Tornadoes · United States · Louisiana

1954 tornadoes in Louisiana

11 tornadoes touched down in Louisiana in 1954, 66 percent below the average of the record for the state. They killed 2 people and injured 11.

1953 1955 The whole country in 1954

The rating scale

Tracks are drawn in the color of the rating. The Fujita scale rates the damage rather than measuring the wind: the speeds are what that damage is taken to imply.

  1. F040 to 72 mph

    Light damage. Surface peeled off some roofs, gutters and siding damaged, branches broken, shallow-rooted trees pushed over.

  2. F173 to 112 mph

    Moderate damage. Roofs badly stripped, mobile homes overturned or badly damaged, exterior doors lost, windows broken.

  3. F2113 to 157 mph

    Considerable damage. Roofs torn off well-built houses, frame homes shifted on their foundations, mobile homes destroyed, large trees snapped or uprooted, cars lifted off the ground.

  4. F3158 to 206 mph

    Severe damage. Whole stories of well-built houses destroyed, large buildings badly damaged, trains overturned, trees debarked, heavy cars lifted and thrown.

  5. F4207 to 260 mph

    Devastating damage. Well-built houses leveled, structures with weak foundations moved some distance, cars thrown and large missiles generated.

  6. F5261 to 318 mph

    Incredible damage. Strong frame houses swept off their foundations, car-sized missiles thrown more than 100 meters, steel-reinforced concrete badly damaged, high-rise buildings deformed.

  7. Unrated

    The survey recorded a tornado but could not put a number on it, most often because it crossed open country and damaged nothing a rating can be read from.

Every tornado in Louisiana in 1954

February 19 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
February 199:25 PM GMT-6F2West Feliciana Parish0.510014$500 to $5,000

April 8 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
April 83:00 PM GMT-6F0Jefferson Davis Parish1.010under $50

April 9 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
April 94:10 PM GMT-6F0Jefferson Davis Parish22.920under $50

April 28 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
April 287:10 AM GMT-5F1Concordia Parish0.550$5,000 to $50,000

April 30 3 tornadoes

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
April 302:30 PM GMT-5F2Sabine Parish16.710016$5,000 to $50,000
April 303:30 PM GMT-5F1Winn Parish0.533$5,000 to $50,000
April 304:30 PM GMT-5F2Ouachita Parish1.0671$50,000 to $500,000

August 16 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
August 165:45 PM GMT-5F2De Soto Parish4.5100$5,000 to $50,000

August 23 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
August 237:00 PM GMT-5F1West Carroll Parish1.033$5,000 to $50,000

August 29 2 tornadoes

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
August 293:30 PM GMT-5F0Natchitoches Parish1.067$5,000 to $50,000
August 294:15 PM GMT-5F1Iberville Parish1.033$5,000 to $50,000

Nearby

Every tornado in Louisiana since 1950Warnings in force in LouisianaThe live radar over Louisiana

What this means

Ratings are the survey's, read off the damage rather than measured; the rating scale is above. Tornado counts rise through the record as reporting improved, so a year in the 1950s is not comparable with one today except for the strongest tornadoes, which were always noticed.

Sources

NOAA Storm Prediction Center tornado database, 1950-2025, the official record kept by NOAA's Storm Prediction Center.