Alert archive / Louisiana / Tornado Warnings in 1990

Tornado Warning 24, NWS Lake Charles, LA

July 3, 1990Calcasieu Parish, Louisiana

NWS Lake Charles, LA issued this tornado warning at Jul 3, 1990, 5:04 PM CDT for Calcasieu Parish, Louisiana. It was in force for 41 min.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Jul 3, 1990, 5:04 PM CDT (22:04 UTC)
Expired
Jul 3, 1990, 5:45 PM CDT
In force
41 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, 10.1 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 1990-07-03Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 1294 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 1990-07-03The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 17 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
1294 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-142 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1214 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
17 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
17 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
36 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
-0.0
Supercell composite
-0.5

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KLCH 032204
TORLCH
LAC019-032245-
 
BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES LA
504 PM CDT TUE JUL 3 1990
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN LAKE CHARLES HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  545 PM CDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONS...
 
IN SOUTHWEST LOUISIANA
 
   ...CALCASIEU PARISH
 
A TORNADO WAS REPORTED NEAR HIGHWAY 90 AND HIGHWAY 397 BY
THE CALCASIEU SHERIFF DEPARTMENT MOVING TOWARD THE NORTH.
RADAR INDICATED SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS NORTH AND EAST OF
LAKE CHARLES AT THIS TIME.
 
 
IF YOU ARE IN THE PATH OF A TORNADO...SEEK SHELTER IN A NEARBY
REINFORCED BUILDING.  GET UNDER A PIECE OF STURDY FURNITURE
PREFERABLY IN AN INTERIOR ROOM ON THE LOWEST FLOOR.  USE BLANKETS
OR PILLOWS TO COVER YOUR BODY.  AVOID WINDOWS.

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before this tornado 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, Jul 3, 4:46 PM CDT, 18 minutes before
TXZ046-048-032345-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PORT ARTHUR TX
446 PM CDT TUE JUL 3 1990

AT 430 PM CDT...WEATHER RADAR SHOWED A LINE OF STRONG THUNDERSTORMS
MOVING ACROSS SOUTHWEST LOUSIANA TOWARDS THE WEST AT 15 MPH. THESE
THUNDERSTORMS WILL MOVE INTO SOUTHEAST TEXAS AROUND 700 PM THIS
EVENING.

THE STORMS WILL PRODUCE STRONG WIND...POSSIBLY IN EXCESS OF 60 MPH
AS WELL AS HAIL AND LIGHTNING.  THE RAINFALL RATES WILL ALSO BE
EXCESSIVE AND URBAN STREET FLOODING CAN BE EXPECTED IN THE GOLDEN
TRIANGLE AND SURROUNDING CITIES AND TOWNS.

HOMEOWNERS SHOULD PICK UP AND STORE LAWN FURNITURE AND TOYS TO
LESSEN THE THREAT OF MISSILE DAMAGE OR INJURY.  BRING IN CHILDREN
AND PETS AS THE STORMS APPROACH TO ELIMINATE THE THREAT OF BEING
STRUCK BY LIGHTNING.  AND...MOTORIST ARE REMINDED NOT TO DRIVE THROUGH
DEEP OR SWIFT WATER.  LIGHTNING AND FLOODING ARE THE TWO GREATEST
KILLERS IN THUNDERSTORMS.

BOATERS AND FISHERMEN ON AND AROUND LAKE SABINE AND THE SABINE SHIP
CHANNEL AND ON THE JETTIES SHOULD MAKE FOR SAFE HARBOR IMMEDIATELY.

STAY TUNED TO PORT ARTHURS WEATHER RADIO OR YOUR LOCAL RADIO OR TV
STATION FOR THE LATEST ON THESE APPROACHING THUNDERSTORMS.
 :
DCG

NNNN
NNNN
Special weather statement, Jul 3, 4:47 PM CDT, 17 minutes before
LAZ007-008-011-012-032245-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT AND RADAR SUMMARY
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES LA
445 PM CDT TUE JUL 3 1990

AT 425 PM...SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS...WITH VERY HEAVY RAIN...WERE SHOWN
FROM JUST EAST OF LAKE CHARLES TO THE COAST MIDWAY BETWEEN CAMERON AND
WHITE LAKE.

AN ISOLATED THUNDERSTORM...WITH VERY HEAVY RAIN...WAS LOCATED JUST
SOUTHWEST OF LAFAYETTE.

STRONG GUSTY WINDS...DANGEROUS CLOUD TO GROUND LIGHTNING...VERY HEAVY
RAIN AND POSSIBLY SOME SMALL HAIL CAN BE EXPECTED WITH THESE
THUNDERSTORMS AS THEY MOVE WEST AT 20 MPH.

OTHER STRONG THUNDERSTORMS WERE OCCURRING...MIDWAY BETWEEN NATCHITOCHES
AND ALEXANDRIA...JUST SOUTH OF OAKDALE...JUST SOUTHWEST OF KINDER AND
50 MILES SOUTH OF CAMERON.

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jul 3, 4:51 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLCHCalcasieu69 min
Jul 3, 6:01 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLCHCalcasieu29 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Louisiana, 1990Every tornado warning in 1990Tornadoes 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.