EF2 tornado, Elmer to Ruby, Louisiana, April 22, 2020

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 mphthis tornado

   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.

Rating

EF2

Date

April 22, 2020

Touchdown

9:26 PM CDT (02:26 UTC)

Lifted

9:38 PM CDT (02:38 UTC)

On the ground

12 minutes

Path length

9.0 miles (14.4 km)

Path width

550 yards (503 m)

Deaths

1

Injuries

0

Property damage

$1.0 million

County

Rapides Parish

Touchdown point

31.162, -92.458

Lift-off point

31.192, -92.310

Record number

2004222026-01

6 damage points were recorded along this path by NWS LCH, in the Damage Assessment Toolkit the survey teams carry. The strongest indicator was rated EF1. The highest wind the damage implies is 107 mph.

Survey points are preliminary and are the raw material the published rating was built from. Source: NWS Damage Assessment Toolkit.

A cold front drifted into the area and stalled while multiple disturbances passed aloft. This produced multiple rounds of severe weather over multiple days.

This tornado started near the community of Elmer, west of Elmer Road where it produced damage to trees and homes. The tornado crossed Highway 112 southeast of Elmer and continued northeast through the forest, damaging many trees and power poles along its path. The tornado debarked trees at times. The tornado dissipated in the forest near Castor Plunge Road. Max estimated wind was 120 mph.

This tornado started near I-49 and Robinson Bridge Road, where it damaged numerous homes and trees along the road. Two mobile homes were completely destroyed, killing one individual. The tornado then moved ENE crossing Hwy 470 damaging additional homes and bringing down numerous power poles. The tornado then jogged NE crossing Hwy 71 where it produced substantial damage to the DeWitt Livestock Facility. The tornado also substantially damaged farm and equipment buildings at the LSUA Dean Lee Research Station. The tornado proceeded ENE to the Red River producing tree and power pole damage.

Tornado started east of Chickamaw Road in an open field then damaged a shed and took shingles off a roof on Hwy 456 before crossing Hwy 71. There it damaged another building before crossing Lamourie Road. It damaged out buildings and snapped power lines. It dissipated north of Lamourie Road in a field. Max estimated winds were 110 mph.

The tornado started west of Highway 454 and moved east-northeast along Wise Chappel Road where it produced considerable tree damage which resulted in a few homes being damaged as well. The tornado continued into Avoyelles Parish. Max estimated winds were 110 mph.

The deaths

1 direct deaths are recorded for this tornado, each with what Storm Data knows of it.

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

22 minutes of warning. NWS LCH issued a tornado warning for this county at 02:04 UTC, 22 minutes before the tornado touched down, in force until 02:30 UTC.

The county was under a tornado watch, issued at 22:03 UTC and running to 05:00 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 Enhanced Risk, with a 0.10 chance of a tornado within 25 miles, in the hatched area where significant tornadoes were expected. The outlook in force was issued at 01:09 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 Ft Polk radar (KPOE), 56 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 02:23 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.

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

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

The live radar over the trackEvery 2020 tornado in LouisianaEvery tornado in Louisiana since 1950Warnings in force in Louisiana nowThe forecast where you are

19 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.