Tornadoes and Flash Flooding in Louisiana, December 14, 2022

A tornado dropped down near Chappepeela Road, damaging a shed near noon. It continued northeast, tearing a shed in half and throwing it downstream about 100 yards. The tornado tracked northeast, flipping and turning over a shed as it reached Averett Road. A few small trees, less than 10 feet tall, were downed at this location. The tornado continued northeast. It torn down and threw sections of residential wood fencing as it crossed Beau Place Lane and Allen Drive. One home on Allen drive had around half a dozen hardwoods snapped or uprooted, consistent with wind speeds of 100 mph. The path width at this point was the greatest at 50 yards. The rest of the tornado track was in inaccessible woods area. Video evidence showed the tornado |racking through this wooded and field area north of Highway 40 and west of Highway 445. High resolution satellite imagery provided proof of tree damage and defoliation through this area north of Hwy 40 and west of Hwy 445 which was supported by video evidence and existence of a tornado debris signature on KLIX. The tornado lifted after reaching Highway 445 at approximately 12:10 PM CST.

NWS Storm Survey found damage consistent with an EF-2 tornado with max winds of 120 mph and a max width of 75 yards in Killona/Montz, LA in St Charles Parish. The tornado touched down near the St Charles Sheriff s Office and Nelson Coleman Correctional Facility at 2:21PM, where it tore off some of the metal roofing sheets and tossed them across a nearby field. The tornado moved northeastward across Hwy 3141, Hwy 3127, and Adams street, snapping small trees and large branches. It then strengthened and crossed Railroad Drive and Schoolhouse Rds, where it destroyed 2 mobile homes and tossed and flipped another mobile home into a neighboring house. It uplifted the roofs of nearby houses and carried them away. Some houses lost their exterior walls. It then continued northeastward and crossed River Rd west of Waterford 3 Nuclear Facility. It crossed the Mississippi River, River Rd (628), and Etienne St. On Etienne St and River Rd, it tore the roof off of a home near the levee and shifted a mobile home off of its foundation. It also broke large branches off of a few trees. It continued northeastward, crossing Vickers Ln where it snapped a large oak tree and tore the porch off of a house. It also damaged the windows in vehicles at the nearby Cembell Industries, Inc. The tornado continued northeastward paralleling 628 (CC rd), where it snapped a few trees and broke off some large branches. It continued|northeastward across the Kansas Southern Railroad before lifting just before E Airline Hwy at 2:26PM. High resolution satellite coupled with radar imagery indicated the tornado deviated northward briefly toward Prescot Road after crossing Airline Hwy, but then turned east-northeast causing tree damage and defoliation per NDVI differencing. The tornado debris signature on KLIX and NDVI differencing supported the continuation of this path to the shore of Lake Pontchartrain and it's likely the tornado continued into the lake. Preliminarily, there was 1 fatality and 8 injuries associated with this tornado.

A combination of storm reports, radar tornado debris signature, and high resolution satellite analysis of the prospective damage path have enabled the confirmation of a weak tornado that tracked over largely rural areas of St. Tammany Parish during the afternoon of 12/14/2022. Radar data and land change analysis indicate the tornado peaked in intensity northeast of Firetower Rd, just after passing the end of Dogwood Rd.

A tornado touched down around 3:02 PM CST on Bayou Dularge Rd, rolling an RV trailer and downing some fences. It continued to the northeast and crossed the Bayou Dularge bridge causing minor damage to the Chet Morrison Contractors buildings. There, at 3:03 PM CST, the tornado took all of the roofing panel off of an entrance shed as well as peeled some of the siding and roof off of a large metal warehouse. The tornado also snapped small tree branches before continuing its path to the northeast across the Intercoastal Waterway and Houma Canal and into the east side of Houma. At 3:05 PM CST, the tornado ended its path shortly after entering the east side of Houma as it peeled off roofing panels off a home on Cleveland St when the front porch came off of the house. The tornado also produced some siding damage and minor tree damage on Cleveland St before lifting as it approached Laban Avenue. Peak wind speed was estimated at 85 mph.

Several streets across Bogalusa were flooded by heavy rainfall.

The tornado touched down just west of Luther Dr, causing roof damage to a home near the intersection with Mather Dr. It moved northeastward causing damage to trees and roofs, with significant damage to three homes near the intersection of Betty St and|Deana St. Just after passing the intersection of Ames Blvd and August Ave, it pushed a large set of bleachers off its foundation at Archbishop Shaw HS. Widespread tree damage was also observed here. The tornado continued northeast into Marrero and Harvey where it caused widespread structural damage along its path. A couple homes on the west side of Harvey suffered complete loss of their roofs with multiple walls collapsed, and were also shifted from their foundations. Other homes along the path in this area suffered minor roof and wall damage. The tornado weakened as it moved east-northeast into Gretna, causing damage mostly to trees. It then strengthened again as it approached approached the Westbank Expressway in far eastern Gretna. In the vicinity of Cook St and Theard St, several homes were severely damaged, with portions of roof structure removed, and one home was completely shifted from its foundation.

The tornado entered into Orleans Parish from Jefferson Parish as it crossed the Westbank Expressway. Moving into Algiers, the tornado again caused significant structural damage along Tita St. One home was shifted from its foundation and began to roll over, being completely destroyed in the process. Three others suffered significant roof structure loss or partial wall collapse. A church was also|shifted from its foundation and destroyed on Wiltz Ln. The tornado then crossed the river, exiting Orleans Parish and entering into St. Bernard Parish.

The tornado entered into Orleans Parish from Jefferson Parish as it crossed the Mississippi River and moved into Arabi. It continued to cause damage to trees, power lines and structures as it moved northeastward. Minor fascia damage was noted to an apartment building where the tornado crossed Patricia street and moved into an inaccessible forested area. The track was extended into the Florida Walk Canal based on high resolution satellite data indicating tree damage along the path through the forest. It may have continued into the marsh, but no damage was observable. The maximum rating of 125 mph EF-2 is based on the homes that lost all or most of their roof structure as well as suffering some wall collapse.

A post-event analysis using high resolution satellite imagery helped to identify a defined, narrow tornado damage path in the marsh of the Biloxi State Wildlife Management Area. This damage path is matched closely with KLIX radar data that indicated a strong area of rotation with a tornado debris signature between 5:44 and 5:52 PM CST. Given the rotation was much stronger right before the tornado moved over land it is possible the tornado was already down while it was over Lake Borgne. Additionally, the exact end of the tornado path is less clear as several lagoons obscure any semblance of a damage path toward the end before the tornado debris signature began to dissipate. Exact peak intensity is unknown given no damage indicators could be identified.

A post-event analysis using high resolution satellite imagery helped to identify a defined, narrow tornado damage path in the marsh near Felicity Bay in Plaquemines Parish. This damage path is matched closely with KLIX radar data that indicated a strong area of rotation with a tornado debris signature between 6:01 and 6:06 PM CST which matched up with the narrow damage path. The exact end of the tornado path is unclear as bays and lagoons obscure any semblance of a damage path toward the end before the tornado debris signature began to dissipate. Exact peak intensity is unknown given no damage indicators could be identified.

Street flooding from heavy rainfall was reported near the base of the Wisner overpass.