Tornadoes · United States · Louisiana · 2007

EF1 tornado, Cotton Vly to Shongaloo, Louisiana, March 27, 2007

From Cotton Vly to Shongaloo, this EF1 tornado ran 8.0 miles across Webster Parish on March 27, 2007, touching down at 2:35 PM CDT and reaching 75 yards wide. It killed nobody, and did $25,000 of property damage.

The rating scale

Tracks are drawn in the color of the rating. The Enhanced Fujita scale rates the damage rather than measuring the wind: the speeds are what that damage is taken to imply.

  1. EF065 to 85 mph

    Light damage. Surface peeled off some roofs, gutters and siding damaged, branches broken, shallow-rooted trees pushed over.

  2. EF186 to 110 mphthis tornado

    Moderate damage. Roofs badly stripped, mobile homes overturned or badly damaged, exterior doors lost, windows broken.

  3. EF2111 to 135 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. EF3136 to 165 mph

    Severe damage. Whole stories of well-built houses destroyed, large buildings badly damaged, trains overturned, trees debarked, heavy cars lifted and thrown.

  5. EF4166 to 200 mph

    Devastating damage. Well-built houses leveled, structures with weak foundations moved some distance, cars thrown and large missiles generated.

  6. EF5over 200 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.

The record

Rating
EF1
Date
March 27, 2007
Touchdown
2:35 PM CDT (19:35 UTC)
Lifted
2:50 PM CDT (19:50 UTC)
On the ground
15 minutes
Path length
8.0 miles (12.9 km)
Path width
75 yards (69 m)
Deaths
0
Injuries
0
Property damage
$25,000
County
Webster Parish
Touchdown point
32.902, -93.323
Lift-off point
32.940, -93.288
Record number
0703271335-01

What the Weather Service recorded

An upper level storm system moved across the region during the late morning...afternoon and evening hours of 03/27. Strong winds aloft allowed supercell thunderstorms to develop...some of which produced tornadoes...strong and damaging wind gusts as well as large hail.

A supercell thunderstorm produced a tornado just northeast of Sarepta that moved northeast from Sikes Ferry to near Shongaloo. Damage consisted of downed trees along route 2. One tree fell onto an abandoned home near Sikes Ferry. A tree also fell atop a parked truck at a residence home in Shongaloo. The tornado was rated an EF1 on the Enhanced Fujita Scale. Damage Indicator (DI): TS. Degree of Damage (DOD): 4.

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

The warnings

15 minutes of warning. NWS SHV issued a tornado warning for this county at 19:20 UTC, 15 minutes before the tornado touched down, in force until 20:15 UTC.

The county was under a tornado watch, issued at 17:40 UTC and running to 03:00 UTC.

Issued (UTC)ExpiredProductOffice
17:40 UTC03:00 UTCTornado WatchSHV
19:20 UTC20:15 UTCTornado WarningSHV
21:11 UTC22:15 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WarningSHV
22:37 UTC23:30 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WarningSHV
00:25 UTC01:00 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WarningSHV
01:45 UTC02:45 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WarningSHV
03:44 UTC04:09 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WarningSHV

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 forecast that day

The Storm Prediction Center had this point in a Slight Risk, with a 0.02 chance of a tornado within 25 miles. The outlook in force was issued at 16:31 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 air that afternoon

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.

Shreveport, LA (KSHV), 12:00Z

7.6 hours before the tornado, 64 km from the path. March 27, 2007.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Shreveport, LA at 12:00Z on 2007-03-27Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel lifted from the surface. Mixed-layer CAPE 0 joules per kilogram, CIN -85154, lifted condensation level 738 meters above ground. Wind barbs in knots down the right edge.LCL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°0°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed. The warm shading is its CAPE, the cool shading the inhibition it has to break through.
HodographHodograph, Shreveport, LA at 12:00Z on 2007-03-27The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers as a curve, rings every 10 meters per second labeled in knots. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 160 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 45 knots.19395878Sfc1 km3 km6 km9 kmRMLM
The wind turning with height, colored by layer: ground to 1 km, 1 to 3 km, 3 to 6 km, 6 to 10 km. RM and LM are the right and left moving storms Bunkers' method gives; the shaded area is the 0 to 1 km storm-relative helicity.
Mixed-layer CAPE
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-85154 J/kg
Surface CAPE
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
738 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
45 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
26 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
160 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
147 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.0
0-3 km lapse rate
4.5 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

Shreveport, LA (KSHV), 00:00Z

4.4 hours after it, 64 km from the path. March 28, 2007.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Shreveport, LA at 00:00Z on 2007-03-28Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel lifted from the surface. Mixed-layer CAPE 1470 joules per kilogram, CIN -16, lifted condensation level 902 meters above ground. Wind barbs in knots down the right edge.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°0°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed. The warm shading is its CAPE, the cool shading the inhibition it has to break through.
HodographHodograph, Shreveport, LA at 00:00Z on 2007-03-28The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers as a curve, rings every 10 meters per second labeled in knots. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 185 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 43 knots.19395878Sfc1 km3 km6 km9 kmRMLM
The wind turning with height, colored by layer: ground to 1 km, 1 to 3 km, 3 to 6 km, 6 to 10 km. RM and LM are the right and left moving storms Bunkers' method gives; the shaded area is the 0 to 1 km storm-relative helicity.
Mixed-layer CAPE
1470 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-16 J/kg
Surface CAPE
1483 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
902 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
43 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
25 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
185 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
327 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
1.8
Supercell composite
9.6
0-3 km lapse rate
6.6 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The surface observations

El Dorado/Goodwin (ELD), 57 km from the path, in the two hours either side.

Time (UTC)Temp (°F)Dew point (°F)WindGust (kt)Pressure (mb)Weather
17:44 UTC73.460.8170° 12 kt201016.9
17:53 UTC7461170° 13 kt1016.9
18:36 UTC71.660.8160° 13 kt1016.6
18:53 UTC7262170° 10 kt1016.3
19:53 UTC7263140° 8 kt1015.2VCTS -RA
20:44 UTC6864.4250° 16 kt271016.6+TSRA BR
20:47 UTC66.262.6120° 11 kt271015.6+TSRA
20:53 UTC65610° 0 kt1015.6-TSRA FG
20:56 UTC64.462.60° 0 kt1015.6-TSRA BR
20:58 UTC64.462.60° 0 kt1015.6-TSRA BR
21:13 UTC64.460.8270° 7 kt1015.9-TSRA BR
21:28 UTC62.660.8150° 7 kt1014.6TSRA BR

From the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of airport observations.

The radar

The Shreveport radar (KSHV), 72 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 19:34 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment, over the track

Reflectivity and velocity, decoded from the Level II archive in the browser. Volumes take a few seconds to open the first time.

What was reported nearby

Local storm reports within 60 km of the path, in the three hours either side.

Time (UTC)ReportWhereCountyRemark
18:45 UTCHAIL 1.75Plain DealingBossier, LAGOLF BALL SIZED HAIL REPORTED IN PLAIN DEALING.
18:50 UTCTSTM WND DMG2 N BentonBossier, LAMULTIPLE TREES DOWN NORTH OF BENTON ALONG HIGHWAY 3.
18:51 UTCHAIL 1BentonBossier, LA
18:55 UTCTSTM WND DMGBentonBossier, LATREE ON A HOUSE AT THE INTERSECTION OF OAK RIDGE AND OLD PLAIN DEALING STREETS IN BENTON.
19:35 UTCTSTM WND DMG1 N SareptaWebster, LANUMEROUS TREES DOWN JUST NORTH OF SAREPTA.
19:35 UTCTORNADO4 Ne SareptaWebster, LAAN EF1 TORNADO TOUCHED DOWN 4 MILES NORTHEAST OF SAREPTA AND TRAVELED 8 MILES NORTHEAST ALONG THE CORRIDOR OF ROUTE 2 TOWARD SHONGALOO BEFORE DISSIPATING. NUMEROUS TREES WERE BLOWN OVER AND SNAPPED OFF.
19:50 UTCTSTM WND DMGShongalooWebster, LATREES DOWN
20:24 UTCHAIL 1.7510 Sw Junction CityClaiborne, LANEAR HWY 9 NORTH OF SUMMERFIELD
20:30 UTCHAIL 0.75Bossier CityBossier, LACORNER OF BELLAIRE BLVD AND BARKSDALE BLVD. LASTED APPROXIMATELY ONE MINUTE.
20:30 UTCHAIL 0.881 W ArcadiaBienville, LA
20:48 UTCHAIL 1.75HaynesvilleClaiborne, LA
20:50 UTCHAIL 1.759 Sw ArcadiaBienville, LA
21:20 UTCHAIL 0.75Red ChuteBossier, LA
21:30 UTCHAIL 0.75MindenWebster, LA
21:32 UTCHAIL 1MindenWebster, LA
21:45 UTCHAIL 0.75Bossier CityBossier, LA
22:20 UTCHAIL 0.88HaughtonBossier, LA
22:20 UTCHAIL 0.88Red ChuteBossier, LA

From the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service local storm reports.

This ground now

The live radar over the trackEvery 2007 tornado in LouisianaEvery tornado in Louisiana since 1950Warnings in force in Louisiana nowThe forecast where you are

The other tornadoes of March 27, 2007

3 more were confirmed in the United States that day.

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
March 2711:31 AM CDTEF1Harrison, TX10.050$20,000
March 2712:40 PM CDTEF0Harrison, TX6.025
March 272:14 PM CDTEF0Lafayette, AR5.075$80,000

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.