Alert archive / Louisiana / Tornado Warnings in 1989
Tornado Warning 2, NWS Lake Charles, LA
NWS Lake Charles, LA issued this tornado warning at Feb 20, 1989, 1:06 PM CST for LaSalle Parish, Louisiana. It was in force for 69 min.
The area
The counties it named.
The facts
- Issued
- Feb 20, 1989, 1:06 PM CST (19:06 UTC)
- Expired
- Feb 20, 1989, 2:15 PM CST
- In force
- 69 min
- Issued by
- NWS Lake Charles, LA
- Area
- Whole counties
County LaSalle 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, 7.1 hours before the alert went out and 200 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
- 586 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -23 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 517 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 38 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 249 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 322 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.8
- Supercell composite
- 4.3
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
000
TTAA00 KLCH 201910
TORESF
LAC059-202015-
BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ALEXANDRIA LA
ISSUED BY LAKE CHARLES LA
106 PM CST MON FEB 20 1989
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 215 PM CST
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING PARISH...
IN CENTRAL LOUISIANA
...SOUTHERN LA SALLE
THE THUNDERSTORM THAT PRODUCED A TORNADO IN THE ALEXANDRIA AREA DURING
THE PAST HALF HOUR IS MOVING RAPIDLY NORTHEAST INTO LASALLE PARISH.
LOUISIANA STATE POLICE REPORTED A TOUCHDOWN AT 1250PM NEAR THE RIVER
DAMAGED SOME MOBILE HOMES.
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, Feb 20, 10:49 AM CST, 2 hours 17 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT AND RADAR SUMMARY NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES LA 1045 AM CST MON FEG 19 1989 ...THUNDERSTORMS WITH HEAVY RAIN DEVELOPING... AT 1030 AM...SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS...WITH HEAVY RAIN INDICATED... WERE NEAR ORANGE AND ACROSS BEAUREGARD PARISH FROM NORTH OF SULPHUR TO DERIDDER. THESE THUNDERSTORMS ARE CAPABLE OF PRODUCING SMALL HAIL...GUSTY WINDS ...FREQUENT LIGHTING AND BRIEF HEAVY RAINS AS THEY MOVE NORTH AT 35 MILES AN HOUR. LIGHT RAIN CONTINUED OVER THE GULF FROM 25 MILES SOUTHEAST OF GALVESTON TO THE SABINE PASS. OTHER PATCHES OF LIGHT RAIN WERE OCCURRING FROM NORTHEAST OF KOUNTZE TO EAST OF JASPER. LIGHT RAIN WAS ALSO FALLING FROM THE NORTHERN PART OF THE TOLEDO BEND RESERVOIR TO EAST OF SHREVEPORT AND FROM NEAR NATCHITOCHES TO WEST OF ALEXANDRIA.
The office that day
Everything else NWS Lake Charles, LA issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Feb 20, 12:45 PM CST | Tornado Warning | LCH | Rapides | 60 min |
| Feb 20, 4:32 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | LCH | Vernon | 58 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.