Storm Chaser’s Guide to Louisiana

Map of Louisiana, where red indicates unfavorable road networks for storm chasing. (Gaps and densely populated areas) Green represents densely forested areas. County and parish names are also identified.

Louisiana

A few cities include: Alexandria, Monroe and Shreveport.

Local tornado season: Northern Louisiana peaks in April, peak varies elsewhere.

Terrain: Relatively flat, but heavily forested.

Road network: Decent in northeastern Louisiana, inconsistent elsewhere.

Radar coverage: Good in western/central areas, limited elsewhere.

The Lower Mississippi Valley has featured several prolific tornado outbreaks over the years. Many of them have started in Louisiana. Moisture is rarely an issue here, as most storm systems will pull warm, moist air northward from the nearby Gulf of Mexico. With that factor, supercell thunderstorms are almost always high precipitation here. As a result, supercells in Louisiana may not be very photogenic. Large hail occurs with the more intense storms, but damaging winds, sometimes widespread, are common as squall lines evolve across Louisiana.

Terrain

Louisiana has multiple terrain areas, but the majority of the state (not considering the coastal plain and delta region near New Orleans) is forested with some hills. There is a portion of southwestern Louisiana that has fewer trees than areas farther north. There are a few gaps in the forests in east-central Louisiana and near the Red River as well.

Northeastern Louisiana is fairly flat and has some breaks in the tree canopy. This can make viewing storms in this area easier than points to the west. This favorable area of storm chasing, continues northeast, making up the Dixie Delta storm chase zone.

Road network

The road network in Louisiana, much like its terrain, heavily depends on the area. In forested regions, while the road network may be dense, good luck trying to find a road that goes in the right direction for chasing a storm.

In northeastern Louisiana, there is a small area that has both favorable terrain and reasonable road networks. One option might be to set up in northeastern Louisiana and hope that a storm tracks close to you. The road network in southwestern Louisiana is also manageable, but if there has been heavy rainfall recently, do not be surprised if many roads are flooded and impassible.

The major freeways in Louisiana are I-10, I-20 and I-49. Storm chasing on either side of I-10 can be done, mainly in western parts of the state. Here, the road network and terrain are manageable. For those travelling east on I-20, to the east of Monroe, some of the corridor can be storm chased. Since I-49 travels along the Red River Valley, there is a narrow area that fares well for storm chasing. This exists roughly 10-20 miles to the east of I-49, before you move back into thicker forests.

Note that it is common for storm motions to be faster than 50 MPH in Louisiana. Unless you have paved roads going in the right direction, expect local storm chasing to be rather difficult.

Radar coverage

Radar Coverage roc.noaa.gov

Louisiana has four radar sites, but because of how they are positioned, there are sections of Louisiana that have little to no radar coverage. Even though northeastern Louisiana may have a decent combination of road networks and terrain, radar coverage is poor at best there. Another gap in the coverage is noted between Lafayette and Baton Rouge.

KSHV covers northwestern Louisiana, while KPOE will give good data for central and western Louisiana. KLCH and KPOE are close to each other, so if chasing in southwestern Louisiana, there are almost always two different options for radar. LIX brings some coverage near and west of Baton Rouge, but that is a rough area to chase due to terrain. KDGX covers parts of far northeastern Louisiana, mainly near the Mississippi River.

In summary, Louisiana is a tough state to storm chase, but there are some areas to work with, mainly in northeastern parts of the state. With that said, radar coverage is opposite, as the tougher terrain areas tend to have better radar coverage, while the delta region in northeastern Louisiana has limited coverage, at best.

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