Alert archive / Louisiana / Tornado Warnings in 1989
Tornado Warning 14, NWS Lake Charles, LA
NWS Lake Charles, LA issued this tornado warning at May 18, 1989, 12:22 PM CDT for Lafayette Parish, Louisiana. It was in force for 38 min.
The area
The counties it named.
The facts
- Issued
- May 18, 1989, 12:22 PM CDT (17:22 UTC)
- Expired
- May 18, 1989, 1:00 PM CDT
- In force
- 38 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
Lake Charles Mun, LA (KLCH), launched 12:00Z, 5.4 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
- 0 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- No buoyant parcel
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 619 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 68 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 61 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 353 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 0.0
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
000
TTAA00 KLCH 181724
TORLCH
LAC055-181800-
BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES LA
1222 PM CDT THU MAY 18 1989
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN LAKE CHARLES HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 100 PM CDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING PARISH...
IN SOUTHWEST LOUISIANA
...LAFAYETTE
AT 1220 PM CDT RADAR CONTINUED TO SHOW SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS MOVING
THROUGH LAFAYETTE PARISH...
TORNADO TOUCHDOWNS WITH DAMAGE HAVE BEEN REPORTED BY THE LAFAYETTE
PARISH CIVIL DEFENSE DURING THE PAST 15 MINUTES. THE TORNADOES WERE
REPORTED TO HAVE CAUSED MAJOR DAMAGE AT HIGHWAY 733 AND ROBLEY DRIVE.
DO NOT USE YOUR CAR TO TRY TO OUTRUN A TORNADO. CARS ARE EASILY
TOSSED AROUND BY TORNADO WINDS. IF YOU ARE CAUGHT IN THE PATH OF
A TORNADO...LEAVE THE CAR AND GO TO A STRONG BUILDING. IF NO
STRUCTURE IS NEARBY...SEEK SHELTER IN A DITCH OR LOW SPOT.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 18, 6:45 AM CDT, 5 hours 37 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT AND RADAR SUMMARY NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES LA 645 AM CDT THU MAY 18 1989 ...A FLASH FLOOD WATCH IS IN EFFECT THROUGH TODAY INCLUDING PARTS OF CENTRAL...SOUTHWEST...AND SOUTH CENTRAL LOUISIANA. AT 630 AM...THUNDERSTORMS WITH VERY HEAVY RAIN REMAINED OVER CALCASIEU ...CAMERON...AND BEAUREGARD PARISHES AND WERE SHIFTING EAST INTO PARTS OF ACADIA PARISH. THESE STORMS WERE PRODUCING VERY HEAVY RAINS CAUSING FLOODING OF STREETS AND SMALL STREAMS AS WELL AS DANGEROUS LIGHTNING AND POSSIBLY SOME SMALL HAIL. THE MAYOR OF VINTON LOUISIANA WEST OF LAKE CHARLES REPORTED 6.34 INCHES OF RAIN AS OF 618AM HOWEVER THE RAIN HAD DECREASED CONSIDERABLY. SOME ROADS WERE FLOODED. PERSONS IN NORTHWESTERN CALCASIEU AND SOUTHWESTERN BEAUREGARD PARISHES SHOULD BE ESPECIALLY ALERT FOR FLOODING AS WELL AS THOSE IN THE CITIES OF LAKE CHARLES...SULPHUR...DEQUINCY...AND WESTLAKE.. THESE WERE PART OF A LARGE MASS OF RAIN AND THUNDERSTORMS COVERING MOST OF CENTRAL AND SOUTHWEST LOUISIANA AND SOUTHEAST TEXAS EXTENDING AS FAR EAST AS THE SOUTHWESTERN CORNER OF MISSISSIPPI TO NEAR LAFAYETTE AND WHITE LAKE LOUISIANA AND INTO SOUTHEAST TEXAS TO NEAR LAKE LIVINGSTON AND WEST OF HOUSTON. THIS WAS SLIDING SLOWLY EAST.
Special weather statement, May 18, 7:42 AM CDT, 4 hours 40 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT AND RADAR SUMMARY NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES LA 741 AM CDT THU MAY 18 1989 ...A FLASH FLOOD WATCH IS IN EFFECT THROUGH TODAY INCLUDING PARTS OF CENTRAL...SOUTHWEST...AND SOUTH CENTRAL LOUISIANA. AT 730 AM...THUNDERSTORMS WITH VERY HEAVY RAIN CONTINUED OVER PARTS OF CAMERON...CALCASIEU...BEAUREGARD...AND ALLEN PARISHES AND HAD DEVELOPED OVER JEFF DAVIS PARISH. THESE STORMS WERE PRODUCING VERY HEAVY RAINS CAUSING FLOODING OF STREETS AND SMALL STREAMS AS WELL AS DANGEROUS LIGHTNING AND POSSIBLY SOME SMALL HAIL. REPORTS INDICATE SOME STREET FLOODING IN THE CITY OF LAKE CHARLES AS WELL AS VINTON AND DEQUINCY IN CALCASIEU PARISH. THESE WERE PART OF A LARGE MASS OF RAIN AND THUNDERSTORMS THAT COVERED MOST OF SOUTHWEST AND CENTRAL LOUISIANA AND EXTENDED INTO SOUTHEAST TEXAS. NEW DEVELOPMENT WAS TAKING PLACE IN TEXAS BETWEEN JASPER... HOUSTON...AND LAKE LIVINGSTON.
The office that day
Everything else NWS Lake Charles, LA issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 17, 10:42 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | LCH | Vernon | 63 min |
| May 17, 11:05 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | LCH | Beauregard | 55 min |
| May 17, 11:50 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | LCH | Grant, LaSalle, Rapides | 2 hr |
| May 18, 2:30 AM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | LCH | Rapides | 60 min |
| May 18, 7:51 AM CDT | Flash Flood Warning | LCH | Beauregard, Calcasieu, Jefferson Davis | 3 hr |
| May 18, 7:51 AM CDT | Flash Flood Warning | LCH | Allen | 3 hr |
| May 18, 8:28 AM CDT | Flash Flood Warning | LCH | Vernon | 3 hr |
| May 18, 11:04 AM CDT | Flash Flood Warning | LCH | Allen, Evangeline, Jefferson Davis | 116 min |
| May 18, 11:04 AM CDT | Flash Flood Warning | LCH | Beauregard, Calcasieu, Vernon | 116 min |
| May 18, 11:25 AM CDT | Tornado Warning | LCH | Acadia | 35 min |
| May 18, 11:39 AM CDT | Tornado Warning | LCH | Lafayette | 51 min |
| May 18, 12:28 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | LCH | Calcasieu | 62 min |
| May 18, 12:34 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | LCH | Beauregard | 56 min |
| May 18, 12:41 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | LCH | Cameron | 49 min |
| May 18, 1:03 PM CDT | Flash Flood Warning | LCH | Beauregard, Calcasieu, Jefferson Davis | 4 hr |
| May 18, 1:03 PM CDT | Flash Flood Warning | LCH | Allen | 4 hr |
| May 18, 1:31 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | LCH | Acadia, Allen, Evangeline, Jefferson Davis, Lafayette, Vermilion | 119 min |
| May 18, 1:31 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | LCH | Cameron | 119 min |
Nearby
Tornado Warnings in Louisiana, 1989Every tornado warning in 1989Tornadoes 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; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive.