Alert archive / Louisiana / Tornado Warnings in 1989
Tornado Warning 1, NWS New Orleans, LA
NWS New Orleans, LA issued this tornado warning at Feb 20, 1989, 1:50 PM CST for Catahoula Parish, Concordia Parish, Louisiana. It was in force for 60 min. 1 report 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
- Feb 20, 1989, 1:50 PM CST (19:50 UTC)
- Expired
- Feb 20, 1989, 2:50 PM CST
- In force
- 60 min
- Issued by
- NWS New Orleans, LA
- Area
- Whole counties
Counties Catahoula Parish, LA, Concordia 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
| Time | Report | Where | Remark |
|---|---|---|---|
| Feb 20, 2:10 PM CST | Tornado F1 | Catahoula, 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
Jackson, MS (KJAN), launched 12:00Z, 7.8 hours before the alert went out and 178 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
- 600 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 44 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 247 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 311 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 0.2
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
000
TTAA00 KBTR 201949
TORBTR
LAC025-029-202050-
BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BATON ROUGE LA
150 PM CST MON FEB 20 1989
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A TORNADO WARNING
EFFECTIVE UNTIL 250 PM CST FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING PARISH...
IN EAST CENTRAL LOUISIANA
...CATAHOULA...NORTHERN CONCORDIA
AT 145 PM...WEATHER RADARS SHOWED A POSSIBLE TORNADO JUST NORTHWEST
OF JONESVILLE LOUISIANA MOVING NORTHEAST AT 40 MILES AN HOUR.
THIS IS A DANGEROUS STORM SITUATION. ACT QUICKLY. IF YOU ARE IN THE
PATH OF THIS TORNADO MOVE TO A SAFE SHELTER. GO TO A SMALL INTERIOR
ROOM ON THE LOWEST FLOOR POSSIBLE. AVOID WINDOWS.
$$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, 8:38 AM CST, 5 hours 12 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BATON ROUGE LA 840 AM CST MON FEB 20 1989 ...A DENSE FOG ADVISORY IS IN EFFECT FOR EAST CENTRAL LOUISIANA... DENSE FOG HAS FORMED OVER PART OF EAST CENTRAL LOUISIANA...INCLUDING THE BATON ROUGE METROPOLITAN AREA. VISIBILITY WILL BE REDUCED TO NEAR ZERO IN MANY LOCATIONS ESPECIALLY ALONG AREA RIVERS AND THEIR TRIBUTARIES. MOTORIST AND BOATERS ARE ADVISED TO EXERCISE CAUTION TRAVELING THROUGH FOGGY AREAS. VISIBILITY SHOULD IMPROVE BEFORE NOON.
Special weather statement, Feb 20, 1:43 PM CST, 7 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT AND RADAR SUMMARY NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NEW ORLEANS LA 130 PM CST MON FEB 20 1989 ...TORNADO WATCH IN EFFOECT UNTIL 800 PM INCLUDES IBERIA AND UPPER ST MARTIN PARISHES IN SOUTHEAST LOUISIANA... WIDELY SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS AND RAINSHOWERS WERE OCCURRING BETWEEN SLIDELL LUISIANA AND TYLERTOWN MISSISSIPPI. THE AREA EXTENDED NORTHEAST TO NEAR LAUREL MISSISSIPPI. WIDELY SCATTERED SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS CONTINUED NEAR GRAND ISLE SOUTH INTO THE COASTAL WATERS AND NORTHEAST TO NEAR THE CHANDELEUR ISLANDS. A LARGE PATCH OF RAIN CONTINUED BETWEEN FAYETTE MISSISSIPPI AND WINNESBORO LOUISIANA. THIS WAS THE LEADING EDGE OF AN AREA OF STRONG THUNDERSTORMS TO THE SOUTHWEST WHICH INCLUDED TORNADOES IN THE ALEXANDRIA LOUISIANA AREA. MOVEMENT WAS RAPIDLY NORTHEAST.
The office that day
Everything else NWS New Orleans, LA issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Feb 20, 1:05 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | LIX | Catahoula | 55 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; verification from NCEI's Storm Data; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive.