Tornadoes · United States · Louisiana · 2014

EF1 tornado, Vidrine, Louisiana, February 20, 2014

This EF1 tornado ran 2.6 miles across Evangeline Parish on February 20, 2014, touching down at 8:33 PM CST and reaching 75 yards wide. It killed nobody, and did $50,000 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
February 20, 2014
Touchdown
8:33 PM CST (02:33 UTC)
Lifted
8:35 PM CST (02:35 UTC)
On the ground
2 minutes
Path length
2.6 miles (4.3 km)
Path width
75 yards (69 m)
Deaths
0
Injuries
0
Property damage
$50,000
County
Evangeline Parish
Touchdown point
30.691, -92.390
Lift-off point
30.699, -92.347
Record number
1402202033-01

What the Weather Service recorded

A cold front moved through the area during the 20th. Thunderstorms occurred during the evening with a tornado occurring near Ville Platte. Additional storms occurred a couple days later as the front returned north.

A tornado occurred near the Vidrine community along highway 10. The tornado was on the ground for around 2.7 miles and destroyed several garages and barns. It also damaged several homes by removing siding and shingles. One home had a tree fall on it trapping residents inside. The local fire department rescued them and they did not have any injuries. The tornado also downed several power poles along highway 10.

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.

The county was under a tornado watch, issued at 01:25 UTC and running to 03:57 UTC.

Issued (UTC)ExpiredProductOffice
18:35 UTC00:00 UTCWind AdvisoryLCH
18:49 UTC01:23 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WatchLCH
01:25 UTC03:57 UTCTornado WatchLCH
02:51 UTC03:07 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WarningLCH

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 01:00 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

2.6 hours before the tornado, 102 km from the path. February 21, 2014.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Lake Charles Mun, LA at 00:00Z on 2014-02-21Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel lifted from the surface. Mixed-layer CAPE 2092 joules per kilogram, CIN -14, lifted condensation level 438 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 2014-02-21The 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 141 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 47 knots.1939587897Sfc1 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
2092 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-14 J/kg
Surface CAPE
1666 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
438 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
47 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
27 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
141 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
134 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
1.7
Supercell composite
7.1
0-3 km lapse rate
5.2 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

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

9.4 hours after it, 102 km from the path. February 21, 2014.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Lake Charles Mun, LA at 12:00Z on 2014-02-21Temperature 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 -96864, lifted condensation level 2630 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, Lake Charles Mun, LA at 12:00Z on 2014-02-21The 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 -377 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 58 knots.1939587897Sfc1 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
-96864 J/kg
Surface CAPE
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
2630 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
58 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
34 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
-377 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
-205 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.0
0-3 km lapse rate
0.4 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The radar

The Ft Polk radar (KPOE), 77 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 02:31 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
02:40 UTCTSTM WND DMGVille PlatteEvangeline, LAEVANGELINE SHERIFF REPORTS THAT A TREE FELL ON A HOME IN VILLE PLATTE.
03:05 UTCTSTM WND DMG5 W Ville PlatteEvangeline, LAEVANGELINE PARISH SHERIFF REPORTS WIND DAMAGE IN THE VIDRINE COMMUNITY ALONG HWY 10. A TREE FELL ON A HOUSE TRAPPING THREE RESIDENTS INSIDE. THE FIRE DEPARTMENT WAS ON SCENE BUT NOBODY WAS INJURED. POWER LINES AND ADDITI

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

This ground now

The live radar over the trackEvery 2014 tornado in LouisianaEvery tornado in Louisiana since 1950Warnings in force in Louisiana nowThe forecast where you are

The other tornadoes of February 20, 2014

33 more were confirmed in the United States that day.

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
February 202:25 PM CSTEF2Pike, IL12.1801
February 202:48 PM CSTEF0Morgan, IL0.325
February 202:52 PM CSTEF0Morgan, IL8.250
February 203:43 PM CSTEF0Sangamon, IL0.275$30,000
February 203:57 PM CSTEF1Bond, IL12.350
February 203:57 PM CSTEF1Sangamon, IL8.3300$990,000
February 204:09 PM CSTEF2Montgomery, IL22.42001$600,000
February 204:36 PM CSTEF1Fayette, IL4.850
February 204:39 PM CSTEF1Pemiscot, MO0.2705$75,000
February 204:40 PM CSTEF1Jackson, IL0.450$10,000
February 204:40 PM CSTEF0Shelby, IL0.350
February 204:41 PM CSTEF1Pemiscot, MO0.025$10,000
February 204:54 PM CSTEF1Effingham, IL1.5100$80,000
February 205:43 PM CSTEF0Edgar, IL3.075
February 207:40 PM ESTEF0Montgomery, IN7.540$75,000
February 206:42 PM CSTEF0Webster, KY6.2125$30,000
February 207:11 PM CSTEF0Walthall, MS0.540$5,000
February 207:12 PM CSTEF0Caldwell, KY1.6125$8,000
February 207:48 PM CSTEF0Marion, MS0.550$15,000
February 209:32 PM ESTEF0Rush, IN0.025$12,000
February 208:45 PM CSTEF1Lawrence, AL10.7450
February 208:51 PM CSTEF1Lauderdale, AL1.8400
February 208:55 PM CSTEF1Lauderdale, AL2.75001
February 209:05 PM CSTEF1Limestone, AL2.7500
February 2010:14 PM ESTEF1Ripley, IN0.850$100,000
February 209:28 PM CSTEF1Jones, MS4.6100$400,000
February 209:50 PM CSTEF0Jones, MS0.650$10,000
February 209:53 PM CSTEF1Moore, TN1.6400
February 2010:53 PM ESTEF0Montgomery, OH2.080$150,000
February 2010:08 PM CSTEF1Franklin, TN1.1100
February 2010:23 PM CSTEF1Franklin, TN2.0400
February 2010:29 PM CSTEF1Coffee, TN1.2250$200,000
February 2012:54 AM ESTEF0Delaware, OH0.180$100,000

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.