Alert archive / Louisiana / Tornado Warnings in 1990

Tornado Warning 31, NWS Lake Charles, LA

August 30, 1990Lafayette Parish, Vermilion Parish, Louisiana

NWS Lake Charles, LA issued this tornado warning at Aug 30, 1990, 8:17 PM CDT for Lafayette Parish, Vermilion Parish, Louisiana. It was in force for 43 min.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Aug 30, 1990, 8:17 PM CDT (01:17 UTC)
Expired
Aug 30, 1990, 9:00 PM CDT
In force
43 min
Issued by
NWS Lake Charles, LA
Area
Whole counties

Counties Lafayette Parish, LA, Vermilion 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, 1.3 hours before the alert went out and 99 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 1990-08-31Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 4254 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°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 1990-08-31The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 86 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
4254 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-15 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1289 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
25 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
86 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
179 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
1.8
Supercell composite
14.9

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KLCH 310120
TORLCH
LAC055-113-310200-
 
BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES LA
817 PM CDT THU AUG 30 1990
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN LAKE CHARLES HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  900 PM CDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONS...
 
IN SOUTHWEST LOUISIANA
 
   ...SOUTHERN LAFAYETTE PARISH...EASTERN VERMILION PARISH
 
AT 810 PM THE LAFAYETTE E.O.C REPORTED AT FUNNEL CLOUD SIGHTED JUST
SOUTHWEST OF THE CITY OF LAFAYETTE.
 
AT 815 PM THE SEVERE THUNDERSTORM ASSOCIATED WITH THE FUNNEL CLOUD
SIGHTING WAS SHOWN OVER THE SOUTH PART OF LAFAYETTE PARISH.
 
THE THUNDERSTORM WAS MOVING SOUTH AT 20 MILES AN HOUR.
 
THIS WARNING REPLACES THE SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING ISSUED FOR
LAFAYETTE AND VERMILION PARISHES.
 
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 LOWE9ST 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, Aug 30, 3:38 PM CDT, 4 hours 39 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.
Special weather statement, Aug 30, 7:56 PM CDT, 21 minutes before
LAZ005-006-007-008-011-012-310145

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

...A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 9 PM FOR ALL OF
CENTRAL..SOUTHWEST AND SOUTH CENTRAL LOUISIANA...

AT 725 PM...SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS WITH VERY HEAVY RAIN WERE SHOWN FROM
NEAR JENNINGS TO LAFAYETTE.  THESE THUNDERSTORMS WILL BE MOVING THROUGH
SOUTHERN ACADIA AND LAFAYETTE PARISHES AND INTO VERMILION PARISH DURING
THE NEXT HOUR.

STRONG GUSTY WINDS..DANGEROUS LIGHTNING..AND SMALL HAIL CAN BE EXPECTED
WITH THESE THUNDERSTORMS IN ACADIA..LAFAYETTE..AND VERMILION PARISHES
AS THEY MOVE SOUTH AT 20 MPH.

OTHERWISE SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS WERE SHOWN FROM JUST SOUTH OF MANY TO
20 MILES NORTH OF LAFAYETTE TO JUST SOUTH OF LAFAYETTE AND TO NEAR
DE QUINCY.

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, 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, 3:03 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLCHCalcasieu57 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

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.