F1 tornado, Golden Meadow, Louisiana, September 25, 2002

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 mphthis tornado

   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.

Rating

F1

Date

September 25, 2002

Touchdown

12:30 AM CDT (05:30 UTC)

Path length

0.5 miles (0.8 km)

Path width

50 yards (46 m)

Deaths

0

Injuries

0

County

Lafourche Parish

Touchdown point

29.380, -90.280

Lift-off point

29.400, -90.280

Record number

308

Tropical Storm Isidore moved steadily northward across the central Gulf of Mexico on September 24 and September 25, 2002 before moving ashore near Grand Isle early on the morning on Thursday, September 26, 2002. The tropical storm moved steadily north across southeast Louisiana and by the afternoon of September 26 was located in central Mississippi downgraded to a tropical depression. Tropical Storm Isidore had a large circulation with tropical storm force winds extending several hundreds of miles from its center. Prior to moving onto the Yucatan Peninsula earlier in the week and weakening, Isidore was classified as a major hurricane. Swells from the distant hurricane resulted in rip tides along the northern Gulf of Mexico, with a 41 year old man drowning on the afternoon of Sunday, Sept 22, 2002 at Port Fourchon, Lafouche Parish. The large circulation caused a significant storm surge over a large area for a tropical storm. Tide levels were 4 to 6 feet above normal across much of southeast Louisiana from Grand Isle eastward to the Pearl River. Storm surge flooding occurred outside of the hurricane protection levees across Lafourche, Jefferson, Plaquemine, St. Bernard, and Orleans Parishes, inundating roadways and flooding some non-elevated structures. Across Lake Pontchartrain and Lake Maurepas, storm surge of 4 to 5 feet above normal were measured. Low lying areas, roadways and some non-elevated structures in parishes surrounding Lake Pontchartrain and Maurepas were flooded. St. Tammany Parish was particularly hard hit with storm surge flooding when the Isidore moved north of the area, and the winds shifted to a southwest direction causing water levels to rapidly increase along the north shore of Lake Pontchartrain on the morning of Thursday, September 26, 2000. The storm surge overtopped or breached a small local levee system in southern portions of Slidell causing water to flood several hundred homes. Approximately 1000 homes were flooded in the parish from either storm surge, river flooding, or from flooding from heavy rainRainbands associated with Tropical Storm Isidore produced heavy rainfall in a wide area prior to and shortly after landfall. The greater New Orleans area, was particularly hard hit on the late afternoon and early evening Wednesday, September 25, 2002. Four to eight inches of rainfall occurred within 6 hours time. Drainage systems were overwhelmed by the heavy rain and numerous streets were flooded, automobiles were flooded, and water entered some homes. Portions of Terrebonne and Lafourche Parishes were also hard hit during the early morning of Thursday, September 26, 2002 with homes flooded when heavy rainfall overwhelmed drainage. Between 200 and 300 homes and businesses were reported flooded in Terrebonne Parish. Storm total rainfall of 10 to 15 inches were common across southeast Louisiana. Most areas recorded sustained winds of 35 to 45 mph with some gusts to 50 mph in sqaulls. The highest wind speeds were observed near the coast or tidal lakes. Grand Isle, on the coast, recorded the highest wind gust of 71 mph.A tornado touched down near Golden Meadow, Lafourche Parish, where a couple of sheriff's office patrol cars were damaged along with several storage buildings.The Louisiana Office of Emergency Preparedness reported appoximately 2500 people sought refuge in approximately 40 shelters in the state. As of late November 2002, the Louisiana State Insurance Department reported that insurance industry has indicated that Tropical Storm Isidore had resulted in $105 million in insured losses. Approximately 166,200 claims had been filed with private insurance companies.A reliable estimate of uninsured losses had not been determined as of the end of November 2002. .

A tornado touched down briefly causing damage to two autos and several storage buildings.

From NOAA NCEI's Storm Events Database, the narrative the local forecast office wrote for Storm Data.

10 minutes of warning. NWS LIX issued a tornado warning for this county at 05:20 UTC, 10 minutes before the tornado touched down, in force until 06:00 UTC.

Every warning and watch covering the touchdown point that day, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service products. Lead time is measured from the issue of the warning in force to the touchdown time in the database, both of which were recorded to the minute by different people.

The Storm Prediction Center had this point in a Slight Risk, with a 0.05 chance of a tornado within 25 miles. The outlook in force was issued at 00:25 UTC.

SPC's Day 1 convective outlook as it stood when the tornado began, read at the touchdown point. The same archive is on the radar archive.

The radiosonde launches on either side of the tornado, from the nearest station that was launching then, drawn and analyzed the way Storm Lab does: the same diagram, the same parcel and shear definitions SPC's mesoanalysis uses.

The live radar over the trackEvery 2002 tornado in LouisianaEvery tornado in Louisiana since 1950Warnings in force in Louisiana nowThe forecast where you are

8 more were confirmed in the United States that day.

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.

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