Alert archive / Louisiana / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1990

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 91, NWS Lake Charles, LA

August 30, 1990Rapides Parish, Vernon Parish, Louisiana

NWS Lake Charles, LA issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Aug 30, 1990, 5:46 PM CDT for Rapides Parish, Vernon Parish, Louisiana. It was in force for 59 min.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Aug 30, 1990, 5:46 PM CDT (22:46 UTC)
Expired
Aug 30, 1990, 6:45 PM CDT
In force
59 min
Issued by
NWS Lake Charles, LA
Area
Whole counties

Counties Rapides Parish, LA, Vernon 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, 10.8 hours before the alert went out and 119 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 1990-08-30Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 1788 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 1990-08-30The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity -4 square meters per square second.1939Sfc1 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
1788 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-68 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
969 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
10 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
-4 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
36 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.0

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KLCH 302248
SVRLCH
LAC079-115-302345-
 
BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES LA
546 PM CDT THU AUG 30 1990
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN LAKE CHARLES HAS ISSUED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  645 PM CDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONS...
 
IN CENTRAL LOUISIANA
 
   ...WESTERN RAPIDES PARISH
 
IN SOUTHWEST LOUISIANA
 
   ...EASTERN VERNON PARISH
 
AT 545 PM...THE LAKE CHARLES WEATHER RADAR SHOWED A CLUSTER OF SEVERE
THUNDERSTORMS OVER MIDWAY BETWEEN LEESVILLE AND ALEXANDRIA OR IN THE
LACAMP AREA IN VERNON PARISH.
 
THE THUNDERSTORMS WERE DRIFTING SOUTHWEST.
 
IF YOU ARE CAUGHT OUTSIDE...SEEK SHELTJER 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, Aug 30, 3:38 PM CDT, 2 hours 8 minutes before
LAZ005-006-007-008-011-012-302145-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT AND RADAR SUMMARY
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES LA
335 PM CDT THU AUG 30 1990

...SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WATCH IN EFFECT UNTIL 9 PM THIS THURSDAY EVENING
FOR ALL OF SOUTHWEST AND CENTRSL LOUISIANA.

AT 330 PM...THUNDERSTORMS...SOME WITH VERY HEAVY RAINS...WERE DEVELOPING
RATHER RAPIDLY OVER PORTIONS OF CENTRAL LOUISIANA..MAINLY IN LASALLE..
GRANT..AND RAPIDES PARISHES.

AN INTENSE THUNDERSTORM WITH HAIL INDICATED BY RADAR WAS SHOWN JUST EAST
OF ALEXANDRIA ..ABOUT 15 MILES NORTH OF MARKSVILLE MOVING TOWARD THE SOUTH
AT 25 MPH.

PERSONS IN CENTRAL LOUISIANA SHOULD BE ON THE ALERT IN THE EVENT OTHER
WEATHER DEVELOPMENTS OCCUR WERE A WARNING IS REQUIRED.

PERIODS OF VERY HEAVY RAINS...STRONG GUSTY WINDS...DANGEROUS LUGHTNING..
AND HAIL ARE LIKELY TO OCCUR WITH THE HEAVIER THUNDERSTORMS. ALSO
FLOODING OF LOW LYING AREAS IS LIKELY.

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Aug 30, 4:26 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLCHRapides64 min
Aug 30, 6:49 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLCHAllen, Beauregard56 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.