Tornadoes · United States · Louisiana

1969 tornadoes in Louisiana

18 tornadoes touched down in Louisiana in 1969, 45 percent below the average of the record for the state. They killed 1 people and injured 18.

1968 1970 The whole country in 1969

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 1969

March 23 3 tornadoes

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
March 2311:20 AM GMT-6F1Calcasieu Parish0.533$500 to $5,000
March 2312:10 PM GMT-6F0Calcasieu Parish0.533$500 to $5,000
March 2312:20 PM GMT-6F1Calcasieu Parish0.533$500 to $5,000

April 5 2 tornadoes

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
April 55:08 AM GMT-6F1Calcasieu Parish0.533
April 55:08 AM GMT-6F1Calcasieu Parish0.533$5,000 to $50,000

April 12 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
April 1210:30 PM GMT-6F3Ascension Parish10.71001$50,000 to $500,000

April 17 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
April 1712:00 PM GMT-6F1East Carroll Parish2.067$5,000 to $50,000

May 26 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
May 267:05 PM GMT-5F0Acadia Parish0.520

July 10 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
July 101:40 PM GMT-5F1Lafayette Parish0.533

July 14 3 tornadoes

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
July 145:30 PM GMT-5F1Jefferson Parish0.5331$50,000 to $500,000
July 147:45 PM GMT-5F1Jefferson Davis Parish0.533$500 to $5,000
July 147:45 PM GMT-5F0East Feliciana Parish0.533$500 to $5,000

October 10 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
October 105:00 PM GMT-5F1Webster Parish1.0100$5,000 to $50,000

December 6 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
December 612:45 PM GMT-6F2Lafayette Parish0.533$500 to $5,000

December 21 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
December 215:15 AM GMT-6F1Saint Charles Parish16.4675$5,000 to $50,000

December 25 2 tornadoes

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
December 254:30 AM GMT-6F3Vermilion Parish1.510018$50,000 to $500,000
December 256:45 AM GMT-6F3Iberville Parish13.5501$5,000 to $50,000

December 29 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
December 292:15 PM GMT-6F3Catahoula Parish29.11832$50,000 to $500,000

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.