‘Ahead of the Storm’: What to know, how to get ready before tornadoes, strong storms, heavy rain

Allison Bruhl
·9 min read

Editor’s Note: This article has been updated since its original publication to correct misattributed information.

BATON ROUGE, La. (BRPROUD) — Springtime in the South means severe weather season.

Severe storms can bring many threats to the Greater Baton Rouge area, including damaging winds, hail, tornadoes and flash flooding.

This year in January an EF-0 tornado with maximum winds of 80 miles per hour touched down near Supreme in Assumption Parish. Even a weak tornado can still create damage. Roofs of homes and businesses were torn up. One mobile home was reported to have been thrown into the neighboring fire station.

NBC 33 WVLA and Fox 44 WGMB’s “Ahead of the Storm” special has meteorologists and experts sharing information that can help you prepare for the next time severe weather rolls around.

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Tornadoes in Louisiana

In February of 2023, an EF-2 tornado tracked near the I-55 corridor through Tangipahoa bringing estimated peak winds of 115 miles per hour. That particular twister inflicted substantial damage to a gas station and a church and destroyed dozens of mobile homes.

Severe weather outbreaks are also not out of the question. This was the case in February of 2017 when six tornadoes touched down across Southeast Louisiana. These included two EF-3 tornadoes, one in northern Livingston Parish and the other in East New Orleans.

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Not only does our area have a tornado threat, but severe weather also comes in the form of large hail and damaging winds. Last year, the BRProud viewing area saw a decent amount of hail and wind damage reports, with only two tornadoes having touched down.

Now on average, Louisiana sees about 45 tornadoes per year, with the most occurring in springtime.

What meteorologists look for when forecasting severe weather

There are four main things meteorologists look for when forecasting severe weather: shear, lift, instability and moisture.

Wind shear describes the change in wind speed and direction the higher you go up into the atmosphere. These strong winds tilt the storms, and this allows storms to maintain their strength longer and can help storms start to rotate.

Instability refers to the amount of fuel that storms need to ingest, this is what we call convective available potential energy or CAPE. The higher the CAPE, the more energy or instability is available for storms to become severe.

Sufficient moisture is needed in the atmosphere to help clouds and rain form. Dewpoints are one of the ways we measure this moisture content. Since Louisiana is so close to the Gulf of Mexico, the higher the dewpoints, the more moisture is available for storms to develop and strengthen.

Lastly, storms need a lifting mechanism to be able to get started in the first place. For example, cold fronts or drylines force rising motion to spur storm development from colliding air masses.

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Severe weather threat levels

When severe weather is in the forecast, it is important to know how that threat is communicated. The Storm Prediction Center, or SPC, issues convective outlooks days in advance that detail the severe threat level across the country on a scale from one to five with corresponding-colored outlines.

  • Level 1 marginal risk: Indicates that isolated severe storms could be possible.

  • Level 2 slight risk: Shows that there is increased confidence for isolated to scattered severe storms.

  • Level 3 enhanced risk: High confidence for scattered to numerous severe storms where several could be significant.

  • Level 4 moderate risk: Shows that scattered to numerous severe storms are expected where several significant severe storms are likely.

  • Level 5 high risk: Indicates that numerous severe storms are expected with an outbreak possible. These are intense storms that an area may only see once or twice in a lifetime.

Watch vs. warning. What’s the difference?

When a watch has been issued, such as a tornado watch, that means that conditions are favorable for that type of severe weather. This is when you need to keep a close, watchful eye on the weather conditions. If you happen to live in a mobile home or RV, it is time to make plans to relocate to a sturdier structure. This can be either your family or friend’s house or even a place of business.

When a warning is issued for your area that means you need to take immediate action to protect yourself and your family. You need to move away from any exterior walls and windows and move into the most interior room in your house on the lowest floor. You want to put as many walls as possible between you and the tornado. Bathrooms work best since the plumbing in the walls tends to provide more structure and support.

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How meteorologists use radar to forecast bad weather

The BRProud Stormtracker Team shows various radar products during live severe weather coverage. Let’s dive into what some of those are.

Base reflectivity is what you typically see when opening your radar app. Greens will typically indicate light rain whereas oranges and reds show areas of heavy rain, or even possible hail in pink colors.

Velocity data gives us an indication of what the winds are doing inside of a storm.

Another useful product is called the correlation coefficient. Most of the time, raindrops are uniformly shaped and sized. Therefore, they correlate to each other and are shown as pink or magenta colors. However, if a tornado is on the ground causing damage, debris such as trees, wood and insulation gets lofted into the atmosphere and as a result, the targets detected by radar are not correlated to each other, thus turning green or blue colors. Where and when those blue colors co-locate with a velocity couplet, a tornado can be confirmed from the radar data.

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The VIPIR Doppler radar can detect rainfall rates and estimate rainfall totals. This helps meteorologists and forecasters determine the flash flooding risks.

When a flood watch is in effect, that means that heavy rainfall is expected with favorable conditions that may produce flash flooding. When a flash flood warning is in effect, that means that flash flooding is occurring or is imminent.

Flooding rain can occur anytime during the year whether from slow-moving thunderstorms or tropical systems and can cause many issues from water entering homes to stalling out or sweeping away vehicles.

Tornado strengths

Storms that produce tornadoes can do a significant amount of damage and threaten lives. Most tornadoes are relatively weak, while others can be violent. The Enhanced-Fujita Scale is how tornado strength is rated based on the damage they cause.

  • EF-0: Winds around 65-85 miles per hour and begins to show visible damage to structures such as blowing shingles and roofing material off. These are the most common tornadoes.

  • EF-1: Can bring winds up to 110 miles per hour that can break glass, blow garage doors inwards, and overturn mobile homes.

  • EF-2: This is considered a strong tornado that can have winds up to 135 miles per hour. Houses can shift on their foundations, roofs can be completely blown off, and large trees can topple.

  • EF-3: Cause severe damage with winds up to 165 miles per hour collapsing exterior walls and sweeping weak foundation homes away.

  • EF-4: Winds can be up to 200 miles per hour with devastating effects. Well-constructed homes are leveled, and cars are tossed.

  • EF-5: The rarest, but produces catastrophic damage with winds exceeding 200 miles per hour. Well-constructed homes are swept away, and cars are crushed and mangled.

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Get prepared for strong storms, tornadoes

Preparation ahead of the storm takes a lot of planning. You’ll need to know where to go if you need to evacuate and what to bring.

Rural populations are most vulnerable to severe weather threats, especially those who live in mobile homes. They need to know where the nearest shelter is.

Craig Ceecee created the Find Your Tornado Shelter project. He estimates there are 1,800 tornado shelters across the nation. But he said it’s not enough.

“I couldn’t see any that were identifiable online through searching that affect the entire country. So I just decided I would start one myself. And it has grown dramatically over the last couple of years, especially in the last year,” Ceecee said.

For BRProud viewers in the Florida parishes and southwest Mississippi, their closest shelter options are in Adams and Pike counties in Mississippi.

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If residents decide to go to a shelter, they need to have these important items with them.

Bri Cooks, public information officer for the Adams County Sheriff’s Office, said to bring medicine, pillows, blankets and important identification documents.

Animals can be brought to the Adams County safe room but they have to be in a kennel.

Planning ahead of time, knowing your safe place or where your nearby shelter is and how to receive warnings are all essential in prepping for severe weather.

If you’re planning on staying in your home during severe weather, FEMA recommends having your food, water and other supplies last for at least 72 hours. Make sure your emergency kit is continuously stocked, most items are inexpensive and easy to find and any one of them could save your life. Once you take a look at the basic items, consider what unique needs your family might have, such as supplies for your pets or seniors.

Here are a few items that you will need in your safe spot kit.

  • Air horn.

  • Fresh batteries.

  • Boots or work shoes.

  • Supply of food or snacks and water.

  • Helmet.

Download the BRProud weather app

When severe weather is possible, it is important to keep up to date with the latest forecasts in the days leading up to the event and to have multiple ways to receive warnings and alerts.

Download our free BRProud weather app from the App Store or Google Play Store.

When you open the app, select “always” when asked about location access to get alerts tailored to where you are.

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With the app, you get the latest forecasts straight from the BRProud Stormtracker team. You can also view our live VIPIR radar to see where the storms are relative to your specific location.

When severe weather strikes, such as large hail or damaging winds, you can share those pictures with us using the photo submit tab within the app. These reports help us keep track of where severe weather has occurred and those reports are also relayed to the National Weather Service to help verify warnings and forecasts.

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