Two rounds of severe weather struck Southeast Texas and Southwest Louisiana from February 16th into February 17th.  One area of strong to severe thunderstorms developed early in the morning on February 16th, with two reports of large hail across Central Louisiana.  Late in the evening on February 16th into the early morning of February 17th, an intense line of severe thunderstorms (called a squall line) moved rapidly across the area from west to east, with numerous reports of large hail and wind damage.  The worst damage was from an EF1 Tornado along the leading edge of the squall line, which struck in and near Palmetto, Louisiana in St. Landry Parish. 

EF1 Tornado near Palmetto, Louisiana Date:  February 17, 2008 Time:  130 am Location:  2 miles south of Palmetto, LA to                  4 miles northeast of Palmetto, LA Path Length:  5 miles Path Width:  125 yards
One of several trees blown down in Palmetto	A mobile home was rolled several times and destroyed northeast of Palmetto	Another view of a mobile home that was destroyed northeast of Palmetto
A trailer was flipped and damaged by the tornado northeast of Palmetto	A destroyed shed northeast of Palmetto	Damage to a mobile home northeast of Palmetto

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PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT...SUMMARY
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES LA
603 PM CST FRI FEB 22 2008

..TIME...   ...EVENT...      ...CITY LOCATION...     ...LAT.LON...
..DATE...   ....MAG....      ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
            ..REMARKS..

0140 AM     HAIL             BOYCE                   31.39N 92.67W
02/16/2008  E0.75 INCH       RAPIDES            LA   AMATEUR RADIO

0605 AM     HAIL             BIG CANE                30.82N 92.01W
02/16/2008  M1.00 INCH       ST. LANDRY         LA   TRAINED SPOTTER

            NICKEL TO QUARTER SIZED HAIL.

0940 PM     TSTM WND DMG     12 E WOODVILLE          30.77N 94.22W
02/16/2008                   TYLER              TX   LAW ENFORCEMENT

            TREES DOWN

1040 PM     TSTM WND DMG     5 E NEWTON              30.85N 93.67W
02/16/2008                   NEWTON             TX   LAW ENFORCEMENT

            TREES BLOWN DOWN EAST OF NEWTON.

1105 PM     HAIL             ROSEPINE                30.92N 93.28W
02/16/2008  E0.88 INCH       VERNON             LA   PUBLIC

1115 PM     MARINE TSTM WIND 7 SW JOHNSON BAYOU      29.69N 93.73W
02/16/2008  M53.00 MPH       GMZ450             LA   PUBLIC

            MEASURED AT WEST CAMERON 17 PLATFORM.

1140 PM     TSTM WND DMG     10 E LEESVILLE          31.14N 93.11W
02/16/2008                   VERNON             LA   LAW ENFORCEMENT

            TREES DOWN NEAR HICKS.

1200 AM     TSTM WND DMG     LAKE CHARLES            30.21N 93.20W
02/17/2008                   CALCASIEU          LA   PUBLIC

            LARGE TREE HAS FALLEN ONTO POWER LINE ON THE 800 BLOCK OF
            ORANGE AND KIRKMAN STREETS.

1250 AM     TSTM WND DMG     2 N EUNICE              30.52N 92.42W
02/17/2008                   ST. LANDRY         LA   PUBLIC

            TREES BLOWN DOWN ON POWER LINES.

0101 AM     TSTM WND DMG     MARKSVILLE              31.13N 92.06W
02/17/2008                   AVOYELLES          LA   PUBLIC

            TREE DOWN ON HWY 114.

0120 AM     TSTM WND DMG     2 NW DUPONT             30.95N 91.97W
02/17/2008                   AVOYELLES          LA   PUBLIC

            TREE BLOWN DOWN ALONG HIGHWAY 107

0125 AM     TSTM WND DMG     3 S KAPLAN              29.96N 92.28W
02/17/2008                   VERMILION          LA   BROADCAST MEDIA

            SHED AND DECK DAMAGED NEAR HWY 335.

0128 AM     TSTM WND DMG     1 W PALMETTO            30.72N 91.92W
02/17/2008                   ST. LANDRY         LA   NWS STORM SURVEY

            NWS STORM SURVEY NOTED SEVERAL TREES BLOWN DOWN ALONG AND
            SOUTH OF HIGHWAY 10 BETWEEN LEBEAU AND PALMETTO.

0130 AM     TSTM WND DMG     OPELOUSAS               30.52N 92.08W
02/17/2008                   ST. LANDRY         LA   BROADCAST MEDIA

            TREE FELL ON POWERLINE AND HOME ON SUNNYSIDE AVE.

0130 AM     TORNADO          2 S PALMETTO            30.68N 91.90W
02/17/2008  F1               ST. LANDRY         LA   NWS STORM SURVEY

            TSTM WIND DAMAGE UPGRADED TO TORNADO BASED ON NWS STORM
            SURVEY. DAMAGE FOUND FROM EF1 TORNADO ALONG A PATH FROM 2
            MILES SOUTH OF PALMETTO TO 4 MILES NORTHEAST OF PALMETTO.
            NUMEROUS TREES WERE BLOWN DOWN OR UPROOTED WITH RESIDENTS
            TRAPPED IN ONE HOME. SEVERAL POWER POLES WERE KNOCKED
            DOWN. MANY HOMES HAD ROOF DAMAGE AND ONE TIED-DOWN MOBILE
            HOME WAS ROLLED SEVERAL TIMES AND DESTROYED. SHEDS WERE
            DESTROYED AND A CAMPER WAS ROLLED AND DAMAGED. PATH
            LENGTH OF 5 MILES AND PATH WIDTH OF 125 YARDS.

0135 AM     HAIL             ABBEVILLE               29.97N 92.12W
02/17/2008  M1.00 INCH       VERMILION          LA   BROADCAST MEDIA

0220 AM     TSTM WND DMG     NEW IBERIA              30.01N 91.82W
02/17/2008                   IBERIA             LA   BROADCAST MEDIA

            WIND DAMAGE TO ROOF OF HOME OFF ADMIRAL DOYLE DRIVE.