Tornadoes · United States · Louisiana

1982 tornadoes in Louisiana

39 tornadoes touched down in Louisiana in 1982, 19 percent above the average of the record for the state. None of them killed anybody.

1981 1983 The whole country in 1982

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.

F040 to 72 mph
Light damage. Surface peeled off some roofs, gutters and siding damaged, branches broken, shallow-rooted trees pushed over.
F173 to 112 mph
Moderate damage. Roofs badly stripped, mobile homes overturned or badly damaged, exterior doors lost, windows broken.
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.
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.
F4207 to 260 mph
Devastating damage. Well-built houses leveled, structures with weak foundations moved some distance, cars thrown and large missiles generated.
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.
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 1982

January 30 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
January 30	11:00 PM CST	F2	Assumption Parish	3.0	10		1	$5,000 to $50,000

March 31 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
March 31	12:45 AM CST	F1	Washington Parish	12.0	10			$5,000 to $50,000

April 2 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
April 2	8:15 PM CST	F1	Union Parish	5.0	50			$50 to $500

April 8 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
April 8	2:40 PM CST	F1	East Carroll Parish	0.1	50			$50,000 to $500,000

April 19 8 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Damage
April 19	3:20 PM CST	F1	Bienville Parish	0.1	27	$5,000 to $50,000
April 19	3:30 PM CST	F2	Lincoln Parish	15.0	100	$50,000 to $500,000
April 19	4:55 PM CST	F0	Bossier Parish	0.1	10	$50 to $500
April 19	5:00 PM CST	F2	Madison Parish	5.0	100	$50,000 to $500,000
April 19	5:10 PM CST	F0	Ouachita Parish	0.1	10	$50 to $500
April 19	5:55 PM CST	F1	Red River Parish	0.1	10	$50 to $500
April 19	6:00 PM CST	F0	Bienville Parish	0.1	10	$50 to $500
April 19	9:15 PM CST	F0	De Soto Parish	0.1	10	under $50

April 20 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
April 20	5:45 AM CST	F2	Red River Parish	0.1	10			$5,000 to $50,000

April 25 3 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Injuries	Damage
April 25	9:15 PM CDT	F3	De Soto Parish	7.0	200		$50,000 to $500,000
April 25	9:15 PM CDT	F3	De Soto Parish	7.0	200		$50,000 to $500,000
April 25	10:45 PM CDT	F3	Webster Parish	23.0	500	1	$50,000 to $500,000

May 6 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
May 6	9:30 AM CDT	F1	Cameron Parish	1.0	50			under $50

May 7 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
May 7	6:25 AM CDT	F2	Vermilion Parish	5.0	100			$500 to $5,000

May 24 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
May 24	11:00 AM CDT	F0	Calcasieu Parish	0.5	20			under $50

June 12 2 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
June 12	1:30 PM CDT	F1	Rapides Parish	5.0	200			$50,000 to $500,000
June 12	2:00 PM CDT	F1	Beauregard Parish	0.2	10			under $50

July 7 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
July 7	4:05 PM CDT	F1	St. Mary Parish	0.1	10			$5,000 to $50,000

July 8 2 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
July 8	3:30 PM CDT	F1	West Feliciana Parish	2.0	50			$500 to $5,000
July 8	4:00 PM CDT	F1	St. Mary Parish	1.0	10			$5,000 to $50,000

July 9 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
July 9	4:00 PM CDT	F0	Terrebonne Parish	0.1	50			$500 to $5,000

July 29 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
July 29	7:20 PM CDT	F0	Jefferson Parish	0.1	10			under $50

September 11 3 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Damage
September 11	10:00 PM CDT	F2	Jefferson Davis Parish	1.0	150	$5,000 to $50,000
September 11	10:30 PM CDT	F2	Avoyelles Parish	0.8	100	$50,000 to $500,000
September 11	11:00 PM CDT	F2	Evangeline Parish	2.5	150	$50,000 to $500,000

September 12 2 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
September 12	1:45 AM CDT	F3	Concordia Parish	2.0	133			$50,000 to $500,000
September 12	1:50 AM CDT	F0	Catahoula Parish	0.5	10			under $50

October 7 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
October 7	6:43 PM CDT	F0	Saint Tammany Parish	0.1	10			$50 to $500

December 4 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
December 4	10:30 AM CST	F1	Saint Landry Parish	1.0	10			$50,000 to $500,000

December 5 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
December 5	1:30 AM CST	F1	Washington Parish	1.0	50			$50,000 to $500,000

December 15 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
December 15	7:45 AM CST	F1	Plaquemines Parish	1.0	33			$5,000 to $50,000

December 27 4 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Damage
December 27	11:15 AM CST	F1	Rapides Parish	0.5	10	under $50
December 27	11:30 AM CST	F1	Avoyelles Parish	1.0	17	$50,000 to $500,000
December 27	12:00 PM CST	F0	Avoyelles Parish	2.0	50	under $50
December 27	12:30 PM CST	F2	Franklin Parish	1.0	33	$50,000 to $500,000

Nearby

Every tornado in Louisiana since 1950 Warnings in force in Louisiana The 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.