Alert archive / Louisiana / Tornado Warnings in 1988
Tornado Warning 7, NWS Lake Charles, LA
NWS Lake Charles, LA issued this tornado warning at Nov 3, 1988, 2:24 PM CST for Cameron Parish, Louisiana. It was in force for 36 min.
The area
The counties it named.
The facts
- Issued
- Nov 3, 1988, 2:24 PM CST (20:24 UTC)
- Expired
- Nov 3, 1988, 3:00 PM CST
- In force
- 36 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, 8.4 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
- 1306 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -10 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 746 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 35 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 170 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 188 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.8
- Supercell composite
- 4.4
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
000
TTAA00 KLCH 032026
TORLCH
LAC023-032100-
BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES LA
224 PM CST THU NOV 3 1988
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN LAKE CHARLES HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 300 PM CST
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING PARISH...
IN SOUTHWEST LOUISIANA
...EASTERN CAMERON
A LARGE TORNADO WAS REPORTED NEAR GRAND CHENIER AT ABOUT 215 PM CST
AND RADAR INDICATED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM IN THAT AREA. MOVEMENT WAS
TOWARD THE NORTHEAST AT 20 MPH.
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, Nov 3, 11:57 AM CST, 2 hours 27 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT AND RADAR STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES LA 1150 AM CDT THU NOV 3 1988 ...THUNDERSTORMS DEVELOPING OVER SOUTHWEST AND CENTRAL LOUISIANA... AT 1130 AM...THUNDERSTORMS...WITH VERY HEAVY RAIN...WERE INCREASING IN INTENSITY AND WERE OBSERVED FROM ALONG THE SABINE RIVER EAST TO CROWLEY. STORMS SPREAD NORTH FROM JENNINGS AND CROWLEY TO WEST AND NORTH OF ALEXANDRIA. THESE THUNDERSTORMS ARE CAPABLE OF PRODUCING VERY HEAVY RAINS...STRONG GUSTY WINDS...DANGEROUS LIGHTING AND POSSIBLE SMALL HAIL AS THEY MOVE NORTHEAST AT 15 MILES AN HOUR. THUNDERSTORMS WERE ALSO INCREASING IN INTENSITY OVER THE GULF AND WERE OCCURRING FROM THE COAST BETWEEN CAMERON AND WHITE LAKE AND OFFSHORE FOR MORE THAN 100 MILES FROM THE SOUTHWEST LOUISIANA COAST. MOVEMENT WAS NORTHEAST AT 15 MILES AN HOUR.
The office that day
Everything else NWS Lake Charles, LA issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nov 3, 1:10 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | LCH | Cameron | 50 min |
| Nov 3, 2:04 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | LCH | Cameron, Vermilion | 56 min |
| Nov 3, 3:16 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | LCH | Vermilion | 59 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.