Alert archive / Louisiana / Tornado Warnings in 1988
Tornado Warning 3, NWS Lake Charles, LA
NWS Lake Charles, LA issued this tornado warning at May 21, 1988, 8:52 AM CDT for Lafayette Parish, Louisiana. It was in force for 53 min.
The area
The counties it named.
The facts
- Issued
- May 21, 1988, 8:52 AM CDT (13:52 UTC)
- Expired
- May 21, 1988, 9:45 AM CDT
- In force
- 53 min
- Issued by
- NWS Lake Charles, LA
- Area
- Whole counties
County Lafayette 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
Boothville, LA (KBVE), launched 12:00Z, 1.9 hours before the alert went out and 275 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
- 385 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -208 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 964 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 34 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 28 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 112 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 0.7
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
000
TTAA00 KLCH 211354
TORLCH
LAC055-211445-
BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES LA
852 AM CDT SAT MAY 21 1988
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN LAKE CHARLES HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 945 AM CDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING PARISH...
IN SOUTHWEST LOUISIANA
...LAFAYETTE
AT 830AM CDT LAFAYETTE PARISH SHERIFF OFFICE REPORTED TORNADOS
AT MAURICE AND NUNEZ LOUISIANA...JUST SOUTHWEST OF LAFAYETTE PARISH.
THE LINE OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS MOVING THROUGH ACADIA AND LAFAYETE
PARISHES WAS MOVING EAST AT 35 MPH.
THIS IS A DANGEROUS STORM SITUATION. ACT QUICKLY. IF YOU ARE
IN THE PATH OF THIS TORNADO MOVE TO A SHELTER IMMEDIATELY.
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 21, 5:41 AM CDT, 3 hours 11 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT AND RADAR SUMMARY NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES LA 525 AM CDT SAT MAY 21 1988 AT 5.25 AM A LINE...20 MILES WIDE...OF VERY HEAVY THUNDERSTORMS EXTENDED FROM JUST WEST OF GALVESTON NORTHEASTWARD TO THE SOUTHERN PORTIONS OF RAYBURN LAKE. THIS LINE WAS MOVING TOWARD THE EAST AT 30 MPH...AND IT THIS CONTINUES IT WILL BE MOVING INTO SOUTHWEST LOUISIANA WITHIN THE NEXT TWO HOURS. THESE THUNDERSTORMS ARE LIKELY TO PRODUCED VERY STORNG GUSTY WINDS... HEAVY RAINS...AND SOME LOCAL FLOODING CAN ALSO OCCUR. ELSEWHERE...THUNDERSTORMS AND PATCHES OF RAIN WERE OCCURING IN THE LAKE CHARLES AREA AND ALSO ALONG THE COASTAL MARSHES BETWEEN CAMERON AND VERMILION BAY.
Special weather statement, May 21, 7:44 AM CDT, 1 hour 8 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PORT ARTHUR TX 740 AM CDT SAT MAY 21 1988 ...SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH FOR THE GOLDEN TRIANGLE AREA IS NO LONGER IN EFFECT... THE LINE OF VERY STRONG THUNDERSTORMS THAT MOVED THROUGH THE BEAUMONT...PORT ARTHUR...ORANGE AREA AROUND 6 AM CDT HAD MOVED EAST AND SOUTHEAST INTO LOUISIANA AND THE GULF WATERS BY 730 AM CDT. LW
Local storm report, May 21, 8:30 AM CDT, 22 minutes before
ATTN SELS BPT
LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PORT ARTHUR TX
830 AM CDT SAT MAY 21 1988
0740 AM CDT COOP OBSERVER REPORTED DAMAGE IN HAMSHIRE TX OCCURRED
AT ABOUT 530 AM CDT - NUMEROUS TREES DOWN, 1 MULBERRY
WITH 2 FT DIAMETER, 1 ELM WITH 11/2 FT DIAMETER. AWNINGS
DAMAGED. JEFFERSON COUNTY
0720 AM CDT PUBLIC REPORTED METAL SHED DAMAGED IN BRIDGE CITY AT
ABOUT 645 AM CDT. ORANGE COUNTY
0656 AM CDT ORANGE COUNTY SHERIFF REPORTED DAMAGE TO NUMEROUS TREES
5 MILES NORTH OF INTERSECTION OF HWY 105 AND 62 IN
ORANGEFIELD AT 0642 AM CDT . FEEDER LINES DOWN ON
HWY 105. ORANGE COUNTY
@The office that day
Everything else NWS Lake Charles, LA issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 21, 7:54 AM CDT | Flash Flood Warning | LCH | Calcasieu | 3 hr |
| May 21, 8:17 AM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | LCH | Acadia, Lafayette | 58 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.