A strong upper level disturbance and surface low produced a line of severe thunderstorms with embedded tornadoes that impacted much of Southeast Louisiana during the late afternoon and evening hours of Wednesday March 30, 2022. This line of thunderstorms produced straight line wind damage and a few tornadoes in the area.
Every event with a place to put it. Tap one for its entry below.
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 LIX wrote it up.
A strong upper level disturbance and surface low produced a line of severe thunderstorms with embedded tornadoes that impacted much of Southeast Louisiana during the late afternoon and evening hours of Wednesday March 30, 2022. This line of thunderstorms produced straight line wind damage and a few tornadoes in the area. There were also very strong gradient winds that impacted the region during the early afternoon hours and several wind gusts in excess of 50 mph were reported. 2 tornadoes developed in Louisiana in this event. One of the tornadoes tracked across the exact same path as another one 6 days prior.
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 Mar 30, 2:29 PM CST, 43 minutes earlier.
Area Forecast Discussion...CORRECTED
National Weather Service New Orleans LA
329 PM CDT Wed Mar 30 2022
.NEAR TERM...Through Tonight
The forecast for the severe weather this afternoon and evening is
still on track. A tornado watch is in effect for all of LA and
southern MS. The coastal MS counties and Pearl River county is
out of the watch right now but may be added as the line gets that
far east. Tornado and Severe Thunderstorm Warnings have been
issued by offices to the west with a few reports of structural and
tree damage. Ahead of the line, winds are already gusting 40-50
MPH which is already causing tree damage and power outages. It
won't take much more wind in the line to have severe storms and
cause more damage. This will be enhanced by some mid level drying.
The main threat is still damaging wind gusts in the line but
brief tornadoes within the line are still a possibility and there
is a history of those in the line.
Ahead of the line, showers have not been able to get going due to
a cap. This cap should continue to break which will enhance the
instability in front of the line, keeping the line strong to
severe as it moves into SE LA. There's already 60-70 knots of bulk
shear, with 30-40 knots of 0-1 km shear. The shear is there; the
question is the instability, which continues to increase each
hour.
Overall, there is really no change to our thoughts over the last
few days. The line is still expected to have severe winds (greater
than 58 MPH gust) when it moves through the region. The latest
timing for when the line gets to a parish/county is similar to
before, Wilkinson/Iberville/Pointe Coupee from now through 4PM,
Baton Rouge area 4-7, New Orleans 6-9 and the MS coast 8-10.
Remember to take severe thunderstorm warnings as serious as
tornado and get to an interior room if a warning is issued!
.SHORT TERM...Thursday through Saturday Night
By Thursday morning, the front will be off to the east with drier
and cooler air moving in and winds subsiding. Lows Thu night will
be in the mid 40s to lower 50s. Surface high pressure quickly
moves into the region but the previous front will stall over
the open Gulf. Rain looks to redevelop over the boundary from west
to east with the aid of a weak shortwave in zonal flow aloft.
This looks to be mostly Saturday evening and overnight. Highs and
lows will start to warm again as we go into Saturday.
.LONG TERM...Sunday through Wednesday
An upper trough is moving through the northeast on Sunday with a
lingering boundary along the Gulf Coast. High pressure will
continue to move southeast over the region. As the upper pattern
flattens, the surface high pressure will shift to the east but the
area will remain dry. The next trough will start to dig into the
desert southwest Monday afternoon. With a surface low forming
ahead of it, a front and its precip will start to move in Monday
night and move through by Wednesday morning.
Highs will be generally in the lower 80s through the long term.
Lows will be in the 50s Sat and Sun night and then warming into
the lower 60s.
&&
.AVIATION...
A mix of MVFR and VFR conditions are occurring with conditions
probably settling to IFR/VFR as the rain moves in. Wind gusts are
gusting as high as 40 knots with sustained anywhere from 20-30
knots. Occasionally higher values are possible. A line of strong
to severe thunderstorms is going to move through this evening and
the line was timed out with TEMPO groups. Wind gusts of 50-60kts
are possible with that line, if not higher than that. Behind the
line, winds shift NW and will be less than 15 knots.
&&
.MARINE...
Gale Warning will remain as is, with conditions relaxing on
Thursday. Exercise Caution headlines likely to be appropriate at
times over the weekend over the open waters. Likely to need Small
Craft Advisories ahead of the next large scale trough around Monday
night or Tuesday next week.
&&
.PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS...
MCB 51 73 45 75 / 30 0 0 0
BTR 51 75 47 77 / 10 0 0 0
ASD 56 77 48 78 / 100 0 0 0
MSY 59 75 56 75 / 80 0 0 0
GPT 59 77 51 76 / 100 0 0 0
PQL 60 77 50 76 / 100 0 0 0
&&
.LIX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
LA...High Wind Warning until 9 PM CDT this evening for LAZ034>037-039-
046>050-056>061-063>072-075>078.
Coastal Flood Advisory until 1 AM CDT Thursday for LAZ064-
066>070-075-076-078.
Wind Advisory from 9 PM this evening to 1 AM CDT Thursday for
LAZ061-063-064-068>070-076>078.
GM...Gale Warning until 1 AM CDT Thursday for GMZ530-532-534-536-538-
550-552-555-557-570-572-575-577.
MS...High Wind Warning until 9 PM CDT this evening for MSZ068>071-077-
080>082.
Coastal Flood Advisory until 1 AM CDT Thursday for MSZ080>082.
Wind Advisory from 9 PM this evening to 1 AM CDT Thursday for
MSZ080>082.
GM...Gale Warning until 1 AM CDT Thursday for GMZ532-534-536-538-550-
552-555-557-570-572-575-577.
&&PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NEW ORLEANS LA
225 PM CDT WED MAR 30 2022
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
0200 PM NON-TSTM WND DMG 1 NNE OAK HILLS PLACE 30.38N 91.08W
03/30/2022 EAST BATON ROUGE LA PUBLIC
TWO TREES WERE BLOWN DOWN.
&&
JFLPRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NEW ORLEANS LA
302 PM CDT WED MAR 30 2022
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
0256 PM NON-TSTM WND DMG 4 ESE OAK HILLS PLACE 30.34N 91.03W
03/30/2022 EAST BATON ROUGE LA FIRE DEPT/RESCUE
POWER POLE BLOWN DOWN WITH MULTIPLE LINES ON
THE GROUND.
&&
JFLThe national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
5 thunderstorm wind, 2 tornado. Local standard time, as filed.
A member of the public reported large tree limbs broken northwest of Walker.
A member of the public reported large tree limbs downed by thunderstorm winds.
A member of the public reported large tree limbs downed by thunderstorm winds.
A tornado touched down near Hwy 51 and Roseland Ave where several trees were found uprooted and numerous large branches snapped in a wooded area. The tornado was estimated to be moving northeast at 45 mph. It tracked across Holloway Rd where several trees were found uprooted or snapped. Dozens of trees were uprooted or large branches snapped a quarter-mile southeast of Hwy 10 along East Russell Town Rd. The most concentrated damage was surveyed along Hwy 10 near Harden Ln where numerous trees were uprooted and multiple homes sustained significant damage. One double-wide manufactured home was lifted off their foundation blocks and the|roof torn. Windows were blown out on the north and east sides of the house. An outhouse on the property was destroyed and one of the wooden posts pierced through the front windshield of an SUV on the property. Another home sustained significant damage from a large uprooted tree that fell through the roof. There were multiple first-hand reports of debris being lofted as the tornado moved through. The tornado continued to track northeast but|observed damage was more sporadic (and difficult to access on the ground) in the last 2 miles of the 6-mile long track, before lifting near Rt 1054 and Bryce Hyde Rd. Based on the damage survey, the tornado was rated an EF-1 with peak estimated winds of 90 mph.
A member of the public reported house roof shingles blown off and large tree limbs downed by thunderstorm winds.
A waterspout over Lake Pontchartrain moved onshore near the outlet of Cane Bayou. As the tornado raced northeast at 50 to 60 mph, it snapped large limbs and tree tops on property surrounding the Rankin House on Cane Bayou. The tornado continued northeastward and snapped large limbs and uprooted a tree at a residence along U.S. Highway 190. The tornado quickly lifted at this point.
It should be noted how remarkably similar the track of this tornado is compared to one from just over a week ago. In fact, it's believed that the 2 tornado tracks are within about 100 yards of each other at most points south of U.S. Highway 190.
The Lakefront Airport ASOS measured a thunderstorm wind gust of 67 mph or 58 knots.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Louisiana in 2022Every state in 2022This day in weather historyThe tornado archive for Louisiana, 2022Warnings in Louisiana, March 2022
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: 1014027, 1014028, 1014029, 1014030, 1014031, 1014032, 1014033.