Alert archive / Louisiana / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1990

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 33, NWS Lake Charles, LA

May 12, 1990Grant Parish, Louisiana

NWS Lake Charles, LA issued this severe thunderstorm warning at May 12, 1990, 7:00 AM CDT for Grant Parish, Louisiana. It was in force for 60 min.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
May 12, 1990, 7:00 AM CDT (12:00 UTC)
Expired
May 12, 1990, 8:00 AM CDT
In force
60 min
Issued by
NWS Lake Charles, LA
Area
Whole counties

County Grant 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, 0.0 hours before the alert went out and 176 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 1990-05-12Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 1655 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, Lake Charles Mun, LA at 12:00Z on 1990-05-12The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 280 square meters per square second.19395878Sfc1 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
1655 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-6 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
555 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
49 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
280 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
430 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
3.6
Supercell composite
16.5

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KESF 111131 COR
SVRESF
LAC043-121300-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING...CORRECTION TO EXPIRATION TIME
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ALEXANDRIA LA
700  AM CDT SAT MAY 12 1990

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN ALEXANDRIA HAS ISSUED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  700 AM CDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING PARISHES...

IN CENTRAL LOUISIANA
          ...GRANT

AT 700AM CDT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RADARS SHOWED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM NEAR CYRPUS LA MOVING EAST NORTHEAST
AT ABOUT 30 MILES AN HOUR.  THIS THUNDERSTORM WILL
MOVE OVER OR VERY NEAR MONTGOMERY IN THE NEXT 30 MINUTES
AND NEAR GEORGETOWN IN ABOUT FOURTY FIVE MINUTES...
PERSONS IN GRANT PARISH SHOUD BE ALERT AND BE PREPARED
TO TAKE NECESSARY ACTION IF THREATENING WEATHER APPROACHES.
IF YOU ARE CAUGHT OUTSIDE...SEEK SHELTER FROM THE WEATHER IN A
STRONG BUILDING.  DAMAGING WIND...LARGE HAIL...VERY HEAVY RAIN...
AND DEADLY LIGHTNING ARE ALL POSSIBLE IN SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS.
STAY INSIDE AWAY FROM WINDOWS UNTIL THE STORM HAS PASSED.

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 12, 3:37 AM CDT, 3 hours 23 minutes before
LAZ005-006-007-008-011-012-120940-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT AND RADAR SUMMARY
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES LA
335 AM CDT SAT MAY 12 1990

...A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH IS IN EFFECT UNTIL 1000 AM CDT THAT
INCLUDES VERNON PARISH IN SOUTHWEST LOUISIANA AND GRANT...LA SALLE
...AND RAPIDES PARISHES IN CENTRAL LOUISIANA...

AT 325 AM...LARGE PATCHES OF RAIN MIXED WITH SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS
...SOME WITH VERY HEAVY RAIN...EXTENDED FROM LUFKIN TEXAS...AND TOLEDO
BEND RESERVOIR ACROSS MUCH OF EAST TEXAS TO BETWEEN BEAUMONT AND CONROE.

SCATTERED SHOWERS AND SMALL PATCHES OF RAIN WERE SHOWN FROM NEAR LEESVILLE
...ALEXANDRIA...AND NATCHEZ MISSISSIPPI TO THE JENNINGS...SULPHUR...AND
ORANGE TEXAS AREAS.

ISOLATED SHOWERS AND SMALL PATCHES OF RAIN CONTINUED IN SOUTHEAST TEXAS
BETWEEN HOUSTON AND BEAUMONT AND OVER GALVESTON BAY.
Special weather statement, May 12, 4:45 AM CDT, 2 hours 15 minutes before
LAZ005-006-007-008-011-012-121045-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT AND RADAR SUMMARY
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES LA
435 AM CDT SAT MAY 12 1990

...A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH IS IN EFFECT UNTIL 1000 AM CDT THAT
INCLUDES VERNON PARISH IN SOUTHWEST LOUISIANA AND GRANT...LA SALLE
...AND RAPIDES PARISHES IN CENTRAL LOUISIANA...

AT 430 AM SCATTERED SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS CONTINUED OVER SOUTHEAST
TEXAS AND WEST CENTRAL LOUISIANA. THEEY WERE GENEaRALLY WEST OF A WINNFIELD
LOUISIANA...BEAUMONT TEXAS LINE.

MOVEMENT WAS EAST AT 40 MILES AN HOUR.
Special weather statement, May 12, 5:45 AM CDT, 1 hour 15 minutes before
LAZ005-006-007-008-011-012-121145-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT AND RADAR SUMMARY
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES LA
545 AM CDT SAT MAY 12 1990

...A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH IS IN EFFECT UNTIL 1000 AM CDT THAT
INCLUDES VERNON PARISH IN SOUTHWEST LOUISIANA AND GRANT...LA SALLE
...AND RAPIDES PARISHES IN CENTRAL LOUISIANA...

AT 530 AM SCATTERED SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS...SOME WITH VERY HEAVY
RAIN...CONTINUED ACROSS CENTRAL LOUISIANA AND SOUTHEAST TEXAS. THEY
WERE GENERALLY WEST OF AN ALEXANDRIA TO BEAUMONT LINE.

THE HEAVIEST RAIN WAS ABOUT 10 MILES NORTH OF ALEXANDRIA AND JUST
EAST OF MANY.

MOVEMENT WAS EAST AT 40 MILES AN HOUR.
Special weather statement, May 12, 6:40 AM CDT, 20 minutes before
LAZ005-006-007-008-011-012-121245-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT AND RADAR SUMMARY
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES LA
640 AM CDT SAT MAY 12 1990

...A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH IS IN EFFECT UNTIL 1000 AM CDT THAT
INCLUDES VERNON PARISH IN SOUTHWEST LOUISIANA AND GRANT...LA SALLE
...AND RAPIDES PARISHES IN CENTRAL LOUISIANA...

AT 630 AM SCATTERED SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS...SOME WITH VERY HEAVY
RAIN...CONTINUED ACROSS CENTRAL LOUISIANA AND SOUTHEAST TEXAS. THEY
WERE GENERALLY WEST OF AN ALEXANDRIA TO PORT ARTHUR LINE.

THE HEAVIEST RAIN WAS ABOUT 15 MILES NORTHWEST OF ALEXANDRIA.

MOVEMENT WAS EAST AT 40 MILES AN HOUR.

The office that day

Everything else NWS Lake Charles, LA issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 12, 10:10 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLCHGrant, Rapides60 min
May 12, 2:45 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLCHGrant, LaSalle60 min
May 12, 3:50 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLCHLaSalle60 min

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Louisiana, 1990Every severe thunderstorm warning in 1990

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.