Alert archive / Louisiana / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1990

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 96, NWS Lake Charles, LA

August 31, 1990Calcasieu Parish, Louisiana

NWS Lake Charles, LA issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Aug 31, 1990, 3:03 PM CDT for Calcasieu Parish, Louisiana. It was in force for 57 min.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Aug 31, 1990, 3:03 PM CDT (20:03 UTC)
Expired
Aug 31, 1990, 4:00 PM CDT
In force
57 min
Issued by
NWS Lake Charles, LA
Area
Whole counties

County Calcasieu 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, 8.1 hours before the alert went out and 19 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 1990-08-31Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 2238 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 1990-08-31The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 102 square meters per square second.193958Sfc1 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
2238 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-71 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
940 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
26 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
102 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
124 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.9
Supercell composite
9.2

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KLCH 312003
SVRLCH
LAC019-312100-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING 
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES LA
303 PM CDT FRI AUG 31 1990

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM 
WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 400 PM CDT FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING 
PARISH

   IN THE SOUTHWEST PART OF LOUISIANA
      CALCASIEU

AT 3PM CDT RADAR INDICATED SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS JUST NORTH OF
SULPHUR AND JUST EAST OF VINTON IN CALCASIEU PARISH MOVING SOUTH
AT 15 MILES AN HOUR.

WHEN THUNDERSTORMS ARE OCCURRING...PEOPLE SHOULD MOVE INSIDE A
STRONG BUILDING.  DO NOT STAND NEAR WINDOWS.  DO NOT USE TELEPHONES
OR ELECTRICAL APPLIANCES UNTIL THE STORM HAS PASSED.  MOTORISTS
SHOULD AVOID LOW WATER CROSSINGS.

 GRIFFIN

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 31, 2:11 PM CDT, 52 minutes before
TXZ033-046-312015-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PORT ARTHUR TX
211 PM CDT FRI AUG 31 1990

...STRONG THUNDERSTORMS IN ANGELINA COUNTY...

AT 210 PM CDT TWO STRONG THUNDERSTORMS HAVE DEVELOPED DURING
THE PAST HOUR IN ANGELINA COUNTY.

THE STRONGEST THUNDERSTORM WAS LOCATED OVER BURKE IN SOUTH
ANGELINA COUNTY. THE OTHER STRONG THUNDERSTORM WAS LOCATED
OVER REDLAND JUST NORTH OF LUFKIN.

PEA SIZE HAIL WAS REPORTED WITH THESE STORMS. ALSO STRONG GUSTY
WINDS...HEAVY RAINFALL AND FREQUENT LIGHTNING WERE OCCURRING
WITH THESE THUNDERSTORMS.

MOVEMENT WAS TO THE SOUTHWEST AT 10 MILES AN HOUR.

NNNN
Special weather statement, Aug 31, 2:46 PM CDT, 17 minutes before
LAZ005-006-007-008-011-012-312045

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

AT 225 PM...SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS WITH VERY HEAVY RAIN WERE DEVELOPING
RATHER QUICKLY OVER EXTREME PORTIONS OF SOUTHWEST LOUISIANA AND MOST OF
EASTERN TEXAS.

RADAR INDICATED INTENSE THUNDERSTORM JUST EAST OF BAYTOWN TEXAS AND ALSO
ALONG THE SABINE RIVER BETWEEN ORANGE AND WEST OF DERIDDER.

STRONG GUSTY WINDS..DANGEROUS LIGHTNING..AND SMALL HAIL CAN BE EXPECTED
WITH THESE THUNDERSTORMS.

OTHERWISE SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS WERE SHOWN FROM NORTH OF HOUSTON TO
LUFKIN AND ALSO SOUTHEAST OF LAKE CHARLES NEAR LAKE ARTHUR AND OFFSHORE
50 TO 100 MILES INTO THE GULF.

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Aug 30, 7:48 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLCHAcadia, Lafayette, Vermilion57 min
Aug 30, 8:17 PM CDTTornado WarningLCHLafayette, Vermilion43 min
Aug 30, 9:20 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLCHCameron, Vermilion55 min
Aug 30, 11:00 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLCHCalcasieu, Cameron60 min
Aug 31, 12:02 AM CDTTornado WarningLCHCameron43 min
Aug 31, 3:05 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLCHCalcasieu, Cameron70 min
Aug 31, 3:10 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLCHCalcasieu, Cameron65 min
Aug 31, 3:52 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLCHCameron53 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.