Alert archive / Louisiana / Tornado Warnings in 1990

Tornado Warning 36, NWS Lake Charles, LA

December 21, 1990Rapides Parish, Louisiana

NWS Lake Charles, LA issued this tornado warning at Dec 21, 1990, 2:56 PM CST for Rapides Parish, Louisiana. It was in force for 34 min. 3 reports came from inside the area while it was in force.

The area

The counties it named, with what was reported inside it.

The facts

Issued: Dec 21, 1990, 2:56 PM CST (20:56 UTC)
Expired: Dec 21, 1990, 3:30 PM CST
In force: 34 min
Issued by: NWS Lake Charles, LA
Area: Whole counties

County Rapides Parish, LA

The radar

The WSR-88D network and its archive begin in 1991, so there is no radar volume for this alert.

What was reported inside it

Time	Report	Where
Dec 21, 3:05 PM CST	Thunderstorm Wind 0	Rapides, LA
Dec 21, 3:10 PM CST	Tornado F1	Rapides, LA
Dec 21, 3:15 PM CST	Thunderstorm Wind 0	Rapides, LA

NCEI Storm Data entries that began inside the alert's area while it was in force. Before 2003 the local storm report archive is thin, so this is the record of what happened rather than what was phoned in. Storm Data before 1996 records only tornadoes, thunderstorm wind and hail.

The nearest sounding before it

Lake Charles Mun, LA (KLCH), launched 12:00Z, 8.9 hours before the alert went out and 136 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-p

Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.

Hodograph

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: 1489 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -4 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 546 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 53 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 247 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 250 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 2.4
Supercell composite: 9.7

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KLCH 212100
TORLCH
LAC079-212130-
 
BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES LA
256 PM CST FRI DEC 21 1990
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN LAKE CHARLES HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  330 PM CST
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONS...
 
IN CENTRAL LOUISIANA
 
   ...RAPIDES PARISH
 
AT 255 PM THE LAKE CHARLES RADAR SHOWED A TORNADO NEAR ALEXANDRIA. TWO
SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WERE ALSO LOCATED IN NORTHEASTERN RAPIDES
PARISHES.  MOVEMENT WAS NORTHEAST AT 30 MPH.
 
 
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.
 
IF YOU ARE CAUGHT OUTSIDE...SEEK SHELTER IN A NEARBY REINFORCED
BUILDING.  AS A LAST RESORT...SEEK SHELTER IN A CULVERT...DITCH
OR LOW SPOT AND COVER YOUR HEAD WITH YOUR HANDS.

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Dec 21, 12:08 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	LCH	Calcasieu, Cameron	67 min
Dec 21, 12:29 PM CST	Tornado Warning	LCH	Calcasieu	31 min
Dec 21, 12:34 PM CST	Tornado Warning	LCH	Allen, Jefferson Davis	41 min
Dec 21, 1:15 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	LCH	Allen, Rapides	60 min
Dec 21, 2:22 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	LCH	Rapides	53 min
Dec 21, 5:57 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	LCH	Vernon	63 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Louisiana, 1990 Every tornado warning in 1990 Tornadoes 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; verification from NCEI's Storm Data; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive.