Alert archive / Louisiana / Tornado Warnings in 1987
Tornado Warning 6, NWS Lake Charles, LA
NWS Lake Charles, LA issued this tornado warning at May 4, 1987, 1:58 PM CDT for Cameron Parish, Louisiana. It was in force for 32 min.
The area
The counties it named.
The facts
- Issued
- May 4, 1987, 1:58 PM CDT (18:58 UTC)
- Expired
- May 4, 1987, 2:30 PM CDT
- In force
- 32 min
- Issued by
- NWS Lake Charles, LA
- Area
- Whole counties
County Cameron Parish, LA
The radar
The WSR-88D network and its archive begin in 1991, so there is no radar volume for this alert.
The nearest sounding before it
Lake Charles Mun, LA (KLCH), launched 12:00Z, 7.0 hours before the alert went out and 30 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
- 241 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -345 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 1045 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 25 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 114 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 151 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 0.0
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
000
TTAA00 KLCH 041858
TORLCH
LAC023-041930-
BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES LA
158 PM CDT MON MAY 4 1987
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A TORNADO WARNING
EFFECTIVE UNTIL 230 PM CDT FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING PARISH...
IN SOUTHWEST LOUISIANA
...CAMERON
AT 157 PM THE SABINE PASS COAST GUARD SPOTTED A TORNADO ON SABINE
LAKE MOVING NORTHEAST AT 25 MPH.
IF YOU ARE CAUGHT OUTSIDE...SEEK SHELTER IN A NEARBY REINFORCED
BUILDING. AS A LAST RESORT...SEEK SHELTER IN A CULVERT...DITCH
OR LOW SPOT AND COVER YOUR HEAD WITH YOUR HANDS.
THIS IS A DANGEROUS STORM SITUATION. ACT QUICKLY. IF YOU ARE
IN THE PATH OF THIS TORNADO MOVE THO A SHELTER BELOW GROUND IF
AVAILABLE. OTHERWISE...GO TO A SMALL INTERIOR ROOM ON THE LOWEST
FLOOR POSSIBLE. AVOID WINDOWS. ABANDON CARS AND MOBILE HOMES
FOR A REINFORCED BUILDING OR GET INTO A DITCH OR CULVERT.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, May 4, 1:54 PM CDT, 4 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT AND RADAR SUMMARY NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES LA 150 PM CDT MON MAY 4 1987 ...STRONG THUNDERSTORMS MOVE INTO SOUTHWEST LOUISIANA... AT 125 PM RADAR SHOWED STRONG THUNDERSTORMS IN WESTERN CAMERON PARISH JUST NORTHEAST OF SABINE PASS. THESE STORMS WILL PRODUCE VERY HEAVY RAIN...DANGEROUS LIGHTNING...GUSTY WINDS...AND POSSIBLY SOME SMALL HAIL. SCATTERED STRONG THUNDERSTORMS WERE ALSO SHOWN NEAR DEQUINCY...AND IN EXTREME EAST TEXAS BETWEEN HIGH ISLAND...SABINE PASS...KOUNTZE AND JASPER. RAIN WAS ALSO SHOWN IN EAST TEXAS BETWEEN LUFKIN...RAYBURN LAKE AND LIBERTY. SCATTERED STRONG THUNDERSTORMS WERE LOCATED BETWEEN BUNKIE...MORGAN CITY AND BATON ROUGE...=AND NEAR BOTH WHITE LAKE AND VERMILION BAY. MOVEMENT WAS NORTHEAST AT 25 MPH.
The office that day
Everything else NWS Lake Charles, LA issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 4, 2:06 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | LCH | Calcasieu | 54 min |
| May 4, 2:06 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | LCH | Allen | 54 min |
| May 4, 3:56 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | LCH | Rapides | 64 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; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive.