National Weather Service United States Department of Commerce
February 15 2016 Severe Weather


Severe weather plot image
            Map of severe weather reports and severe thunderstorm and tornado warnings on February 15th.

 

 

Event Overview

An area of low pressure moved along the Gulf Coast triggering showers and thunderstorms during the morning and afternoon of February 15, 2016. Surface temperatures in the mid to upper 60s combined with dew points in the mid 60s resulted in a large amount of atmospheric instability compared to typical February conditions. Deep level wind shear supported the development of rotating updrafts and, as surface temperatures began to increase throughout the morning, several supercell thunderstorms developed ahead of the surface cold front. These prefrontal thunderstorms resulted in two EF-0 tornadoes. One tornado resulted in damage to several buildings near Plaucheville in Avoyelles Parish. Another tornado touched down in open fields south of Welsh in Jefferson Davis Parish and dissipated before producing any damage.

As the cold front approached from the northwest, two multicell clusters developed and moved to the east southeast. The first resulted in a microburst with 70-80 MPH winds that damaged a car wash and Pizza Hut in Alexandria. The second multicell thunderstorm produced a swath of severe hail extending from Moss Bluff to just south of Welsh. Cold temperatures above the surface were conducive for the development of large hail with multiple reports of ping pong ball to two inch hail in Iowa and Lacassine.

 

 

 

February 15th Lake Charles Morning Sounding

February 15th Lake Charles Morning Sounding

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Lake Charles SHIP Climo

Lake Charles Sig. Hail Parameter Climatology

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MLCAPE Climatology

Lake Charles Mixed Layer CAPE Climatology

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MUCAPE Climo

Lake Charles Most Unstable CAPE Climatology

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Hail and Storm Damage Photographs.
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Pizza Hut1

Alexandria, LA, KALB

Pizza Hut2

Alexandria, LA, Kelly Taylor-Forgar

Car Wash1

Alexandria, LA, KALB

Pizza Hut1

Iowa, LA, Chris Walker

Pizza Hut2

Iowa, LA, Christina Granger

Car Wash1

Iowa, LA, Ted Louviere

Pizza Hut1

Lacassine, LA, Sadie Prejean

Pizza Hut2

Lebleu Settlement, LA, Deonna Liprie

Car Wash1

Lebleu Settlement, LA, Debbie Bennett

 

Page by: Tim Humphrey Last Updated: Feb 17, 2016