Tornadoes · United States · Louisiana

2009 tornadoes in Louisiana

75 tornadoes touched down in Louisiana in 2009, 130 percent above the average of the record for the state. None of them killed anybody.

2008 2010 The whole country in 2009

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 mph

    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.

Every tornado in Louisiana in 2009

February 11 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
February 111:04 AM CSTEF1De Soto Parish1.5150$150,000

March 24 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
March 2411:10 PM CDTEF1Jackson Parish1.180$500,000

March 25 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
March 257:50 PM CDTEF0Natchitoches Parish0.575$1,000

March 26 4 tornadoes

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
March 261:58 AM CDTEF1Tangipahoa Parish0.850$60,000
March 263:43 AM CDTEF0Saint Tammany Parish0.125$750
March 2611:12 PM CDTEF1Ascension Parish1.850$120,000
March 2611:28 PM CDTEF0Livingston Parish0.2150$3,000

March 27 3 tornadoes

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
March 271:30 AM CDTEF1Saint Tammany Parish0.3150$15,000
March 274:10 PM CDTEF0Rapides Parish2.625$25,000
March 2710:57 PM CDTEF0Ouachita Parish1.675$5,000

March 31 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
March 318:31 AM CDTEF1Natchitoches Parish8.3200$1.3 million

April 2 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
April 212:13 PM CDTEF0Livingston Parish0.225$2,000

April 9 5 tornadoes

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
April 910:02 PM CDTEF0Bossier Parish0.875$5,000
April 911:04 PM CDTEF0Webster Parish2.3100$100,000
April 911:21 PM CDTEF1Union Parish5.5150
April 911:33 PM CDTEF1Lincoln Parish4.4150$300,000
April 912:05 AM CDTEF2Jackson Parish12.6300$1.0 million

April 10 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
April 101:27 AM CDTEF1Richland Parish4.4100$10,000

April 18 3 tornadoes

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
April 187:15 PM CDTEF0Saint Landry Parish0.010$3,000
April 188:20 PM CDTEF0Saint Landry Parish0.225$5,000
April 189:10 PM CDTEF0Saint Landry Parish5.3100$25,000

May 3 4 tornadoes

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
May 37:38 AM CDTEF0Bienville Parish1.850
May 38:03 AM CDTEF0Bienville Parish1.150
May 38:40 AM CDTEF2Winn Parish1.53992$3.0 million
May 38:51 AM CDTEF0Catahoula Parish3.040$1,000

May 4 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
May 45:59 AM CDTEF1Saint Martin Parish0.6503$75,000

May 10 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
May 103:44 PM CDTEF0Natchitoches Parish2.475

May 14 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
May 1410:45 AM CDTEF0Calcasieu Parish0.05

May 16 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
May 169:20 PM CDTEF0Jefferson Parish0.630$15,000

June 2 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
June 22:15 PM CDTEF0Vermilion Parish0.125

July 30 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
July 3011:15 AM CDTEF0Caddo Parish1.075$35,000

October 1 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
October 111:15 PM CDTEF0Bienville Parish3.3250$30,000

October 9 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
October 910:12 AM CDTEF1Union Parish0.91501$200,000

October 15 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
October 1512:44 PM CDTEF0Tensas Parish0.875$60,000

October 22 9 tornadoes

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
October 2210:32 AM CDTEF0Cameron Parish0.110
October 2211:20 AM CDTEF0Red River Parish0.575
October 2212:00 PM CDTEF0Jefferson Davis Parish8.150$20,000
October 2212:22 PM CDTEF1Jefferson Davis Parish16.28001$250,000
October 2212:47 PM CDTEF1Jefferson Davis Parish3.8500$600,000
October 2212:53 PM CDTEF0Natchitoches Parish0.4125
October 2212:55 PM CDTEF0Allen Parish1.0100$10,000
October 221:05 PM CDTEF0Allen Parish0.325$5,000
October 221:15 PM CDTEF0Allen Parish7.250$5,000

October 29 12 tornadoes

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
October 2912:50 PM CDTEF1Bossier Parish2.52008$1.0 million
October 291:29 PM CDTEF0Red River Parish5.175
October 291:33 PM CDTEF0Union Parish3.750$20,000
October 293:16 PM CDTEF0Caddo Parish3.075
October 293:25 PM CDTEF0Caddo Parish1.0100
October 293:53 PM CDTEF0Bossier Parish4.3100
October 294:13 PM CDTEF2Caddo Parish13.06003$6.0 million
October 295:52 PM CDTEF0Caddo Parish0.375
October 296:04 PM CDTEF0Caddo Parish0.575$25,000
October 296:28 PM CDTEF0Caddo Parish0.3100
October 296:49 PM CDTEF0Claiborne Parish5.175
October 297:42 PM CDTEF0Webster Parish2.050

December 15 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
December 155:20 AM CSTEF0Jefferson Parish0.220$3,000

December 24 19 tornadoes

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
December 243:24 AM CSTEF0Sabine Parish1.275
December 244:21 AM CSTEF0Sabine Parish2.775
December 245:36 AM CSTEF0Red River Parish2.850
December 247:25 AM CSTEF2Saint Landry Parish5.750$500,000
December 247:27 AM CSTEF2Acadia Parish6.61004$4.0 million
December 247:32 AM CSTEF0Avoyelles Parish3.725$10,000
December 247:37 AM CSTEF0Avoyelles Parish5.025$5,000
December 247:40 AM CSTEF0Acadia Parish2.125$3,000
December 247:46 AM CSTEF0Acadia Parish2.925$5,000
December 247:50 AM CSTEF1Acadia Parish1.725$20,000
December 247:50 AM CSTEF1Acadia Parish1.525$20,000
December 247:53 AM CSTEF0Acadia Parish0.725$2,000
December 247:54 AM CSTEF0Saint Landry Parish2.025$5,000
December 247:57 AM CSTEF2Vermilion Parish5.650$1.0 million
December 247:58 AM CSTEF0Saint Landry Parish1.525$3,000
December 247:59 AM CSTEF0Avoyelles Parish0.310$3,000
December 248:00 AM CSTEF0Evangeline Parish0.625$2,000
December 248:05 AM CSTEF1Acadia Parish3.125$50,000
December 248:20 AM CSTEF1Union Parish6.0150$100,000

Crossed into Louisiana

Tornadoes that touched down in a neighboring state and ran into Louisiana. They are counted under the state they began in.

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
April 99:48 PM CDTEF2Harrison, TX to LA37.25002$13 million

Nearby

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