Tornadoes · United States · Louisiana · 2013

EF0 tornado, Singer, Louisiana, May 9, 2013

This EF0 tornado ran 1.0 miles across Beauregard Parish on May 9, 2013, touching down at 11:35 PM CDT and reaching 20 yards wide. It killed nobody, and did $10,000 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 mphthis tornado

    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.

The record

Rating
EF0
Date
May 9, 2013
Touchdown
11:35 PM CDT (04:35 UTC)
Lifted
11:38 PM CDT (04:38 UTC)
On the ground
3 minutes
Path length
1.0 miles (1.7 km)
Path width
20 yards (18 m)
Deaths
0
Injuries
0
Property damage
$10,000
County
Beauregard Parish
Touchdown point
30.683, -93.471
Lift-off point
30.690, -93.455
Record number
1305092235-01

What the Weather Service recorded

Multiple short waves moved across the region while a north flow remained in place. This caused multiple rounds of severe weather with hail, high winds, and a tornado in Louisiana from late during the 9th into the 10th.

An EF0 tornado touched down along Highway 110 west of Singer, blowing down numerous pine trees, some of which fell on power lines.

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

The warnings

No tornado warning for this county appears in the archive as in force at the moment the tornado touched down. One was issued for the county at another hour that day.

The county was under a severe thunderstorm watch, issued at 02:43 UTC and running to 09:00 UTC.

Issued (UTC)ExpiredProductOffice
20:38 UTC02:43 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WatchLCH
02:43 UTC09:00 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WatchLCH
03:25 UTC05:15 UTCFlood AdvisoryLCH
04:08 UTC05:15 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WarningLCH
04:40 UTC05:15 UTCTornado WarningLCH
05:18 UTC05:45 UTCTornado WarningLCH
05:20 UTC06:15 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WarningLCH
05:33 UTC06:30 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WarningLCH
06:30 UTC08:30 UTCFlood AdvisoryLCH
15:07 UTC10:00 UTCFlash Flood WatchLCH

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 00:48 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.

Lake Charles Mun, LA (KLCH), 00:00Z

4.6 hours before the tornado, 68 km from the path. May 10, 2013.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Lake Charles Mun, LA at 00:00Z on 2013-05-10Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel lifted from the surface. Mixed-layer CAPE 1022 joules per kilogram, CIN -49, lifted condensation level 820 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, Lake Charles Mun, LA at 00:00Z on 2013-05-10The 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 74 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 35 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
1022 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-49 J/kg
Surface CAPE
2199 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
820 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
35 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
13 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
74 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
156 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.6
Supercell composite
4.0
0-3 km lapse rate
6.0 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

Lake Charles Mun, LA (KLCH), 12:00Z

7.4 hours after it, 68 km from the path. May 10, 2013.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Lake Charles Mun, LA at 12:00Z on 2013-05-10Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel lifted from the surface. Mixed-layer CAPE 18 joules per kilogram, CIN -429, lifted condensation level 1127 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, Lake Charles Mun, LA at 12:00Z on 2013-05-10The 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 -266 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 72 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
18 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-429 J/kg
Surface CAPE
169 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1127 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
72 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
30 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
-266 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
-255 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.5
0-3 km lapse rate
4.6 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The surface observations

De Ridder/Beauregard Regional (DRI), 20 km from the path, in the two hours either side.

Time (UTC)Temp (°F)Dew point (°F)WindGust (kt)Pressure (mb)Weather
02:35 UTC71.668100° 7 kt1013.9-VCTSRA
02:55 UTC71.668100° 8 kt151013.5-TSRA
03:15 UTC71.6680° 0 kt1014.6TSRA
03:35 UTC69.864.410° 8 kt201015.2+TSRA
03:55 UTC69.866.2200° 10 kt201014.2+TSRA
04:15 UTC69.864.4360° 4 kt201015.2+TSRA
04:35 UTC6864.450° 9 kt1013.5TSRA
04:55 UTC6864.4280° 18 kt211016.9+TSRA
05:15 UTC64.462.630° 8 kt251014.2-TSRA
05:35 UTC64.460.830° 8 kt1014.2TSRA
05:55 UTC66.262.6330° 5 kt1015.6TSRA
06:15 UTC64.462.620° 8 kt1014.9TSRA

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

The radar

The Lake Charles radar (KLCH), 67 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 04:36 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
04:43 UTCHAIL 15 Nw SingerBeauregard, LA
04:46 UTCTSTM WND DMGSingerBeauregard, LABEAUREGARD PARISH SHERIFFS OFFICE REPORTS POSSIBLE TORNADO. SIGNIFICANT DAMAGE TO A HOME ON BUCKLEY ROAD INCLUDING DEMOLITION OF CARPORT AND PORTION OF ROOF. POWER LINES DOWN AT INTERSECTION OF HIGHWAYS 27 AND 110. ALSO
05:15 UTCHAIL 0.88VintonCalcasieu, LAVINTON POLICE DEPT REPORTS NICKEL-SIZED HAIL IN TOWN.
05:35 UTCHAIL 1CarlyssCalcasieu, LACALCASIEU PARISH 911 REPORTS NICKEL TO QUARTER-SIZED HAIL IN CARLYSS.
05:50 UTCTSTM WND DMG2 E SulphurCalcasieu, LAREPORT OF A TREE DOWN ON EVELAND AVENUE NEAR SULPHUR
06:10 UTCHAIL 1Lake CharlesCalcasieu, LAPUBLIC REPORT OF QUARTER-SIZED HAIL ON 5TH AVENUE IN LAKE CHARLES. NUMEROUS OTHER REPORTS OF MARBLE TO PENNY-SIZED HAIL FROM SOUTH SIDE OF LAKE CHARLES.

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

This ground now

The live radar over the trackEvery 2013 tornado in LouisianaEvery tornado in Louisiana since 1950Warnings in force in Louisiana nowThe forecast where you are

The other tornadoes of May 9, 2013

7 more were confirmed in the United States that day.

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
May 94:31 PM EDTEF0Norfolk, MA0.450$20,000
May 95:00 PM CDTEF0Kiowa, OK0.110
May 93:30 PM PDTEF0Wallowa, OR0.110
May 95:41 PM CDTEF0Christian, IL0.620
May 96:21 PM CDTEF0Jackson, OK0.120
May 98:14 PM EDTEF0Vigo, IN0.120$2,000
May 98:24 PM EDTEF0Vigo, IN0.120$2,000

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.