Alert archive / Louisiana / Tornado Warnings in 1989

Tornado Warning 14, NWS Lake Charles, LA

May 18, 1989Lafayette Parish, Louisiana

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.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Lake Charles Mun, LA at 12:00Z on 1989-05-18Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 0 joules per kilogram.LCL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km-30°-20°-10°0°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.
HodographHodograph, Lake Charles Mun, LA at 12:00Z on 1989-05-18The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 61 square meters per square second.19395878Sfc1 km3 km6 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
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

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

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.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 17, 10:42 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLCHVernon63 min
May 17, 11:05 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLCHBeauregard55 min
May 17, 11:50 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLCHGrant, LaSalle, Rapides2 hr
May 18, 2:30 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLCHRapides60 min
May 18, 7:51 AM CDTFlash Flood WarningLCHBeauregard, Calcasieu, Jefferson Davis3 hr
May 18, 7:51 AM CDTFlash Flood WarningLCHAllen3 hr
May 18, 8:28 AM CDTFlash Flood WarningLCHVernon3 hr
May 18, 11:04 AM CDTFlash Flood WarningLCHAllen, Evangeline, Jefferson Davis116 min
May 18, 11:04 AM CDTFlash Flood WarningLCHBeauregard, Calcasieu, Vernon116 min
May 18, 11:25 AM CDTTornado WarningLCHAcadia35 min
May 18, 11:39 AM CDTTornado WarningLCHLafayette51 min
May 18, 12:28 PM CDTTornado WarningLCHCalcasieu62 min
May 18, 12:34 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLCHBeauregard56 min
May 18, 12:41 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLCHCameron49 min
May 18, 1:03 PM CDTFlash Flood WarningLCHBeauregard, Calcasieu, Jefferson Davis4 hr
May 18, 1:03 PM CDTFlash Flood WarningLCHAllen4 hr
May 18, 1:31 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLCHAcadia, Allen, Evangeline, Jefferson Davis, Lafayette, Vermilion119 min
May 18, 1:31 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLCHCameron119 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.