Alert archive / Louisiana / Tornado Warnings in 1988

Tornado Warning 13, NWS Shreveport, LA

November 3, 1988Madison Parish, Louisiana

NWS Shreveport, LA issued this tornado warning at Nov 3, 1988, 3:00 PM CST for Madison Parish, Louisiana. It was in force for 45 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
Nov 3, 1988, 3:00 PM CST (21:00 UTC)
Expired
Nov 3, 1988, 3:45 PM CST
In force
45 min
Issued by
NWS Shreveport, LA
Area
Whole counties

County Madison 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

TimeReportWhereRemark
Nov 3, 3:10 PM CSTTornado F1Madison, 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

Jackson, MS (KJAN), launched 12:00Z, 9.0 hours before the alert went out and 109 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.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Jackson, MS at 12:00Z on 1988-11-03Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 0 joules per kilogram.LCL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°0°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.
HodographHodograph, Jackson, MS at 12:00Z on 1988-11-03The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 170 square meters per square second.19395878Sfc1 km3 km6 km9 kmRMLM
The wind turning with height, colored by layer: ground to 1 km, 1 to 3 km, 3 to 6 km, 6 to 10 km.
Mixed-layer CAPE
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
No buoyant parcel
Mixed-layer LCL
708 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
39 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
170 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
149 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.0

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.

000 
TTAA00 KSHV 032102
TORSHV
LAC065-032045-

BULLETIN...EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SHREVEPORT LA
300 PM CST THU NOV 3 1988

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE
UNTIL 345 PM CST FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING PARISH IN

NORTHEAST LOUISIANA..  NORTHERN MADISON

AT 300 PM CST THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RADAR IN SHREVEPORT SHOWED
A POSSIBLE TORNADO LOCATED OVER NORTH CENTRAL MADISON PARISH ABOUT
15 MILES WEST NORTHWEST OFF TALLULAH MOVING TO THE EAST NORTHEAST AT 20
MPH..

PERSONS IN THE PATH OF THIS TORNADO SHOULD SEEK SHELTER IN A PERMANENT
STRUCTURE ON THE LOWEST FLOOR IN AN INTERIOR SMALL ROOM.  GET UNDER A
PIECE OF HEAVY FURNITURE OR* COVER YOURSELF WITH SOMETHING TO PROTECT
AGAINST FLYING OR FALLING DEBRIS.

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, 1:48 PM CST, 1 hour 12 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SHREVEPORT LA
145 PM CDT THU NOV 3 1988

ISOLATED HEAVY THUNDERSTORMS OVER NORTHEAST LOUISIANA..SOUTHWESTWARD
THROUGH CENTRAL LOUISIANA.

AT 145 PM CST THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RADAR IN SHREVEPORT SHOWED
ISOLATED HEAVY THUNDERSTORMS IN A AREA FROM NEAR RAYVILLE LOUISIANA TO
10 MILES SOUTHEAST OF COLUMBIA TO SOUTHWEST OF ALEXANDRIA.

STRONG THUNDERSTORMS WERE OCCURRING SOUTH OF RAYVILLE AND SOUTHWEST OF
ALEXANDRIA LOUISIANA..STRONG WIND GUSTS...HEAVY RAINFALL AND FREQUENT
LIGHTNING WILL OCCUR WITH THESE STORMS THAT WERE MOVING TOWARD THE
NORTHEAST AT 15 TO 20 MPH.

NOT RAINFALL WAS INDICATED OVER NORTHWEST LOUISIANA  OR THE ADJACENT
AREAS OF SOUTHWEST ARKANSAS AND NORTHEAST TEXAS AT MID AFTENROON.HOW-
EVER THUNDERSTORMS WILL DEVELOP OVER THE WESTERN SECTIONS OF THE
ARKLATEX TONIGHT AND SPREAS EASTWARD AND INCREASE IN INTENSITY AND
AREAL COVERAGE OVER THE CENTRAL AND EASTERN SECT{IONS BY LATE TONIGHT
...A FEW SEVERE STORMS MAY DEVELOP.

The office that day

Everything else NWS Shreveport, LA issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Nov 3, 2:20 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningSHVEast Carroll60 min
Nov 3, 2:45 PM CSTTornado WarningSHVEast Carroll60 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; verification from NCEI's Storm Data; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive.