Alert archive / Louisiana / Tornado Warnings in 1987
Tornado Warning 15, NWS Lake Charles, LA
NWS Lake Charles, LA issued this tornado warning at Sep 12, 1987, 3:59 PM CDT for Acadia Parish, Louisiana. It was in force for 61 min. 1 report came from inside the area while it was in force.
The area
The counties it named, with what was reported inside it.
The facts
- Issued
- Sep 12, 1987, 3:59 PM CDT (20:59 UTC)
- Expired
- Sep 12, 1987, 5:00 PM CDT
- In force
- 61 min
- Issued by
- NWS Lake Charles, LA
- Area
- Whole counties
County Acadia Parish, LA
The radar
The WSR-88D network and its archive begin in 1991, so there is no radar volume for this alert.
What was reported inside it
| Time | Report | Where | Remark |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sep 12, 4:00 PM CDT | Thunderstorm Wind 0 | Acadia, LA |
NCEI Storm Data entries that began inside the alert's area while it was in force. Before 2003 the local storm report archive is thin, so this is the record of what happened rather than what was phoned in. Storm Data before 1996 records only tornadoes, thunderstorm wind and hail.
The nearest sounding before it
Lake Charles Mun, LA (KLCH), launched 12:00Z, 9.0 hours before the alert went out and 78 km from the middle of its area. This is the routine balloon launch nearest before it, the air the forecaster had in hand, not a measurement taken for the alert.
- Mixed-layer CAPE
- 2935 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -10 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 603 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 25 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 40 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 78 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.7
- Supercell composite
- 4.5
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
000
TTAA00 KLCH 122059
TORLCH
LAC001-122200-
BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES LA
359 PM CDT SAT SEP 12 1987
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A TORNADO WARNING
EFFECTIVE UNTIL 500 PM CDT FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING PARISH...
IN SOUTHWEST LOUISIANA
...ACADIA
RADAR INDICATED A POSSIBLE TORNADO JUST EAST OF JENNINGS MOVING
TOWARD THE EAST AT 30 MPH. PERSONS IN CROWLEY AND RAYNE SHOULD BE ON
THE ALERT.
IF YOU ARE IN THE PATH OF A TORNADO...THE SAFEST PLACE IS A
BASEMENT. GET UNDER A WORKBENCH OR PIECE OF STURDY FURNITURE.
IF NO BASEMENT IS AVAILABLE...SEEK SHELTER IN AN INTERIOR ROOM
SUCH AS A CLOSET ON THE LOWEST FLOOR. USE BLANKE(TS...PILLOWS...
OR CUSHIONS TO COVER YOUR BODY. AVOID WINDOWS.What forecasters said that day
The local office's own words before this tornado warning went out, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.
In the hours before
Special weather statement, Sep 12, 2:39 PM CDT, 1 hour 20 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT AND RADAR SUMMARY NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES LA 235 PM CDT SAT SEP 12 1987 ...A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH IS IN EFFECT FOR PORTIONS OF CENTRAL WEST AND SOUTHWEST LOUISIANA AND THE COASTAL WATERS UNTIL 600 PM THIS SATURDAY AFTERNOON... ...LINE OF THUNDERSTORMS AT THE TEXAS BORDER MOVING RAPIDLY EAST... AT 225 PM...LAKE CHARLES RADAR SHOWED A LINE OF NUMEROUS STRONG THUNDER STORMS FROM TOLEDO BEND RESERVOIR TO THE BEAUMONT TEXAS AREA TO NEAR GALVESTON TEXAS MOVING SOUTHEAST AT 35 MPH. THESE THUNDERSTORMS WILL LIKELY PRODUCE STRONG GUSTY WINDS AND BRIEF VERY HEAVY DOWNPOURS AS THEY MOVE THROUGH THE EXTREME WESTERN PARISHES OF SOUTHWEST LOUISIANA IN THE NEXT HOUR. FREQUENT DANGEROUS LIGHTNING IS ALSO OCCURRING WITH THESE STORMS. REMAIN ALERT TO THE LATEST WEATHER INFORMATION THROUGH NOAA WEATHER RADIO OR THE LOCAL MEDIA AS WARNINGS MAY BE NECESSARY. IF THREATENING WEATHER APPROACHES...TAKE COVER. RELAY REPORTS OF DAMAGE OR SEVERE WEATHER TO THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE OR TO LOCAL LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENCIES. ELSEWHERE...RAIN AND SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS EXTENDED INTO TEXAS TO A LUFKIN HOUSTON LINE. A STRONG THUNDERSTORM WAS JUST OFFSHORE SOUTH OF GALVESTON. AN ISOLATED THUNDERSTORM WAS OVER VERMILION BAY.
Special weather statement, Sep 12, 3:19 PM CDT, 40 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PORT ARTHUR TX 315 PM CDT SAT SEP 12 1987 BY 300 PM CDT... WEATHER RADAR SHOWED ALL THE SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS HAD MOVED SOUTHEAST OUT OF THE GOLDEN TRIANGLE INTO LOUSIANA AND INTO THE COASTAL WATERS. SPECIAL MARINE WARNINGS ARE IN EFFECT ALL ALONG THE UPPER TEXAS AND SOUTHWEST LOUSIANA COASTAL WATERS. AS THE SQUALL LINE MOVED THROUGH THE GOLDEN TRIANGLE THIS AFTERNOON... REPORTS OF MARBLE SIZED AND STRONG WINDS WERE RECIEVED FROM THROUGHOUT THE AREA. NO REPORTS OF SEVERE WEATHER NOR DAMAGE WAS RECIEVED FROM ANY AREAS IN THE TRIANGLE HOWEVER. TREES WERE TOPPLED BY STRONG WINDS NEAR FRIENDSHIP IN NEWTON COUNTY AROUND 210 PM THIS AFTERNOON AS THE LINE OF STORMS MOVED THROUGH THAT AREA. DCG
The office that day
Everything else NWS Lake Charles, LA issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sep 12, 2:38 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | LCH | Calcasieu | 67 min |
| Sep 12, 3:21 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | LCH | Cameron | 54 min |
| Sep 12, 3:45 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | LCH | Calcasieu, Jefferson Davis | 60 min |
Nearby
Tornado Warnings in Louisiana, 1987Every tornado warning in 1987Tornadoes in 1987
Sources
The product and its follow-ups from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service and Storm Prediction Center text; verification from NCEI's Storm Data; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive.