Alert archive / Louisiana / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1989

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 36, NWS Lake Charles, LA

May 16, 1989Grant Parish, Rapides Parish, Louisiana

NWS Lake Charles, LA issued this severe thunderstorm warning at May 16, 1989, 1:50 PM CDT for Grant Parish, Rapides Parish, Louisiana. It was in force for 60 min. 2 reports 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
May 16, 1989, 1:50 PM CDT (18:50 UTC)
Expired
May 16, 1989, 2:50 PM CDT
In force
60 min
Issued by
NWS Lake Charles, LA
Area
Whole counties

Counties Grant Parish, LA, Rapides 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
May 16, 2:35 PM CDTThunderstorm Wind 0Rapides, LA
May 16, 2:58 PM CDTHail 1.5Rapides, 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

Longview/Gregg, TX (KGGG), launched 12:00Z, 6.8 hours before the alert went out and 221 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, Longview/Gregg, TX at 12:00Z on 1989-05-16Temperature 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, Longview/Gregg, TX at 12:00Z on 1989-05-16The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 74 square meters per square second.1939587897Sfc1 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
1311 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
57 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
74 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
186 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.2

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

The text of this product is not in the archive. The NWS text archive before 2002 is incomplete.

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before this severe thunderstorm 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 16, 7:55 AM CDT, 5 hours 55 minutes before
TTAAOO KESF 161255
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ALEXANDRIA LA
1255 PM CDT TUE MAY 16 1989

SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH IN EFFECT UNTIL 300PM
THIS AFTERNOON FOR RAPIDES GRANT AND LASALLE
PARISHES OF CENTRAL LOUISIANA...

RAIN AND THUNDERSTORMS SOME VERY STRONG WILL BE
MOVING ACROSS THE PARISHES FOR THE NEXT FEW HOURS.
PERSONS IN CENTRAL SHOULD BE ALERT TO THE POSSIBILITY
OF SEVERE WEATHER WITH THE THUNDERSTORMS...AT 1255PM
RAIN AND THUNDERSTORMS bHAD MOVED INTO RAPIDES AND GRANT
PARISHES MOVING EAST AT 30 MILES AN HOUR.
Special weather statement, May 16, 10:46 AM CDT, 3 hours 4 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT AND RADAR SUMMARY
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES LA
1045 AM CDT TUE MAY 16 1989

...A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH IS IN EFFECT UNTIL 3 PM FOR CENTRAL
AND PORTIONS OF SOUTHWEST LOUISIANA...

AT 1039 AM RADAR SHOWED THUNDERSTORMS WITH VERY HEAVY RAIN NORTHWEST
OF MANY IN NORTHWEST LOUISIANA.

RAIN AND THUNDERSTORMS WERE GENERALLY NORTH OF A LINE FROM JENA TO
THE SOUTHERN END OF TOLEDO BEND RESERVOIR...AND WEST OF A LINE FROM
DE QUINCY TO THE SOUTHERN END OF TOLEDO BEND RESERVOIR.
Special weather statement, May 16, 11:36 AM CDT, 2 hours 14 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT AND RADAR SUMMARY
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES LA
1140 AM CDT TUE MAY 16 1989

...A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH IS IN EFFECT UNTIL 3 PM FOR CENTRAL
AND PORTIONS OF SOUTHWEST LOUISIANA...

AT 1126 AM...RADAR SHOWED THUNDERSTORMS WITH VERY HEAVY RAIN IN THE
MANY AREA IN NORTHWEST LOUISIANA.

OTHERWISE A LARGE AREA OF RAIN AND THUNDERSTORMS WAS GENERALLY NORTH
OF A LINE FROM KOUNTZE TEXAS...TO DE QUINCY...TO LEESVILLE...TO JENA.

MOVEMENT WAS EAST AT 30 MPH.
Special weather statement, May 16, 12:32 PM CDT, 1 hour 18 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT AND RADAR SUMMARY
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES LA
1233 PM CDT TUE MAY 16 1989

...A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH IS IN EFFECT UNTIL 3 PM FOR CENTRAL
AND PORTIONS OF SOUTHWEST LOUISIANA...

...A FLASH FLOOD WATCH IS IN EFFECT FOR TODAY FOR VERNON PARISH...

AT 1225 PM...RADAR SHOWED THUNDERSTORMS WITH VERY HEAVY RAIN JUST
NORTH OF MANY...AND OVER TOLEDO BEND RESERVOIR SOUTHWEST OF MANY.

OTHERWISE A LARGE AREA OF R;AIN AND THUNDERSTORMS WAS GENERALLY NORTH
OF A LINE FROM RAYBURN LAKE TEXAS TO ALEXANDRIA...AND WEST OF A LINE
FROM DE QUICNY TO RAYBURN LAKE TEXAS.

MOVEMENT WAS EAST AT 30 MPH.
Special weather statement, May 16, 1:39 PM CDT, 11 minutes before
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The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 16, 2:55 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLCHRapides60 min
May 16, 9:14 AM CDTTornado WarningLCHNacogdoches46 min
May 16, 9:45 AM CDTTornado WarningLCHSabine, San Augustine45 min
May 16, 12:12 PM CDTFlash Flood WarningLCHNacogdoches2 hr
May 16, 12:52 PM CDTFlash Flood WarningLCHSan Augustine68 min

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Louisiana, 1989Every severe thunderstorm warning in 1989

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.