A very unstable airmass developed ahead of a cold front which moved through Northern Louisiana during the afternoon and evening hours of May 7th. While atmospheric wind shear was relatively weak, the extreme instability made up for the lack of shear.
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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 SHV wrote it up.
A very unstable airmass developed ahead of a cold front which moved through Northern Louisiana during the afternoon and evening hours of May 7th. While atmospheric wind shear was relatively weak, the extreme instability made up for the lack of shear. Multicell and supercell thunderstorms were the end result, some of which produced large hail initially but the storms quickly transitioned into damaging wind producing thunderstorms with numerous reports of wind damage received across Northern Louisiana.
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 7, 4:38 PM CST, 2 hours 22 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SHREVEPORT LA 538 PM CDT MON MAY 7 2012 .DISCUSSION... CLUSTER OF SVR TSTMS WITH STG POTENTIAL FOR LARGE HAIL...PROMPTED ISSUANCE OF SVR TSTM WATCH FOR ALL SW AR/SE OK...AND EXTREME NE CORNER TX. HOWEVER...SLOW MOVMT OF SE PROPAGATING STORMS KEEP BIGGEST THREAT NORTH OF I-30...WITH 90 DEGREE TEMPS STILL OUT JUST TO THE SE OF THIS CLUSTER. EXPECT SOME DECREASE IN INTENSITY WITH LOSS OF DAYTIME HEATING BY 10 PM...EXPIRATION TIME. ELSEWHERE...CONVECTION HAS REMAINED SPORADIC AND VERY ISOLD...SO WILL GO WITH 20 PERCENT POPS REMAINING PORTIONS OF CWA TONIGHT./VII/. && .PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS... SHV 70 81 63 79 56 / 20 50 40 20 10 MLU 68 84 63 80 54 / 20 50 50 30 10 DEQ 64 77 55 79 49 / 50 30 20 10 10 TXK 66 78 59 79 53 / 40 50 30 20 10 ELD 65 78 59 79 50 / 40 50 30 20 10 TYR 67 77 60 78 55 / 20 50 40 20 10 GGG 68 79 61 78 53 / 20 50 40 20 10 LFK 70 83 64 80 57 / 20 50 40 20 20 && .SHV WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... AR...NONE. LA...NONE. OK...NONE. TX...NONE. &&
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SHREVEPORT LA 1136 AM CDT MON MAY 7 2012 ARZ050-051-059>061-070>073-LAZ001>006-010>014-017>022-OKZ077- TXZ096-097-108>112-124>126-136>138-149>153-165>167-081200- SEVIER-HOWARD-LITTLE RIVER-HEMPSTEAD-NEVADA-MILLER-LAFAYETTE- COLUMBIA-UNION AR-CADDO-BOSSIER-WEBSTER-CLAIBORNE-LINCOLN- UNION LA-DE SOTO-RED RIVER-BIENVILLE-JACKSON-OUACHITA-SABINE LA- NATCHITOCHES-WINN-GRANT-CALDWELL-LA SALLE-MCCURTAIN-BOWIE- FRANKLIN-TITUS-CAMP-MORRIS-CASS-WOOD-UPSHUR-MARION-SMITH-GREGG- HARRISON-CHEROKEE-RUSK-PANOLA-NACOGDOCHES-SHELBY-ANGELINA- SAN AUGUSTINE-SABINE TX- 1136 AM CDT MON MAY 7 2012 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF SOUTH CENTRAL ARKANSAS...SOUTHWEST ARKANSAS...NORTH CENTRAL LOUISIANA... NORTHWEST LOUISIANA...SOUTHEAST OKLAHOMA...EAST TEXAS AND NORTHEAST TEXAS. .DAY ONE...THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT... SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WILL BE POSSIBLE THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING AS A COLD FRONT MOVES INTO THE AREA FROM THE NORTHWEST. ALSO...SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS MAY DEVELOP ALONG AN OUTFLOW BOUNDARY MOVING INTO THE AREA FROM THE NORTH. SOME THUNDERSTORMS THAT DEVELOP MAY BECOME SEVERE...WITH THE MAIN THREATS BEING LARGE HAIL AND DAMAGING WINDS. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...TUESDAY THROUGH SUNDAY... SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WILL ONCE AGAIN BE POSSIBLE ACROSS THE AREA ON TUESDAY AND WEDNESDAY...AS THE SLOW TO MOVE COLD FRONT REMAINS NEAR THE AREA. ALSO...SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WILL BE POSSIBLE AGAIN THIS WEEKEND AS AN UPPER LEVEL LOW AND SURFACE COLD FRONT APPROACH THE AREA FROM THE WEST. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... ACTIVATION OF EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT PERSONNEL...AMATEUR RADIO OPERATORS...AND STORM SPOTTERS MAY BE NEEDED THIS AFTERNOON THROUGH TONIGHT. 20
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SHREVEPORT LA
657 PM CDT MON MAY 07 2012
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
0650 PM HAIL HOOKS 33.47N 94.29W
05/07/2012 M1.00 INCH BOWIE TX AMATEUR RADIO
NICKEL TO QUARTER SIZED HAIL IN HOOKS
&&
19PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SHREVEPORT LA
705 PM CDT MON MAY 07 2012
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
0705 PM TSTM WND DMG STAMPS 33.36N 93.50W
05/07/2012 LAFAYETTE AR LAW ENFORCEMENT
TREES DOWN ON COUNTY ROAD 28 IN STAMPS
&&
19PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SHREVEPORT LA
725 PM CDT MON MAY 07 2012
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
0705 PM TSTM WND DMG STAMPS 33.36N 93.50W
05/07/2012 LAFAYETTE AR EMERGENCY MNGR
POWER LINES DOWN IN STAMPS
&&
19PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SHREVEPORT LA
727 PM CDT MON MAY 07 2012
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
0711 PM HAIL 3 SE BOGATA 33.44N 95.18W
05/07/2012 M1.00 INCH RED RIVER TX AMATEUR RADIO
QUARTER SIZED HAIL REPORTED IN JOHNTOWN
&&
19PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SHREVEPORT LA
736 PM CDT MON MAY 07 2012
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
0645 PM TSTM WND DMG HOPE 33.67N 93.59W
05/07/2012 HEMPSTEAD AR LAW ENFORCEMENT
TREES AND POWER LINES DOWN IN HOPE AND THROUGHOUT THE
COUNTY ALONG HWY 278 AND HWY 29
&&
19PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SHREVEPORT LA
752 PM CDT MON MAY 07 2012
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
0735 PM HAIL BROKEN BOW 34.03N 94.74W
05/07/2012 E0.75 INCH MCCURTAIN OK 911 CALL CENTER
&&
03The Shreveport radar (KSHV), 56 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 00:59 UTC.
3 thunderstorm wind. Local standard time, as filed.
Several trees were downed across the northern portion of Webster Parish.
Trees were downed in Minden, Louisiana.
A tree was downed across the road in Bienville, Louisiana.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Louisiana in 2012Every state in 2012This day in weather historyWarnings in Louisiana, May 2012
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: 369446, 369451, 369452.