Tornadoes · United States · Louisiana

1989 tornadoes in Louisiana

45 tornadoes touched down in Louisiana in 1989, 38 percent above the average of the record for the state. They killed 2 people and injured 104.

1988 1990 The whole country in 1989

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 1989

February 20 3 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Damage
February 20	12:33 PM CST	F1	Rapides Parish	1.5	33	$50,000 to $500,000
February 20	12:50 PM CST	F1	Rapides Parish	7.0	43	$50,000 to $500,000
February 20	2:10 PM CST	F1	Catahoula Parish	3.0	40	$5,000 to $50,000

March 4 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
March 4	5:30 PM CST	F1	Tensas Parish	3.0	50			$5,000 to $50,000

March 29 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
March 29	3:22 AM CST	F1	Vernon Parish	1.0	33			$5,000 to $50,000

April 29 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
April 29	7:25 PM CDT	F1	Catahoula Parish	0.2	30

May 4 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
May 4	1:30 PM CDT	F1	Pointe Coupee Parish	0.5	30			$5,000 to $50,000

May 5 4 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Damage
May 5	3:12 AM CDT	F1	Caddo Parish	8.0	40
May 5	3:30 AM CDT	F1	Jefferson Davis Parish	0.4	30	$500 to $5,000
May 5	3:40 AM CDT	F1	Bossier Parish	0.3	30
May 5	3:47 AM CDT	F1	Bossier Parish	0.3	30

May 14 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
May 14	2:54 PM CDT	F1	Calcasieu Parish	0.5	33

May 17 4 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Damage
May 17	4:59 PM CDT	F1	Natchitoches Parish	5.0	50
May 17	5:05 PM CDT	F1	Natchitoches Parish	2.0	40	$5,000 to $50,000
May 17	5:50 PM CDT	F1	Winn Parish	0.5	30
May 17	5:55 PM CDT	F1	Natchitoches Parish	0.5	30

May 18 6 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Injuries	Damage
May 18	11:20 AM CDT	F2	Acadia Parish	1.0	40	1	$50,000 to $500,000
May 18	11:27 AM CDT	F1	Lafayette Parish	0.4	30
May 18	12:15 PM CDT	F1	Lafayette Parish	0.4	30		$5,000 to $50,000
May 18	12:20 PM CDT	F1	Calcasieu Parish	0.4	30
May 18	2:55 PM CDT	F1	Iberia Parish	0.3	30	1	$5,000 to $50,000
May 18	3:30 PM CDT	F2	East Feliciana Parish	5.0	50		$50,000 to $500,000

June 7 4 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Injuries	Damage
June 7	7:00 PM CDT	F1	Vernon Parish	2.0	40		$50,000 to $500,000
June 7	9:55 PM CDT	F1	Vernon Parish	0.5	30		$50,000 to $500,000
June 7	10:30 PM CDT	F2	Beauregard Parish	5.0	77	6	$50,000 to $500,000
June 7	11:50 PM CDT	F1	Avoyelles Parish	0.3	40	2	$5,000 to $50,000

June 8 8 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
June 8	6:04 AM CDT	F2	Iberville Parish	10.0	77	2	30	$500,000 to $5 million
June 8	6:30 AM CDT	F2	West Baton Rouge Parish	9.5	60		60	$500,000 to $5 million
June 8	7:00 AM CDT	F2	Livingston Parish	4.0	50			$5,000 to $50,000
June 8	7:00 AM CDT	F1	Iberville Parish	2.5	50			$5,000 to $50,000
June 8	7:25 AM CDT	F1	East Baton Rouge Parish	8.0	77		1	$50,000 to $500,000
June 8	7:50 AM CDT	F1	Saint Helena Parish	2.0	40			$50,000 to $500,000
June 8	7:57 AM CDT	F1	Livingston Parish	5.0	40			$5,000 to $50,000
June 8	8:15 AM CDT	F1	Tangipahoa Parish	2.5	40		1	$50,000 to $500,000

June 27 6 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Injuries	Damage
June 27	8:20 AM CDT	F1	Cameron Parish	1.5	40	2	$50,000 to $500,000
June 27	4:30 PM CDT	F1	Ouachita Parish	2.0	77		$50,000 to $500,000
June 27	5:13 PM CDT	F1	Ouachita Parish	0.2	30
June 27	5:25 PM CDT	F1	Morehouse Parish	0.2	30
June 27	5:40 PM CDT	F1	Richland Parish	0.2	30
June 27	5:45 PM CDT	F1	Ouachita Parish	0.2	30

June 29 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
June 29	10:07 AM CDT	F1	Evangeline Parish	0.2	27

June 30 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
June 30	4:45 PM CDT	F1	Franklin Parish	0.5	40

July 31 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
July 31	6:00 AM CDT	F0	Acadia Parish	0.2	20			$500 to $5,000

August 7 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
August 7	2:30 PM CDT	F1	Acadia Parish	0.2	30			$5,000 to $50,000

September 2 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
September 2	5:05 PM CDT	F1	Washington Parish	0.1	20			$5,000 to $50,000

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.