Louisiana, 2021

Damaging Wind in Louisiana, December 9, 2021

December 9, 2021 · NWS LIX · 1 event in 1 county or zone

As high pressure slid off to the northeast of the area, southeast flow through the column strengthened. This resulted in moisture surging northward out of the Gulf of Mexico and across the local area as a weak warm front.

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
$10,000
Crop damage
None recorded
Events
1

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 LIX wrote it up.

As high pressure slid off to the northeast of the area, southeast flow through the column strengthened. This resulted in moisture surging northward out of the Gulf of Mexico and across the local area as a weak warm front. Surface temperatures warmed into the upper 70s but temperatures aloft were still relatively cool. This setup created just enough instability to support a severe thunderstorm that brought damaging winds to portions of New Orleans.

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 New Orleans, LA wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Dec 9, 3:58 PM CST, 32 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Dec 9, 3:58 PM CST, 32 minutes before
Area Forecast Discussion
National Weather Service New Orleans LA
358 PM CST Thu Dec 9 2021

.SHORT TERM (Tonight through Sunday)...

We will continue to see some rain showers move through the area
into this evening, with some thunderstorms not completely ruled
out. We dry out overnight with a couple light showers possible for
some on Friday, but most areas likely remain dry for the day. High
temperatures for Friday will warm to near 80 for most, even
reaching the low 80s in some areas. There will be a risk of dense
fog this evening and through the overnight hours, mainly for areas
along the Mississippi Gulf coast and coastal southeast Louisiana.
A dense fog advisory has been issued for these areas until 10am
Friday morning.

Our main focus shifts to late Friday and through the day on
Saturday as a cold front approaches and slides down through our
area. Per the SPC Day 2 and 3 outlook, we have a marginal risk of
severe weather Friday night and into Saturday. The main threats
are looking to be damaging winds and isolated tornadoes. Taking
a look at sounding analysis, SRH and CAPE values have increased a
bit more than they were yesterday. Although the setup for severe
weather isn't the greatest, it isn't anything to look over. The
main threat will remain more north of our CWA, but some convection
is still present over our area which keeps the marginal risk in
for us. The main line of rain and storms will move into NW areas
as early as Friday night and look to exit our CWA late in the
afternoon. Isolated rain chances stick around through Saturday
evening following the front. We dry out overnight into Sunday as a
high pressure system begins to build into the area.

.LONG TERM (Monday and Beyond)...

The extended period is going to be full of quiet and rather
pleasant weather heading into next week. A strong upper level
ridge looks to dominate for most of next week. PoPs for the
entire forecast period are very low as a high pressure system at
the surface builds over the area keeping moisture low.
Temperatures will still be on the cooler side on Sunday following
Saturday's cold front, generally in the low to mid 60s for most
areas during the day. High temps will then gradually warm up
through the week, reaching back above normal into the mid to upper
70s by Wednesday.

-HL

&&

.AVIATION(18Z TAFs)...

A few rain showers moving through the area may briefly bring
visibilities down at some terminals, but these showers aren't
expected to hang around long. Outside of the rain, VFR for the
afternoon before fog risk returns this evening. IFR conditions
will arrive for some terminals this evening and overnight for
patchy fog, while LIFR conditions are likely due to dense fog for
GPT and HUM. HL

&&

.MARINE...

We continue to see moderate onshore flow, which has been bringing
seas up due to the southerly fetch. Winds will continue to be
moderate on Friday keeping the rough seas into Saturday before our
next front moves in. A cold front will move in on Saturday,
eventually reaching the coastal waters and quickly turning winds
to the north. Once flow shifts offshore following the front, we
will potentially see small craft advisory criteria as winds pick
up. HL

&&

.PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS...
MCB  65  80  65  72 /  40  20  60  90
BTR  68  81  68  73 /  20  10  50  80
ASD  65  81  67  78 /  30  10  20  80
MSY  69  82  70  78 /  20  10  20  80
GPT  64  76  69  76 /  60  10  20  80
PQL  64  78  67  77 /  70  10  20  80

&&

.LIX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
LA...None.
GM...None.
MS...None.
GM...None.
&&

The radar

The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

1 thunderstorm wind. Local standard time, as filed.

Thunderstorm Wind, Jefferson

When
December 9, 4:30 PM CST
Where
Jefferson County, 2.74 mi NE of Kenner
Measured
52 kt (60 mph) estimated gust
Property damage
$10,000
Reported by
NWS Storm Survey
Coordinates
30.011, -90.202

An NWS storm survey team has determined that the damage in Metairie, LA was caused by straight-line winds. There were two areas of damage surveyed. One was on Clearview Parkway and one on Haring road. The first area had one home with shingle damage, a damaged carport and a front pillar shifted off the porch. Two neighboring houses had about 5-10 feet of shingle/awning damage. Surrounding these houses, there was little to no leaf or street debris, no other structural damage was noted, christmas decorations were not moved and the tarped roofs were not touched. In the second location, only one house had a few feet of siding damage and many of the christmas decorations were not moved while a few were. There was some leaf debris noted in this area. It is also important to note that these areas did sustain widespread minor structural damage from hurricane Ida. In summary, due to the very isolated damage and the related complications due to Ida, we cannot conclusively determine this was a tornado. This damage will be determined as 60 mph straight-line winds unless additional information is found.

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 2021Every state in 2021This day in weather historyWarnings in Louisiana, December 2021

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 2026-09-24. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 999685.