Tornadoes · United States · Louisiana

1986 tornadoes in Louisiana

16 tornadoes touched down in Louisiana in 1986, 51 percent below the average of the record for the state. None of them killed anybody.

1985 1987 The whole country in 1986

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 1986

March 18 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
March 18	2:25 PM CST	F2	Jackson Parish	5.0	150		2	$50,000 to $500,000

March 19 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
March 19	9:15 AM CST	F0	Plaquemines Parish	0.1	17		1

April 4 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
April 4	7:50 PM CST	F1	Caddo Parish	0.3	150

April 12 3 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Injuries	Damage
April 12	12:05 AM CST	F1	Richland Parish	0.3	100
April 12	12:09 AM CST	F2	Franklin Parish	2.0	100	3	$50,000 to $500,000
April 12	12:50 AM CST	F1	Tensas Parish	0.3	100

April 19 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
April 19	4:20 PM CST	F1	Winn Parish	0.3	50

May 18 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
May 18	11:05 AM CDT	F0	Madison Parish	0.1	13

June 27 5 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Injuries	Damage
June 27	2:10 AM CDT	F1	De Soto Parish	0.1	23		$5,000 to $50,000
June 27	7:08 PM CDT	F1	Webster Parish	0.1	100		$5,000 to $50,000
June 27	7:22 PM CDT	F2	Webster Parish	0.3	200	5	$50,000 to $500,000
June 27	7:25 PM CDT	F1	Webster Parish	0.1	100	2	$50,000 to $500,000
June 27	7:40 PM CDT	F1	Webster Parish	0.1	100		$5,000 to $50,000

August 23 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
August 23	6:00 PM CDT	F0	Saint John the Baptist Parish	0.1	13

November 4 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
November 4	8:00 PM CST	F0	Cameron Parish	0.1	17

November 7 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
November 7	7:20 PM CST	F2	Jackson Parish	9.0	100			$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.