A strong upper level disturbance and surface low produced several supercell thunderstorms with embedded tornadoes across Southeast Louisiana and Southern Mississippi during the late afternoon and evening hours of Wednesday December 14, 2022. These supercell thunderstorms produced straight line wind damage, flash flooding and tornadoes.
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 several supercell thunderstorms with embedded tornadoes across Southeast Louisiana and Southern Mississippi during the late afternoon and evening hours of Wednesday December 14, 2022. These supercell thunderstorms produced straight line wind damage, flash flooding and tornadoes.
2 tornadoes have been confirmed in Mississippi from this event. These tornadoes have been determined to range in strength from EF0 to EF1 after NWS storm surveys were conducted.
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 14, 6:33 AM CST, 3 hours 27 minutes earlier.
Area Forecast Discussion
National Weather Service New Orleans LA
633 AM CST Wed Dec 14 2022
...New UPDATE, AVIATION...
.UPDATE...
Issued at 619 AM CST Wed Dec 14 2022
Zone forecast updated for Tornado Watch 587 through 19z mainly
north and west of Lake Pontchartrain, which does NOT include New
Orleans metro area at this time. We do anticipate watches during
the afternoon hours, so areas not currently in the watch should
not let their guard down today.
May not see a lot of eastward progress of the line of
thunderstorms over the next couple of hours while we wait for the
shortwave over Texas to approach the area. This could allow areas
to the southeast to destabilize more than previously forecast.
Still potential for low pressure to develop to our north, which
would back surface winds somewhat, enhancing tornado potential. A
very quick look at the lower levels of the 12z LIX upper air
sounding continues to show sufficient shear and instability for
severe weather although locally, moisture levels dropped slightly
from the 00z sounding (1.45 to 1.25). Expect that to recover over
the next few hours.
&&
.SHORT TERM...
(Today through Thursday)
Issued at 417 AM CST Wed Dec 14 2022
Main forecast issues for the entire forecast package occur in the
first 18 hours of the forecast...today and this evening.
Significant severe weather and excessive rainfall threats,
especially from the Interstate 10 corridor northward.
Stacked deep upper low centered over Nebraska early this morning
with one shortwave rotating around the low near Kansas City, and a
second near the Texas-New Mexico border. Some weak hints of a
meso-low trying to develop over the Mississippi Delta north of
Vicksburg along the occlusion. A nearly solid line of convection
extended from northeast Mississippi to near Jackson to Lake
Charles at 3 AM CST, just now entering the northwest corner of our
CWA. Ahead of the convection, the entire area is in the warm
sector with temperatures 70-75F and dew points upper 60s and lower
70s. Soundings are plenty supportive of severe weather with MUCAPE
values of 1500 J/kg or greater, 0-1km SRH of 250 m2/s2, shear near
50 knots and precipitable water values around 1.50 inches. Current
line of convection may not make much more eastward progress over
the next 3 to 6 hours, until the Texas-New Mexico shortwave lifts
northeastward toward the middle Mississippi River Valley. Current
Tornado Watch 586 for northwest portions of our area likely to be
replaced around 12Z. There have been multiple tornado warnings to
our north and west overnight, and as the shortwave lifts
northeast that may back surface winds a bit more, making the
situation even more conducive for tornadic development. There may
be multiple rounds of thunderstorms, producing 2 inch/hour
rainfallrates today. Widespread 2-4 inch rainfall amounts likely,
and can't rule out spot max totals exceeding 6 inches. Current
Flood Watch looks fine. System is expected to become more
progressive later this afternoon/evening, so an eastward expansion
into Harrison and Jackson Counties along the Mississippi coast
may not be necessary.
Current indications are that convection should move east of the
Mississippi coast by mid evening (9 PM or so), with cooler and
drier air behind it.
There's been some very minor coastal inundation in Hancock County
at high tide early this morning with the southeasterly winds.
Water should subside somewhat later this morning, and wind shift
to northwest should occur several hours prior to the main high
tide cycle tonight, so no current plans for a coastal flood
advisory. Day shift may also need to assess potential Wind
Advisory if pressure gradient tightens very much.
Thursday will be cooler/drier/sunny with highs probably only
60-65.
&&
.LONG TERM...
(Thursday night through Tuesday)
Issued at 417 AM CST Wed Dec 14 2022
A fast moving shortwave will move along the zonal flow across the
area on Saturday. Still a split between the GFS and ECMWF
solutions whether any significant moisture will exist over land.
Can't rule out a light precipitation event along the coast
during the day on Saturday with the emphasis on light amounts.
Beyond that system, quite a bit of disagreement between the
globals on shortwaves moving through the zonal flow, with the GFS
being quicker than the ECMWF. This could bring precipitation back
into the area as early as Monday afternoon/night.
At this point, any subfreezing temperatures Sunday morning would
occur well after precipitation ends, so no threat of wintry
precipitation with that event. Spread in forecast temperature
guidance from Sunday through Tuesday is fairly small, so no
significant adjustments made from NBM on highs. For overnight
lows, went closer to the 25th percentile of NBM.
With holiday travel occurring just beyond the forecast period,
would note that there is a LARGE spread in forecast solutions as
we approach Christmas with significant differences in where a cold
air mass will be. The GFS solutions focus the cold air over the
Mississippi River Valley, with the ECMWF solutions focusing on New
England. By the end of next week, 18z 2 meter temperatures in the
ensemble means have differences of 20F or greater. Any confidence
in a particular forecast solution should be considered low.
&&
.AVIATION...
(12Z TAFS)
Issued at 619 AM CST Wed Dec 14 2022
Current conditions range from IFR northwest to VFR southeast.
Likely to be direct impacts from TSRA at all terminals at some
point during the daytime hours with IFR or lower visibilities and
perhaps ceilings. Have tried to provide a 2-3 hour window of TEMPO
conditions with TSRA but these may need adjusted. Certainly could
see gradient wind gusts to 25-30 knots outside of convection at
most terminals today. Cold front passage during the late afternoon
and evening hours will end threat of TSRA, with eventual
improvement of ceilings/visibilities to VFR after 06z Thursday.
&&
.MARINE...
Issued at 417 AM CST Wed Dec 14 2022
Will continue Small Craft Advisory today, with wind shift
occurring tonight. Much of the forecast period will have some sort
of hazardous weather headlines over at least the open waters.
&&
.PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS...
MCB 72 42 60 35 / 100 20 0 0
BTR 75 44 63 38 / 100 10 0 0
ASD 79 46 65 37 / 100 60 0 0
MSY 78 51 63 47 / 90 50 0 0
GPT 76 48 65 39 / 90 90 0 0
PQL 76 47 63 37 / 80 100 0 0
&&
.LIX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
LA...Flood Watch through this evening for LAZ034>037-039-046>048-
056>060-064-065-071-076>090.
GM...Small Craft Advisory until 6 AM CST Thursday for GMZ530-532-534.
Small Craft Advisory until 6 AM CST Thursday for GMZ536-538-550-
552-555-557-570-572-575-577.
MS...Flood Watch through this evening for MSZ068>071-077-080.
GM...Small Craft Advisory until 6 AM CST Thursday for GMZ532-534.
Small Craft Advisory until 6 AM CST Thursday for GMZ538-550-552-
555-557-570-572-575-577.
&&
SHORT TERM...RW
LONG TERM....RW
AVIATION...RW
MARINE...RWThe national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
3 tornado, 2 flash flood, 1 thunderstorm wind. Local standard time, as filed.
Multiple cars were flooded and water entered a few homes in Crosby.
Heavy rain caused Highway 24 and Percy Creek Sand roads to be impassable.
Emergency management surveyed this area and reported multiple areas of tree damage along with two sheds damaged. Further analysis of this EF-0 using high resolution satellite imagery found intermittent swaths of tree damage along a confined path from Berth Road northeastward near Lester Ladner Road and across into Stone County where the path apparently ends near Horsehead Lake.
Emergency management surveyed this area and reported multiple areas of tree damage along with two sheds damaged.
Thunderstorm winds downed multiple powerlines on Enchanted Avenue near Mystic Circle.
A waterspout likely came onshore near the Beauvoir section of Biloxi around 5:52 PM CST. The first surveyed damage revealed numerous large limbs snapped on Brady Drive. The tornado then moved northeastward over marsh, reaching Tara Lane where a pine tree fell onto a pavilion and caused damage to the roof. It continued northeast across Pass Road and then through the intersection of Belvedere Drive and Belvedere Circle where tree|limbs fell on power lines. The roof of a metal shed was ripped off. The tornado continued across Hiller Park where several pine trees were partially uprooted and unsecured bleachers were thrown 50 yards to the northeast through a chain link fence and on a tennis court. A few roof shingles were missing at nearby military housing. The tornado crossed near Atkinson Rd and Veterans Ave where several oak trees had large limbs snapped. Numerous snapped|tree limbs fell, damaging markers at Biloxi National Cemetery. The most significant tornadic damage in the path occurred in the VA Gulf Coast Health Care System Campus along Veterans Avenue where damage was consistent with a EF-1 tornado and maximum winds of 90 mph. A window on the south-facing side of a campus building|was blown in and another window was blown out on the northern side of the building. A roof from a small building was peeled off and thrown back to the southeast into an adjacent partially covered outbuilding, causing the outbuilding to collapse. The tornado uprooted several trees just before lifting as it reached Mullet Lake around 5:55 pm.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Mississippi in 2022Every state in 2022This day in weather historyThe tornado archive for Mississippi, 2022Warnings in Mississippi, December 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: 1071419, 1071420, 1178303, 1071410, 1071417, 1071413.