Louisiana, 2026

Hail and Damaging Winds in Louisiana, April 26, 2026

April 26, 2026 · NWS SHV · 7 events in 4 counties and zones

Numerous supercell thunderstorms developed late in the evening on April 25th into the early morning hours on April 26th along a warm front extending from southern Oklahoma into western Arkansas, well ahead of an advancing cold front and dry line upstream over the Texas/Oklahoma panhandles. The environment farther downstream across Northeast Texas, Southwest Arkansas, and extreme North Louisiana…

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

Open the live radar over this ground

The toll

Deaths
0
Injuries
0
Property damage
None recorded
Crop damage
None recorded
Events
7

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 SHV wrote it up.

Numerous supercell thunderstorms developed late in the evening on April 25th into the early morning hours on April 26th along a warm front extending from southern Oklahoma into western Arkansas, well ahead of an advancing cold front and dry line upstream over the Texas/Oklahoma panhandles. The environment farther downstream across Northeast Texas, Southwest Arkansas, and extreme North Louisiana was very unstable and strongly sheared. This environment favored a continuation of severe thunderstorms and the potential for new supercell development. Nocturnal low-level cooling and capping were increasing, which generally kept the primary threat as large hail. However, given the persistent low-level shear, any surface-based thunderstorms also had the potential to produce some isolated damaging wind gusts. As a result, numerous reports of large and even very large hail were documented across parts of extreme North Louisiana in addition to isolated damaging wind gusts.

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 Shreveport, LA wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Apr 26, 12:48 AM CST, 1 hour 12 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Apr 26, 12:48 AM CST, 1 hour 12 minutes before
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In the hours before

Local storm report, Apr 25, 11:11 PM CST, 2 hours 49 minutes before
Preliminary Local Storm Report
National Weather Service Shreveport LA
1211 AM CDT Sun Apr 26 2026

..TIME...   ...EVENT...      ...CITY LOCATION...     ...LAT.LON...
..DATE...   ....MAG....      ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
            ..REMARKS..

1144 PM     Hail             Hope                    33.67N 93.59W
04/25/2026  E2.75 Inch       Hempstead          AR   Public

            Reports from social media of baseball size
            hail in Hope, Arkansas.

&&

CK
Local storm report, Apr 25, 11:24 PM CST, 2 hours 36 minutes before
Preliminary Local Storm Report
National Weather Service Shreveport LA
1224 AM CDT Sun Apr 26 2026

..TIME...   ...EVENT...      ...CITY LOCATION...     ...LAT.LON...
..DATE...   ....MAG....      ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
            ..REMARKS..

1050 PM     Tstm Wnd Dmg     3 S Center Point        33.98N 93.95W
04/25/2026                   Howard             AR   Public

            Multiple trees down and some property damage
            reported west of Nashville, AR.

&&

16
Local storm report, Apr 25, 11:51 PM CST, 2 hours 9 minutes before
Preliminary Local Storm Report
National Weather Service Shreveport LA
1251 AM CDT Sun Apr 26 2026

..TIME...   ...EVENT...      ...CITY LOCATION...     ...LAT.LON...
..DATE...   ....MAG....      ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
            ..REMARKS..

1133 PM     Hail             1 NNW Washington        33.78N 93.69W
04/25/2026  M1.50 Inch       Hempstead          AR   Trained Spotter

            Walnut sized hail reported just north of
            Washington, Arkansas.

&&

13
Local storm report, Apr 26, 12:26 AM CST, 1 hour 34 minutes before
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Local storm report, Apr 26, 12:49 AM CST, 1 hour 11 minutes before
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Special weather statement, Apr 26, 1:16 AM CST, 44 minutes before
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The radar

The Shreveport radar (KSHV), 139 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 07:58 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

5 hail, 2 thunderstorm wind. Local standard time, as filed.

Thunderstorm Wind, Union

When
April 26, 2:00 AM CST
Where
Union County, 1.5 mi NNW of Farmerville
Measured
52 kt (60 mph) estimated gust
Reported by
Law Enforcement
Coordinates
32.790, -92.410

Large tree downed just north of Farmerville.

Hail, Lincoln

When
April 26, 3:04 AM CST
Where
Lincoln County, 4.5 mi SSW of Crossroads
Measured
1.5 in hail
Reported by
Public
Coordinates
32.610, -92.850

Hail dollar to ping pong ball size hail reported just west of the Antioch community near the intersection of Highway 544 and Highway 151.

Hail, Lincoln

When
April 26, 3:23 AM CST
Where
Lincoln County, 2.43 mi WNW of Chautauqua Spgs
Measured
1 in hail
Reported by
Public
Coordinates
32.560, -92.690

Quarter size hail reported just north of Interstate 20 between Grambling and Ruston.

Hail, Lincoln

When
April 26, 3:25 AM CST
Where
Lincoln County, 0.69 mi N of Chautauqua Spgs
Measured
0.75 in hail
Reported by
Public
Coordinates
32.560, -92.650

Penny size hail reported just north of Ruston, via Mping.

Hail, Claiborne

When
April 26, 3:47 AM CST
Where
Claiborne County, 5.14 mi SSW of Ruple
Measured
2.75 in hail
Reported by
Public
Coordinates
32.760, -93.180

Baseball size hail reported along Highway 534 southwest of Homer.

Hail, Caddo

When
April 26, 7:28 AM CST
Where
Caddo County, 0.58 mi E of Mooringsport
Measured
1.25 in hail
Reported by
Public
Coordinates
32.680, -93.960

Half dollar size hail reported in Mooringsport.

Thunderstorm Wind, Caddo

When
April 26, 7:30 AM CST
Where
Caddo County, 0.9 mi NE of Mooringsport
Measured
52 kt (60 mph) estimated gust
Reported by
Law Enforcement
Coordinates
32.690, -93.960

Large tree downed across Highway 169 near the intersection of Highway 538, downing power lines and blocking traffic.

What these are

Thunderstorm Wind
Winds from a thunderstorm of 50 knots (58 mph) or more, or lower winds that caused damage or casualties. Measured gusts are marked MG, estimated EG.
Hail
Hail three-quarters of an inch or larger, or smaller hail that caused damage, filed with the largest stone measured.

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

The same day elsewhere

More

Every storm in Louisiana in 2026Every state in 2026This day in weather historyWarnings in Louisiana, April 2026

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 2026-10-01. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 1332357, 1332350, 1332351, 1332352, 1332353, 1332354, 1332358.