Louisiana, 2023

Flash Flood in Louisiana, February 16, 2023

February 16, 2023 · NWS LIX · 1 event in 1 county or zone

As a cold front approached the local area from the west, the environment became primed for thunderstorms to develop with warmth and instability increasing. Storms that developed ahead of the front had little mid level flow to give them much movement.

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
$15,000
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 a cold front approached the local area from the west, the environment became primed for thunderstorms to develop with warmth and instability increasing. Storms that developed ahead of the front had little mid level flow to give them much movement. Thus, one storm over the Baton Rouge metro produced heavy rain that resulted in flash flooding.

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 Feb 16, 4:29 PM CST, 33 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Feb 16, 4:29 PM CST, 33 minutes before
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In the hours before

Special weather statement, Feb 16, 11:41 AM CST, 5 hours 21 minutes before
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Special weather statement, Feb 16, 2:57 PM CST, 2 hours 5 minutes before
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The radar

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

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

1 flash flood. Local standard time, as filed.

Flash Flood, East Baton Rouge

When
February 16, 5:02 PM CST to 6:02 PM CST
Where
East Baton Rouge County, 2.84 mi SSE of Port Hudson to 2.97 mi SSE of Port Hudson
Cause
Heavy Rain
Property damage
$15,000
Reported by
Broadcast Media
Coordinates
30.635, -91.246

Photos shared on social media by broadcast media showed water approximately 2 feet deep in the Sweetbriar trailer park on Samuels Road in Zachary. At least one car was flooded.

What these are

Flash Flood
Flooding that begins within six hours of the rain that causes it, or of a dam or levee failure or ice jam release, often with deadly speed.

After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.

The same day elsewhere

More

Every storm in Louisiana in 2023Every state in 2023This day in weather historyWarnings in Louisiana, February 2023

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 2026-09-30. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 1083309.