A vigorous, upper level storm system moved across eastern Kansas into southern Missouri during the afternoon and evening hours of May 20th. A portion of this trough swung southward into the middle Red River Valley of northeast Texas, southeast Oklahoma, southwest Arkansas and northern Louisiana.
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 SHV wrote it up.
A vigorous, upper level storm system moved across eastern Kansas into southern Missouri during the afternoon and evening hours of May 20th. A portion of this trough swung southward into the middle Red River Valley of northeast Texas, southeast Oklahoma, southwest Arkansas and northern Louisiana. An outflow boundary was present across the region from earlier convection that was present during the morning of the 20th. A moderately unstable airmass, a weak outflow boundary, and plentiful moisture combined with the influence of the upper storm system were all the ingredients needed for strong to severe thunderstorms. The thunderstorms produced damaging wind gusts along with large hail across the region.
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 May 20, 1:46 PM CST, 28 minutes earlier.
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</html>HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SHREVEPORT LA 1115 AM CDT THU MAY 20 2010 ARZ050-051-059>061-070>073-OKZ077-TXZ096-097-108-109-111-112- 211100- SEVIER-HOWARD-LITTLE RIVER-HEMPSTEAD-NEVADA-MILLER-LAFAYETTE- COLUMBIA-UNION AR-MCCURTAIN-RED RIVER-BOWIE-FRANKLIN-TITUS-MORRIS- CASS- 1115 AM CDT THU MAY 20 2010 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF SOUTH CENTRAL ARKANSAS...SOUTHWEST ARKANSAS...SOUTHEAST OKLAHOMA AND NORTHEAST TEXAS. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT... ISOLATED SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WILL BE POSSIBLE THIS AFTERNOON NORTH OF A YANTIS TEXAS TO MARION LOUISIANA LINE. THE MAIN SEVERE WEATHER RISKS WILL BE DAMAGING WINDS IN EXCESS OF 60 MILES AN HOUR AND HAIL GREATER THAN 1 INCH IN DIAMETER. LOCALLY HEAVY RAINFALL WILL ALSO BE POSSIBLE. DISCUSSION...THUNDERSTORMS WILL CONTINUE TO DEVELOP ACROSS NORTHEAST TEXAS AND SOUTH ARKANSAS INTO THE EARLY AFTERNOON AS UPPER LEVEL DISTURBANCES MOVE ACROSS THE REGION. GIVEN THE AMOUNT OF AVAILABLE INSTABILITY AND MOISTURE...SOME OF THE STORMS COULD BECOME SEVERE. LOCALLY HEAVY RAINFALL WILL BE POSSIBLE ACROSS THE REGION...ESPECIALLY IF STORMS REPEATEDLY MOVE ACROSS THE SAME AREAS. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...FRIDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY... NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... ACTIVATION OF STORM SPOTTER GROUPS...HAM RADIO OPERATORS...AND EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT PERSONNEL WILL LIKELY BE NEEDED THROUGH AT LEAST MID AFTERNOON. LAZ001>006-010>014-017>022-TXZ110-124>126-136>138-149>153-165>167- 211100- CADDO-BOSSIER-WEBSTER-CLAIBORNE-LINCOLN-UNION LA-DE SOTO- RED RIVER-BIENVILLE-JACKSON-OUACHITA-SABINE LA-NATCHITOCHES-WINN- GRANT-CALDWELL-LA SALLE-CAMP-WOOD-UPSHUR-MARION-SMITH-GREGG- HARRISON-CHEROKEE-RUSK-PANOLA-NACOGDOCHES-SHELBY-ANGELINA- SAN AUGUSTINE-SABINE TX- 1115 AM CDT THU MAY 20 2010 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF NORTH CENTRAL LOUISIANA...NORTHWEST LOUISIANA...EAST TEXAS AND NORTHEAST TEXAS. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT... SCATTERED SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WILL BE POSSIBLE THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING ALONG AND SOUTH OF A YANTIS TEXAS TO MARION LOUISIANA LINE. THE MAIN SEVERE WEATHER RISKS WILL BE HAIL GREATER THAN 1 INCH IN DIAMETER...AND DAMAGING WINDS IN EXCESS OF 60 MILES AN HOUR. ISOLATED TORNADOES AND LOCALLY HEAVY RAINFALL WILL ALSO BE POSSIBLE. DISCUSSION...THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED TO DEVELOP ALONG A BOUNDARY LEFT OVER FROM EARLY MORNING STORMS IN ARKANSAS. GIVEN COLD TEMPERATURES ALOFT...A MOIST AIRMASS...AND A VERY UNSTABLE AIRMASS...SOME OF THE THUNDERSTORMS WILL LIKELY BECOME SEVERE. THE TORNADO POTENTIAL WILL BE ON THE LOW SIDE...UNLESS THE STORMS INTERSECT ALONG PRE EXISTING BOUNDARIES. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...FRIDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY... NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... ACTIVATION OF STORM SPOTTER GROUPS...HAM RADIO OPERATORS...AND EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT PERSONNEL WILL BE NEEDED THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING. D. BUTTS
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SHREVEPORT LA
1022 AM CDT THU MAY 20 2010
ARZ050-051-059-060-070-OKZ077-TXZ097-201600-
BOWIE-HEMPSTEAD-HOWARD-LITTLE RIVER-MCCURTAIN-MILLER-SEVIER-
1022 AM CDT THU MAY 20 2010
...SIGNIFICANT WEATHER ADVISORY...
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN SHREVEPORT HAS ISSUED A SIGNIFICANT
WEATHER ADVISORY...EFFECTIVE UNTIL 1100 AM CDT...FOR THE FOLLOWING
COUNTIES...
IN SOUTHWEST ARKANSAS...
LITTLE RIVER...HEMPSTEAD...SEVIER...HOWARD AND MILLER...
IN SOUTHEAST OKLAHOMA...
MCCURTAIN...
IN NORTHEAST TEXAS...
BOWIE...
INCLUDING THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONS...
ALLEENE...ARKINDA...ASHDOWN...BEN LOMOND...FOREMAN...
MANDEVILLE...MINERAL SPRINGS...OGDEN...RICHMOND...SARATOGA...
TEXARKANA...TOLLETTE...WILTON...WINTHROP...HOOKS AND NEW
BOSTON...
AT 1016 AM CDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE METEOROLOGISTS WERE
DETECTING A STRONG THUNDERSTORM 6 MILES SOUTHWEST OF FOREMAN...MOVING
EAST AT 35 MPH.
WINDS AROUND 40 MPH ARE EXPECTED WITH THIS STORM. HEAVY RAINFALL
WILL ALSO OCCUR AS THE STORM MOVES OVERHEAD.
03SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SHREVEPORT LA
101 PM CDT THU MAY 20 2010
TXZ108>111-124-125-201845-
CAMP-FRANKLIN-MORRIS-TITUS-UPSHUR-WOOD-
101 PM CDT THU MAY 20 2010
...SIGNIFICANT WEATHER ADVISORY...
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN SHREVEPORT HAS ISSUED A SIGNIFICANT
WEATHER ADVISORY...EFFECTIVE UNTIL 145 PM CDT...FOR THE FOLLOWING
COUNTIES...
IN NORTHEAST TEXAS...
TITUS...FRANKLIN...MORRIS...CAMP...WOOD AND UPSHUR...
INCLUDING THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONS...
CASON...COOKVILLE...HAGANSPORT...LEESBURG...MOUNT PLEASANT...
MOUNT VERNON...NEWSOME...PITTSBURG...PURLEY...SCROGGINS...
WILKERSON AND WINNSBORO...
AT 1254 PM CDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE METEOROLOGISTS WERE
DETECTING A STRONG THUNDERSTORM NEAR MOUNT VERNON...OR 13 MILES SOUTH
OF HAGANSPORT...MOVING EAST AT 30 MPH.
WINDS 40 TO 50 MPH ARE EXPECTED WITH THIS STORM.
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</html>The Shreveport radar (KSHV), 28 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 20:14 UTC.
6 thunderstorm wind, 6 hail. Local standard time, as filed.
A tree fell onto a school bus. There were no report of injuries.
Large tree limbs and branches were downed.
It was reported that vehicles were damaged by the hail.
The wind gust was measured approximately 13 miles southeast of Shreveport, Louisiana.
A tree was downed in the Lisbon community.
A tree was downed across Hwy. 9 west of Bienville, Louisiana.
A restaurant sign was blown down onto cars in the parking lot.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Louisiana in 2010Every state in 2010This day in weather historyWarnings in Louisiana, May 2010
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 2026-10-01. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 221005, 220999, 221003, 221000, 221006, 221001, 221004, 221002, 221007, 221008, 221009, 221011.