Type Tornado outbreak Tornadoes confirmed ≥ 19 | Duration February 11–13, 1950 Max rating | |
Duration of tornado outbreak 1 day, 11 hours, 50 minutes Casualties ± 45 fatalities, 201 injuries | ||
The February 1950 tornado outbreak was a deadly tornado outbreak that devastated parts of Louisiana and Tennessee on February 11–13, 1950. The outbreak covered about a day and a half and produced numerous tornadoes, mostly from East Texas to the lower Mississippi Valley, with activity concentrated in Texas and Louisiana. Most of the deaths occurred in Louisiana and Tennessee, where tornadoes killed 28 and nine people, respectively. Several long-lived tornado families struck the Red River region of northwestern Louisiana, especially the Shreveport–Bossier City area. One of the tornadoes attained violent intensity, F4, on the Fujita scale and caused 18 deaths, including six at the Shreveport Holding and Reconsignment Depot near Barksdale Air Force Base. It remains one of the top ten deadliest tornadoes on record in the state of Louisiana, in eighth place.
Also in Louisiana, two other destructive tornadoes on parallel paths killed five each. Five additional deaths occurred across the border in East Texas. Nine people died in a tornado in western Tennessee as well. In all, official data indicate that the entire outbreak killed 45 people and left about 200 injured, though tornado researcher Thomas P. Grazulis counted 42 deaths in a reanalysis published in 1993. The number of confirmed tornadoes, 19, is likely an underestimate, given the lack of NEXRAD and sparse storm spotting in the early 1950s. Also, several long-tracked tornadoes recorded in the outbreak likely contained more, shorter-lived tornadoes. Reports indicate that at least seven other tornadoes may have occurred, potentially bringing the number of tornadoes to at least 26, and the actual total was likely higher.
Other tornadoes
Besides the officially documented tornadoes, several other events were identified as tornadoes by Grazulis in his 1993 documentation. The official Climatological Data National Summary of February 1950 also identified one tornado that, like the others listed below, does not appear in the archives of the Storm Prediction Center. They are as follows.