Investigators with the National Weather Service will be making a trip to St Landry Parish Louisiana later today to investigate storm damage from yesterday's severe weather. Investigators, in this case, will be focusing their efforts on the community of Morrow. Residents of that town and St. Landry Parish law enforcement say storms blowing through the area destroyed a barn there just off Highway 107.

Investigators hope to determine whether the damage in the Morrow community was done by tornadic, or rotating winds, versus straight-line winds. While you might be thinking damage is damage and it doesn't matter what caused it, to scientists who investigate severe weather phenomena the information is crucial to help keep you and your family safe from future storms.

While Louisiana might not be located in "Tornado Alley" we are actually in an area of the country that experiences more tornadic storms than places like Kansas, Nebraska, and Iowa. In fact, the state that had the most tornado reports last year was our neighbor to the east, Mississippi.

Photo courtesy of Reggie Ford, @reggieart, Instagram
Photo courtesy of Reggie Ford, @reggieart, Instagram
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Mississippi experienced some 183 tornadoes in 2002. The state with the second largest number of reported tornadoes? Our neighbor to the west, Texas. The Lonestar State reported 159 twisters last year. Next on the list was Alabama which is also pretty darn close to Louisiana as the crow flies.

In Louisiana, we experienced 61 tornadoes last year. That was the seventh most tornadoes reported in the U.S. last year. But where and when in Louisiana are you most likely to be caught up in a rotating storm of doom and destruction?

12 News Now
12 News Now
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According to statistics, the southern part of Louisiana is the place where tornadic storms are most likely to form. In other words, the I-10 corridor is more likely to experience tornadoes in Louisiana than the I-20 corridor.

Tornadoes can and do happen in every month of the year in Louisiana however, the most likely month for tornadic storms to occur is November. The state usually sees about six tornadoes during that month. The month with the next highest number of tornadoes is April with five.

Jeremy Myers
Jeremy Myers
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As far as time of day goes, the most likely time, according to the stats for a tornado to touchdown is between the hours of three and four in the afternoon. The average Louisiana tornado is about 300 feet wide and will travel a path of about four miles.

Statistically speaking along I -10 between three and four in the afternoon during the month of November is when you're most likely to encounter a tornado in Louisiana. And for that simple reason, that's why I always take Highway 90 when we travel around Thanksgiving.

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