Alert archive / Louisiana / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1989

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 21, NWS New Orleans, LA

May 5, 1989East Feliciana Parish, West Feliciana Parish, Louisiana

NWS New Orleans, LA issued this severe thunderstorm warning at May 5, 1989, 4:48 AM CDT for East Feliciana Parish, West Feliciana Parish, Louisiana. It was in force for 47 min.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
May 5, 1989, 4:48 AM CDT (09:48 UTC)
Expired
May 5, 1989, 5:35 AM CDT
In force
47 min
Issued by
NWS New Orleans, LA
Area
Whole counties

Counties East Feliciana Parish, LA, West Feliciana 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

Slidell Radar S, LA (KSIL), launched 00:00Z, 9.8 hours before the alert went out and 162 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, Slidell Radar S, LA at 00:00Z on 1989-05-05Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 29 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 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, Slidell Radar S, LA at 00:00Z on 1989-05-05The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity -78 square meters per square second.193958Sfc1 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
29 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-221 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1010 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
41 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
-78 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
146 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
-0.1

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KBTR 050947
SVRBTR
LAC037-125-051045-
 
BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BATON ROUGE LA
448 AM CDT FRI MAY 5 1989
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN BATON ROUGE HAS ISSUED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  545 AM CDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING PARISHES...
 
IN EAST CENTRAL LOUISIANA
          ...EAST FELICIANA...WEST FELICIANA
 
AT 440 AM CDT RADARS SHOWED A LINE OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS FROM NORTH
OF ST FRANCISVILLE SOUTH TO ROSEDALE. THE LINE OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS
WAS MOVING TO THE EAST AT 50 MPH.
 
 
A TORNADO WATCH IS ALSO IN EFFECT FOR THE WARNED AREA.  REMEMBER
SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS CAN AND OCCASIONALLY DO PRODUCE TORNADOES
WITH LITTLE OR NO ADVANCE WARNING.  REMAIN CALM BUT BE ALERT TO
RAPIDLY CHANGING WEATHER CONDITIONS.
 
WHEN THUNDERSTORMS ARE OCCURRING...PEOPLE SHOULD MOVE INSIDE A
STRONG BUILDING.  DO NOT STAND BY WINDOWS.  DON'T USE TELEPHONES
OR ELECTRICAL APPLIANCES UNLESS IN AN EMERGENCY UNTIL THE STORM
HAS PASSED.  MOTORISTS SHOULD NOT DRIVE INTO LOW WATER CROSSINGS.
 
THIS IS A DANGEROUS STORM.  IF YOU ARE IN ITS PATH YOU SHOULD
PREPARE FOR DAMAGING WIND IN EXCESS OF 55 MPH...LARGE HAIL...AND
DEADLY LIGHTNING.  PEOPLE OUTSIDE SHOULD MOVE TO A SHELTER...
PREFERABLY INSIDE A STRONG BUILDING BUT STAY AWAY FROM WINDOWS.

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 5, 4:06 AM CDT, 42 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BATON ROUGE LA
405 AM CDT FRI MAY 5 1989

...A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING IS IN EFFECT FOR ST. LANDRY PARISH
UNTIL 445 AM CDT THIS MORNING.

...A TORNADO WATCH IS IN EFFECT FOR ALL OF EAST CENTRAL LOUISIANA UNTIL
10 AM CDT THIS MORNING...

RADAR SHOWED STRONG THUNDERSTORMS IN A FAST MOVING LINE FROM JUST EAST
OF ALEXANDRIA TO NEAR EUNICE CONTINUING TO EAST OF CAMERON.  MOVEMENT
WAS TO THE EAST NEAR 50 MPH.

REMEMBER...A TORNADO WATCH MEANS THAT CONDITIONS ARE FAVORABLE FOR
TORNADOES AND SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS IN AND CLOSE TO THE WATCH AREA.
PEOPLE IN THESE AREAS SHOULD BE ON THE LOOKOUT FOR THREATENING WEATHER
CONDITIONS AND LISTEN FOR LATER STATEMENTS AND POSSIBLE WARNINGS.

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 4, 7:25 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLIXJefferson, Orleans, Saint Charles50 min
May 4, 7:25 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLIXSaint Tammany50 min
May 4, 8:00 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLIXPlaquemines, Saint Bernard60 min
May 5, 3:56 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLIXSaint Landry49 min
May 5, 4:23 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLIXIberia, Saint Martin67 min
May 5, 4:26 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLIXIberville, Pointe Coupee, West Baton Rouge64 min
May 5, 5:13 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLIXAscension, East Baton Rouge, Iberville, Livingston, Saint Helena62 min
May 5, 5:18 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLIXAssumption, St. Mary57 min
May 5, 5:30 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLIXTangipahoa60 min
May 5, 5:42 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLIXSaint Tammany, Tangipahoa, Washington63 min
May 5, 5:58 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLIXLafourche, Saint Charles, Saint James, Saint John the Baptist62 min
May 5, 5:58 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLIXTerrebonne62 min
May 5, 6:21 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLIXJefferson, Orleans, Plaquemines, Saint Bernard69 min
May 5, 6:40 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLIXSaint Tammany50 min
May 5, 7:00 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLIXLafourche, Terrebonne45 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; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive.