Alert archive / Louisiana / Tornado Warnings in 1988
Tornado Warning 10, NWS Lake Charles, LA
NWS Lake Charles, LA issued this tornado warning at Dec 22, 1988, 8:49 PM CST for Vernon Parish, Louisiana. It was in force for 26 min.
The area
The counties it named.
The facts
- Issued
- Dec 22, 1988, 8:49 PM CST (02:49 UTC)
- Expired
- Dec 22, 1988, 9:15 PM CST
- In force
- 26 min
- Issued by
- NWS Lake Charles, LA
- Area
- Whole counties
County Vernon 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 00:00Z, 2.8 hours before the alert went out and 110 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
- 714 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -9 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 583 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 35 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 195 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 220 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.5
- Supercell composite
- 3.2
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
000
TTAA00 KLCH 230251
TORLCH
LAC115-230315-
BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES LA
849 PM CST THU DEC 22 1988
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN LAKE CHARLES HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 915 PM CST
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING PARISH...
IN SOUTHWEST LOUISIANA
...EASTERN VERNON
THE VERNON PARISH SHERIFF DEPARTMENT REPORTED A POSSIBLE TORNADO AT
ROSEPINE LOUISIANA IN SOUTHERN VERNON PARISH. THE TORNADO OCCURRED
AROUND 840 PM CST.
RADAR CONTINUED TO SHOW A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM MOVING ACROSS THE
SOUTH PART OF VERNON PARISH ABOUT 15 MILES SOUTHEAST OF LEESVILLE.
THE SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WAS MOVING EAST AT 35 MILES AN HOUR.
k
IF YOU ARE IN THE PATH OF A TORNADO...SEEK SHELTER IN A NEARBY
REINFORCED BUILDING. GET UNDER A PIECE OF STURDY FURNITURE
PREFERABLY IN AN INTERIOR ROOM ON THE LOWEST FLOOR. USE BLANKETS
OR PILLOWS 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, Dec 22, 7:31 PM CST, 1 hour 18 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES LA 728 PM CST THU DEC 22 1988 A LARGE THUNDERSTORM WITH VERY HEAVY RAIN WAS SHOWN BY THE LAKE CHARLES WEATHER RADAR 15 TO 20 MILES SOUTHWEST OF LEESVILLE. THE THUNDERSTORM WAS MOVING EAST AT 45 MILES AN HOUR AND WILL MOVE INTO THE SOUTHWEST CORNER OF VERNON PARISH BY 730 PM. VERY STRONG GUSTY WINDS...DANGEROUS CLOUD TO GROUND LIGHTNING... VERY HEAVY RAIN...AND POSSIBLY SOME SMALL HAIL WILL ACCOMPANY THE THUNDERSTORM AS IT MOVES ACROSS VERNON PARISH BETWEEN THE PRESENT TIME AND 830 PM CST THIS THURSDAY EVENING.
Special weather statement, Dec 22, 7:52 PM CST, 57 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT AND RADAR SUMMARY NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES LA 751 PM CST THU DEC 22 1988 A LARGE THUNDERSTORM WITH VERY HEAVY RAIN WAS SHOWN BY THE LAKE CHARLES WEATHER RADAR 10 M
The office that day
Everything else NWS Lake Charles, LA issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dec 22, 7:50 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | LCH | Vernon | 55 min |
| Dec 22, 8:43 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | LCH | Vernon | 32 min |
| Dec 22, 8:57 PM CST | Tornado Warning | LCH | Rapides | 48 min |
| Dec 22, 10:07 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | LCH | Allen, Beauregard | 68 min |
Nearby
Tornado Warnings in Louisiana, 1988Every tornado warning in 1988Tornadoes in 1988
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.