Alert archive / Louisiana / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1990

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 6, NWS Lake Charles, LA

February 16, 1990Acadia Parish, Louisiana

NWS Lake Charles, LA issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Feb 16, 1990, 2:42 AM CST for Acadia Parish, Louisiana. It was in force for 63 min.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Feb 16, 1990, 2:42 AM CST (08:42 UTC)
Expired
Feb 16, 1990, 3:45 AM CST
In force
63 min
Issued by
NWS Lake Charles, LA
Area
Whole counties

County Acadia 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 00:00Z, 8.7 hours before the alert went out and 78 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 00:00Z on 1990-02-16Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 1237 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 00:00Z on 1990-02-16The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 37 square meters per square second.1939587897117Sfc1 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
1237 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-16 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
673 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
50 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
37 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
37 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.2
Supercell composite
1.1

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KLCH 160843
SVRLCH
LAC001-160945-
 
BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES LA
242 AM CST FRI FEB 16 1990
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN LAKE CHARLES HAS ISSUED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  345 AM CST
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONS...
 
IN SOUTHWEST LOUISIANA
 
   ...ACADIA PARISH
 
AT 240 AM A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WAS LOCATED JUST NORTHEAST OF JENNINGS
LOUISIANA MOVING NORTHEAST AT 60 MPH.
 
 
SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS PRODUCE DAMAGING WIND IN EXCESS OF 55
MPH...DESTRUCTIVE HAIL...DEADLY LIGHTNING...AND VERY HEAVY RAIN.
FOR YOUR PROTECTION MOVE TO AN INTERIOR ROOM ON THE LOWEST FLOOR
OF YOUR HOME OR BUSINESSu.  HEAVY RAINS FLOOD ROADS QUICKLY SO
DON'T DRIVE INTO AREAS WHERE WATER COVERS THE ROAD.

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, 9:27 PM CST, 5 hours 15 minutes before
LAZ079-059-043-160420-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ALEXANDRIA LA
920 PM CST THU FEB 15 1990

AT 920 PM CST SCATTERED SHOWERS CONTINUE TO MOVE RAPIDLY
THROUGH CENTRAL LOUISIANA...NO THUNDERSTORMS WERE SHOWN
OVER RAPIDES...GRANT OR LASALLE PARISHES...HOWEVER CONDITIONS
REMAIN FAVORABLE FOR DEVELOPMENT...PERSONS IN CENTRAL LOUISIANA
SHOULD LISTEN FOR THE LATEST STATEMENTS ON THE WEATHER TONIGHT.

...A TORNADO WATCH REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 1000 PM CST THE
WATCH INCLUDES RAPIDES...GRANT AND LASALLE PARISHES OF
CENTRAL LOUISIANA...
Special weather statement, Feb 15, 9:39 PM CST, 5 hours 3 minutes before
LAZ005-006-007-008-011-012-151145-

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

TORNADO WATCH IS IN EFFECT UNTIL 1000 PM CST FOR MOST OF SOUTHWEST AND
CENTRAL LOUISIANA.

AT 930 PM...AN ISOLATED THUNDERSTORM WAS SHOWN 15 MILES NORTHEAST OF
MORGAN CITY.

SCATTERED SHOWERS AND ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS WERE SHOWN FROM NORTHEAST
OF BEAUMONT TO NORTH OF JENA TO EAST OF MORGAN CITY AND TO JUST SOUTH OF
ATCHAFALAYA BAY.

SCATTERED SHOWERS HAD DEVELOPED OVER SOUTHEAST TEXAS FROM NORTHEAST OF
LIBERTY TO SOUTHWEST OF HOUSTON.

MOVEMENT WAS RAPIDLY NORTHEAST.
Special weather statement, Feb 15, 10:00 PM CST, 4 hours 42 minutes before
LAZ079-059-043-160500-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ALEXANDRIA LA
1000 PM CST THU FEB 15 1990

AT 1000 PM CST SCATTERED SHOWERS CONTINUE TO MOVE RAPIDLY
THROUGH CENTRAL LOUISIANA...NO THUNDERSTORMS WERE SHOWN
OVER RAPIDES...GRANT OR LASALLE PARISHES.

...THE TORNADO WATCH IS NO LONGER IN EFFECT FOR RAPIDES...
GRANT AND LASALLE PARISHES OF CENTRAL LOUISIANA...
Special weather statement, Feb 15, 10:38 PM CST, 4 hours 4 minutes before
LAZ005-006-007-008-011-012-151145-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT AND RADAR SUMMARY
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES LA
1040 PM CST THU FEB 15 1990

THE TORNADO WATCH IS NO LONGER IN EFFECT FOR SOUTHWEST AND CENTRAL
LOUISIANA.

AT 1025 PM...AN ISOLATED THUNDERSTORM WAS SHOWN 25 MILES NORTHEAST OF
MORGAN CITY.

OTHERWISE SCATTERED SHOWERS AND ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS WERE OCCURRING
FROM NEAR BAYTOWN TEXAS TO NORTH OF JENA TO SOUTHEAST LOUISIANA NEAR
NEW ORLEANS AND TO THE ATCHAFALAYA BAY.

MOVEMENT WAS RAPIDLY NORTHEAST.

THIS WILL BE THE LAST SPECIAL WEATHER SUMMARY UNLESS REDEVELOPMENT
OCCURS.
Special weather statement, Feb 16, 1:54 AM CST, 48 minutes before
LAZ005-006-007-008-011-012-160840-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT AND RADAR SUMMARY
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES LA
140 AM CST FRI FEB 16 1990

AT 125 AM...THUNDERSTORMS HAD INCREASED RAPIDLY IN BOTH COVERAGE AND
INTENSITY OVER VERNON AND RAPIDES PARISHES.  THESE THUNDERSTORMS WILL
PRODUCE A BRIEF PERIOD OF VERY HEAVY RAIN AND STRONG GUSTY WINDS OVER
VERNON...RAPIDES...AND GRANT PARISHES DURING THE NEXT HOUR AS THEY
MOVE NORTHEAST AT 55 MILES AN HOUR.

A LARGE BAND OF SHOWERS AND ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS WAS SHOWN JUST
NORTH OF JENA AND FROM BETWEEN ALEXANDRIA AND MANY SOUTHWEST TO LEESVILLE
...DE QUINCY...SULPHUR...AND NEAR LAKE CHARLES.  THE SHOWERS AND THUNDER-
STORMS EXTENDED INTO SOUTHEAST TEXAS TO KIRBYVILLE...ORANGE...AND ALONG
THE COAST FROM SABINE PASS TO 70 MILES SOUTHWEST OF GALVESTON AND OUT
INTO THE GULF TO 40 MILES SOUTH OF GALVESTON AND 100 MILES SOUTH OF CAMERON.

ISOLATED SHOWERS CONTINUED FROM 30 MILES NORTHEAST O4F MORGAN CITY TO THE
COAST AND IN THE ATCHAFALAYA BAY AREA.

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.