPECTED THROUGH THIS EVENING ACROSS THE OUTLOOK AREA. TIDES... TIDES WILL BE ABOUT A FOOT ABOVE NORMAL TODAY. MARINE... A SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY IS IN EFFECT FOR THE GULF COASTAL WATERS THROUGH THIS EVENING. SMALL CRAFT SHOULD EXERCISE CAUTION ON TIDAL LAKES TODAY. HYDROLOGY... HIGH RIVER FLOWS AND FLOODING CONTINUES ALONG THE MISSISSIPPI AND ATCHAFALAYA RIVERS. PLEASE REFER TO THE LATEST RIVER FLOOD WARNINGS AND STATEMENTS FOR UPDATED INFORMATION. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...SATURDAY THROUGH THURSDAY THUNDERSTORMS... THUNDERSTORMS WITH HEAVY RAINFALL ARE EXPECTED SATURDAY...ENDING FROM WEST TO EAST SATURDAY NIGHT. THUNDERSTORMS ARE POSSIBLE AGAIN NEXT THURSDAY. HYDROLOGY... HIGH FLOWS AND RIVER FLOODING WILL CONTINUE ALONG THE MISSISSIPPI AND ATCHAFALAYA RIVERS THROUGH THURSDAY. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS NOT BEING REQUESTED AT THIS TIME BUT MAY BE NECESSARY LATER TODAY. ANY REPORTS OF STORM DAMAGE TODAY SHOULD BE PROMPTLY RELAYED TO THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE OFFICE IN SLIDELL.
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
5 hail, 5 thunderstorm wind, 2 flash flood, 1 tornado. Local standard time, as filed.
A motorist on Interstate 12 oberved a weak tornado briefly touch down near the Holden exit. The tornado did not cause any damage.
Louisiana Highway 40 and a number of other roads were closed due to flooding from 6 to 10 inches of rain. A woman had to be rescued from a vehicle stranded in high water in the Loranger area.
Golfball size hail was observed.
Several roads were flooded in the Folsom area when 6 to 10 inches of rain fell across the area.
Penny size hail was observed near the intersection of U.S. Highway 51 and Black Cat Road.
Thunderstorm winds knocked down numerous trees along Louisiana Highway 21, destoryed a barn, and damaged the facade of a building.
Penny size hail was observed.
Golfball size hail was observed.
Several trees were blown down onto roads around Batchelor and other areas in the northern part of the parish.
Quarter size hail was observed.
Several trees and power lines were blown down near Louisiana Highways 21 and 1075.
A few trees were blown down near Louisiana Highway 40.
The roof was blown off of a house and several other houses had roof damage. A mobile home was flipped over.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Louisiana in 2008Every state in 2008This day in weather historyThe tornado archive for Louisiana, 2008Warnings in Louisiana, May 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: 104303, 104305, 104304, 105237, 104309, 104306, 104308, 104307, 104298, 104299, 104300, 104301, 104302.