Alert archive / Louisiana / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1990

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 5, NWS Lake Charles, LA

February 15, 1990Rapides Parish, Louisiana

NWS Lake Charles, LA issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Feb 15, 1990, 9:10 AM CST for Rapides Parish, Louisiana. It was in force for 60 min.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Feb 15, 1990, 9:10 AM CST (15:10 UTC)
Expired
Feb 15, 1990, 10:10 AM CST
In force
60 min
Issued by
NWS Lake Charles, LA
Area
Whole counties

County Rapides 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, 3.2 hours before the alert went out and 136 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 1990-02-15Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 1324 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 1990-02-15The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 132 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
1324 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-34 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
612 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
54 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
132 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
120 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
1.0
Supercell composite
4.9

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KESF 151513
SVRESF
LAC079-151610-            

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ALEXANDRIA LA
910  AM CST THU FEB 15 1990

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN ALEXANDRIA HAS ISSUED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 1010 AM CST
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING PARISHES...

IN CENTRAL LOUISIANA
          ... RAPIDES

AT 910 AM CST NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RADARS SHOWED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM MOVING INTO RAPIDES PARISH THIS
THUNDERSTORM WILL EFFECT GLENMORA ALSO THE ALEXANDRIA
PINEVILLE AREAS...STRONG WINDS AND HAIL ALONG WITH
HEAVY RAINS CAN BE EXPECTED WITH THIS THUNDERSTORM...
PERSONS IN RAPIDES PARISH SHOULT BE ALERT AND IF
THREATENING WEATHER APPROACHES TAKE NECESSARY ACTION.
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, Feb 15, 4:46 AM CST, 4 hours 24 minutes before
LAZ005-006-007-008-011-012-151145-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT AND RADAR SUMMARY
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES LA
440 AM CST THU FEB 15 1990

...THUNDERSTORMS DEVELOPING RAPIDLY OVER SOUTHWEST AND CENTRAL LOUISIANA...

AT 425 AM...A LINE OF STRONG THUNDERSTORMS WAS SHOWN FROM 30 MILES WEST OF
ALEXANDRIA TO 20 MILES EAST OF DE QUINCY TO THE LAKE CHARLES AND CAMERON
AREAS.  STRONG GUSTY WINDS...VERY HEAVY RAIN...DANGEROUS LIGHTNING...AND
POSSIBLY SOME SMALL HAIL MAY ACCOMPANY THE LINE AS IT MOVES EAST AT 15
MPH.  THE LINE WILL MOVE THROUGH VERNON...BEAUREGARD...CALCASIEU...AND
CAMERON PARISHES AND INTO RAPIDES...ALLEN...AND JEFF DAVIS PARISHES DURING
THE NEXT HOUR.

RADAR ALSO SHOWED RAIN MIXED WITH SCATTERED SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WITH
HEAVY RAIN FROM NEAR WINNFIELD...ALEXANDRIA...AND THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER EAST
OF ALEXANDRIA SOUTH ACROSS THE COAST AND INTO THE COASTAL WATERS FROM SABINE
PASS TO VERMILION BAY.
LARGE PATCHES O.F RAIN AND ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS CONTINUED IN TEXAS FROM
JUST NORTH OF SAN AUGUSTINE TO THE COAST FROM FREEPORT TO SABINE PASS.

SCATTERED SHOWERS WERE OCCURRING IN THE COASTAL WATERS SOUTH OF GALVESTON.
Special weather statement, Feb 15, 5:43 AM CST, 3 hours 27 minutes before
LAZ005-006-007-008-011-012-151145-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT AND RADAR SUMMARY
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES LA
540 AM CST THU FEB 15 1990

AT 525 AM...THE LINE OF THUNDERSTORMS THAT HAD BEEN MOVING ACROSS CENTRAL
AND SOUTHWEST LOUISIANA HAD BROKEN UP AND WAS NO LONGER IDENTIFIABLE AS A
LINE. A SMALL BAND OF STRONG THUNDERSTORMS WAS LOCATED FROM NEAR EUNICE
TO JUST WEST OF BUNKIE.  MOVEMENT WAS EAST AT 20 MPH.  GUSTY WINDS AND A
BRIEF PERIOD OF VERY HEAVY RAIN WILL ACCOMPANY THESE THUNDERSTORMS.

LARGE PATCHES OF RAIN AND SCATTERED SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WERE SHOWN
FROM THE WINNFIELD...JENA...AND ALEXANDRIA AREAS TO BETWEEN JENNINGS AND
BATON ROUGE TO THE COAST BETWEEN CAMERON AND MORGAN CITY.  RAIN AND SHOWERS
EXTENDED INTO THE COASTAL WATERS SOUTH OF WHITE LAKE.

IN EAST TEXAS...SCATTERED PATCHES OF RAIN AND ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS WERE
LOCATED FROM THE LUFKIN...RAYBURN LAKE...TOLEDO BEND RESERVOIR AREAS SOUTH
TO THE COAS}T AND INTO THE GULF TO 100 MILES OFFSHORE FROM FREEPORT TO SABINE
PASS.
Special weather statement, Feb 15, 8:38 AM CST, 32 minutes before
LAZ079-151530-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ALEXANDRIA LA
830 AM CST THU FEB 15 1990

AT 830 AM NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RADARS SHOWED STRONG
THUNDERSTORMS MOVING INTO THE SOUTH WEST PART OF RAPIDES
PARISH NEAR GLENMORA...THESE THUNDERSTORMS MAY PRODUCE
HEAVY RAINS...STRONG WINDS AND SMALL HAIL AS THEY MOVE
THROUGH THE PARISH...PERSONS IN CENTRAL LOUISIANA SHOULD
REMAIN ALERT TO THE THUNDERSTORMS AND TAKE NECESSARY
PRECAUTIONS AS NECESSARY.

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.