Louisiana, 2020

Damaging Winds in Louisiana, July 31, 2020

July 31, 2020 · NWS SHV · 2 events in 1 county or zone

An abnormally deep longwave trough shifted south southeast through the Midwest into Eastern Oklahoma and North Texas by the morning hours of July 31st, with an attendant cool front mixing southeast into Northwest Arkansas, Eastern Oklahoma, and North Texas. Showers and thunderstorms continued to develop along and ahead of this front along the longwave trough axis during the morning of the 31st,…

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it. Tap one for its entry below.

  • Tornadoes
  • Tropical storms and surge
  • Floods
  • Wind
  • Hail
  • Winter weather
  • Heat and drought
  • Cold
  • Fire, smoke and dust
  • Marine and coastal
  • Other

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The toll

Deaths
0
Injuries
0
Property damage
None recorded
Crop damage
None recorded
Events
2

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.

What happened

The episode as NWS SHV wrote it up.

An abnormally deep longwave trough shifted south southeast through the Midwest into Eastern Oklahoma and North Texas by the morning hours of July 31st, with an attendant cool front mixing southeast into Northwest Arkansas, Eastern Oklahoma, and North Texas. Showers and thunderstorms continued to develop along and ahead of this front along the longwave trough axis during the morning of the 31st, which organized into a broken line as it moved into a moderately unstable air mass by early afternoon during peak heating. Some of the storms became severe across the southern sections of Northcentral Louisiana, where trees and power lines were downed at various locations in Grant Parish, before exiting and weakening the area during the late afternoon hours.

What forecasters said that day

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 Jul 31, 1:57 PM CST, 1 hour 33 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jul 31, 1:57 PM CST, 1 hour 33 minutes before
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Hazardous weather outlook, Jul 31, 10:52 AM CST, 4 hours 38 minutes before
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In the hours before

Special weather statement, Jul 31, 12:14 PM CST, 3 hours 16 minutes before
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Special weather statement, Jul 31, 1:59 PM CST, 1 hour 31 minutes before
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Special weather statement, Jul 31, 2:02 PM CST, 1 hour 28 minutes before
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Special weather statement, Jul 31, 2:43 PM CST, 47 minutes before
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The radar

The Ft Polk radar (KPOE), 51 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 21:26 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

2 thunderstorm wind. Local standard time, as filed.

Thunderstorm Wind, Grant

When
July 31, 3:30 PM CST
Where
Grant County, 2.39 mi NE of Colfax
Measured
61 kt (70 mph) estimated gust
Reported by
Law Enforcement
Coordinates
31.543, -92.689

Trees and power lines were blown down on Lemoine Cutoff Road near Highway 71 just northeast of Colfax.

Thunderstorm Wind, Grant

When
July 31, 3:42 PM CST
Where
Grant County, 0.82 mi ENE of Pollock
Measured
52 kt (60 mph) estimated gust
Reported by
Law Enforcement
Coordinates
31.524, -92.407

A large tree limb was downed onto a power line on Hill Street in Pollock.

What these are

Thunderstorm Wind
Winds from a thunderstorm of 50 knots (58 mph) or more, or lower winds that caused damage or casualties. Measured gusts are marked MG, estimated EG.

After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.

The same day elsewhere

More

Every storm in Louisiana in 2020Every state in 2020This day in weather historyWarnings in Louisiana, July 2020

Sources

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: 898095, 898096.