Tornadoes and Hail in Louisiana, April 12 to 13, 2022

A brief EF-1 tornado with estimated maximum winds near 110 mph touched down in the Swartz community near Woodmont Drive, where it tracked just east of due north for around two and a half miles over a largely residential area. Direct damage was primarily to trees, although many structures and homes were damaged due to falling trees and tree limbs. The tree damage was near the EF-0 to EF-1 threshold for most of the track, with many more uproots and trunk snaps. However, near the end of the tornado along and north of Highway 139, the level of tree damage indicated a strengthening of the tornado, in particular along Trichel Lane. It was near the end of this road that approximately one hundred trees were snapped and uprooted, warranting a peak wind speed estimate of 110 mph, which is a high-end EF-1 on the Enhanced Fujita Scale. Unfortunately, one of these trees destroyed a mobile home and a resident inside was injured, but not critically.

A large tree was blown down onto a mobile home just north of Blanchard.

A band of damaging straight line winds estimated between 75-85 mph developed along the leading edge of a quasi-linear convective system (QLCS) across a portion of the Southern Hills neighborhood of South Shreveport, from the parent storm that would later spawn an EF-0 tornado over Southeast Shreveport and South Bossier City only 6-15 minutes later. Multiple large trees were snapped and uprooted in an area bounded by Bert Kouns Industrial loop to the south, Walker Road to the west, Highway 3132 to the north, and Kingston Road to the east. Trees fell on at least four homes in this area, with numerous large limbs snapped as well. A large portion of a metal roof was peeled off of the back of a used car company on Mackey Lane, with numerous shingles removed off of a business in the South Park Village. The front facade of another adjacent business in South Park Village was also blown into the parking lot. All of the snapped and uprooted trees throughout Southern Hills as well as the roof/facade damage in South Park Village were all blown/lying in a north-northeast direction, indicative of straight line winds.

A portion of the roof of RJ's Restaurant was damaged. A sign from the restaurant was blown across Mansfield Road as well.

An EF-0 tornado with estimated maximum winds around 80 mph which was embedded in a quasi-linear convective system (QLCS) touched down on a farm to the northwest of Blanchard in Caddo Parish. A center pivot irrigation system was flipped by the tornado as it crossed an open field. The tornado then snapped tree limbs before partially removing the roofs of four metal farm buildings along Sentell Road. The tornado then crossed the Red River into Bossier Parish. It should be noted that while the tornado was an EF-0 in Caddo Parish, it did intensify into an EF-1 with estimated maximum winds around 110 mph after it entered Bossier Parish.

Numerous trees and power lines were downed throughout the city of Shreveport and the surrounding areas.

This is a continuation of the Caddo Parish tornado. This tornado intensified to an EF-1 with estimated maximum winds near 110 mph as it moved over a heavily wooded area near and just south of Willow Bend Road northwest of Benton, where it snapped and uprooted hardwood and softwood trees. The most intense damage was to a guest house which was shifted off of its foundation and destroyed. The tornado continued on to remove a large portion of the roof of a two-story single family home. Two children on the second story of the home were saved by their father who got the Tornado Warning via a Wireless Emergency Alert (WEA) on his wireless phone, and then moved them to a tornado shelter in the center of the home on the first floor. The tornado continued on to damage another single family home and then cross Old Plain Dealing Road. After crossing Old Plain Dealing Road, the tornado removed the roof of a small metal outbuilding and snapped/uprooted several more hardwood and softwood trees before moving into a forested area and lifting.

An EF-0 tornado with estimated maximum winds near 85 mph embedded within a quasi-linear convective system (QLCS) touched down along Sophia Lane and Brunswick Drive in Southeast Shreveport. There, large branches of hardwood and softwood trees were broken and twisted off. The tornado then damaged a food stand as it crossed Youree Drive, while also damaging large branches and uprooting a couple of trees. Minor shingle damage to single family homes adjacent to LSU-Shreveport also resulted from this tornado, before tracking across the LSU-S campus, uprooting trees and downing large branches. The tornado also damaged the soccer and baseball fields at LSU-S before crossing East Kings Highway and the Red River into Western Bossier Parish.

The is a continuation of the Eastern Caddo Parish (Southeast Shreveport) EF-0 tornado. This tornado maintained its intensity with estimated maximum winds near 85 mph as it crossed over into South Bossier City in Bossier Parish, where it continued to uproot trees and down/twist large tree branches. It also uprooted trees which split at least three manufactured homes off of Alfred Lane as they fell and damaged several others. The tornado continued on to General Ewell Drive, and then moved over a forested area on Barksdale Air Force Base. Personnel from Barksdale Air Force Base relayed that trees were uprooted and that large tree branches were broken via pictures as the tornado crossed the southern and eastern forested portions of the base. Beyond Barksdale Air Force Base, only thunderstorm wind damage was found off of Union Texas Road and Academy Lane by Haughton Elementary School in Haughton.

An EF-0 tornado with estimated maximum winds near 80 mph that was embedded within a quasi-linear convective system (QLCS), briefly touched down along Hosston Rodessa Road just north of the Hosston city limits, where it twisted and broke off small and large hardwood tree branches. The tornado continued to down additional tree branches along Christian Street, before lifting as it crossed Highway 71.

Trees were downed at Bossier Elementary School.

Widespread trees and power lines were blown down across much of Desoto Parish.

A tree was blown down on Highway 175 near Mansfield.

Several trees were blown down in and near Doyline.

Trees were blown down near the intersection of Old Highway 7 and Marathon Road just southeast of Cotton Valley.

Trees were blown down on Martha Woods Road near Heflin.

An EF-1 tornado with estimated maximum winds near 100 mph touched down in a wooded area west of Layfield Road west of Castor, and tracked northeast across Highway 4, snapping and uprooting numerous trees along its path. One area of maximum winds was found in an open field just west of Layfield Road where 10-11 wooden power poles were snapped just west of Highway 4. The tornado continued northeast across Highway 792 north of Castor, where it tracked along and just north of Ayers Road and across a logging camp, where a second area of maximum winds were found on Kepler Road just north of Ayers Road. The tornado continued to track northeast over a heavily wooded area inaccessible by vehicle, but dopplar radar indicated a tornadic debris signature north of Highway 4 and west of Highway 9. The tornado lifted prior to reaching Highway 9 and the community of Bienville, although straight line winds estimated to be near 90 mph were found here as numerous trees were snapped and uprooted, but all lying in a northeasterly direction.

Multiple trees were blown down in and near Sibley.

Several trees were blown down across the city of Minden, with some trees falling on vehicles.

Multiple trees were blown down in and near Dubberly.

A 66 mph wind gust was measured at the Minden Airport.

A wide swath of mainly tree damage occurred in Southeast Claiborne Parish several miles east southeast of Lisbon, particularly along Highway 152, Revis Fowler Road, Kimbletown Road, and Wilson Road south of Highway 2. Numerous trees were snapped and uprooted across these areas, with a metal canopy tossed adjacent to the intersection of Highway 152 and Kimbletown Road.

A power pole was snapped and power lines were downed across from the Calhoun Fire Department station on Cowboy Road in Calhoun.

A large tree was blown down across Claiborne Road in the Calhoun area.

A tree fell onto a mobile home in the Truxno community.

Trees were uprooted near Calhoun at Exit 103 on I-20. A nearby power pole was snapped. A tree fell on a car at this same location.

A tree was blown down onto a home on Park Avenue in Monroe.

A tree and a power pole were downed near Bon Aire Drive and Old Sterlington Road in Monroe.

Quarter size hail fell on the southeast side of Dubberly.

Golf ball size hail was measured in the Taylor community.

Mobile homes were damaged in the Pisgah community.

US 167 on the north side of Bernice was closed in both directions due to downed power lines lying across the road.

Multiple trees and power lines were downed on Highway 2 West from the Bernice Elementary School, forcing the closure of the roadway.

Roofs were damaged to mobile homes and other buildings in Bernice. Numerous trees were blown down as well.

Multiple trees and power lines were downed on Pleasant Hill Road between Spearsville and Farmerville.

Golf ball size hail broke windows and damaged siding to a home on Lockwood Road.

Numerous trees and power lines were downed several miles northwest of Farmerville.

Multiple trees were downed in the Truxno community.

Several trees were downed along Highway 79.

Multiple trees and power lines were downed in Pleasant Hill.

Trees and power lines were blown down in Many.

A tree was blown down on Highway 480 east-southeast of Campti.

Numerous trees and power lines were downed across Winn Parish.

A tree was downed on Highway 1227 northeast of Clarence.

A tree was blown down on Oak Lane southeast of Montgomery.

An EF-1 tornado with estimated maximum winds near 100 mph touched down in a heavily wooded area just west of Highway 127 southeast of Sikes in Northeast Winn Parish, where it snapped and uprooted numerous trees. This tornado tracked northeast across another heavily wooded area northeast of Highway 127, which was inaccessible by vehicle. However, the Fort Polk dopplar radar indicated a tornadic debris signature northeast of Highway 127 near the Caldwell Parish line, with the tornado continuing east-northeast into Western Caldwell Parish before intensifying into a low end EF-2 with estimated maximum winds near 115 mph on the Enhanced Fujita Scale.

The is a continuation of the Northeast Winn Parish tornado. This tornado intensified to an EF-2 on the Enhanced Fujita Scale with estimated maximum winds around 115 mph shortly after entering Western Caldwell Parish in an area that remained inaccessible by vehicle. However, the Fort Polk dopplar radar continued to indicate a tornadic debris signature as the tornado tracked across Childress Road where the strongest winds were observed. Numerous trees were snapped and uprooted, with a couple falling onto homes in this area. Remarkedly, most of the homes avoided significant damage, as the densely wooded area shielded the higher winds from these homes. The tornado continued northeast across Highway 126 and Wiles Road, where numerous trees were snapped and uprooted. Again, several homes were protected from these trees with little if any damage, where the tornado reached its widest point along Wiles Road and as it crossed Highway 4 west of Columbia. Numerous trees were uprooted in front of a residence opposite of the intersection of Highway 3239, with the tornado continuing northeast and finally lifting northwest of Columbia before reaching Highway 165 between Columbia and Riverton. These storms then transitioned into a damaging straight line wind event as several large tree limbs were snapped along both sides of Highway 165, with additional straight line wind damage noted along Highway 133 in the Hebert community along the Caldwell/Richland Parish line. Several trees were uprooted and large limbs were snapped in this area. However, the tree debris here all were lying in a southeasterly direction. In all, this tornado remained on the ground for approximately 19.3 miles from Northwest Winn into Central Caldwell Parish.

Trees were blown down in Olla. An antenna was blown down at a substation in town.

A tree was blown onto power lines on Brooks Road near Dry Prong.

Trees were blown down at 1759 Highway 850 south of Grayson.

Trees were downed on Bellview Lane just east of Columbia.

A roof was blown off of a home and onto a car along Highway 165 near Columbia. Numerous large branches were downed in this same area as well.

A tree was blown down on Grover Atwell Road near Highway 165.

Trees were downed in Jena.