Alert archive / Louisiana / Tornado Warnings in 1992

Tornado Warning 6, NWS Lake Charles, LA

May 16, 1992Rapides Parish, Louisiana

NWS Lake Charles, LA issued this tornado warning at May 16, 1992, 6:52 PM CDT for Rapides Parish, Louisiana. It was in force for 53 min.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
May 16, 1992, 6:52 PM CDT (23:52 UTC)
Expired
May 16, 1992, 7:45 PM CDT
In force
53 min
Issued by
NWS Lake Charles, LA
Area
Whole counties

County Rapides Parish, LA

The nearest sounding before it

Lake Charles Mun, LA (KLCH), launched 12:00Z, 11.9 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-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Lake Charles Mun, LA at 12:00Z on 1992-05-16Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 3 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 1992-05-16The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 29 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
3 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-119 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1040 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
13 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
29 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
66 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 162355
TORLCH
LAC079-170045-
 
BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES LA
652 PM CDT SAT MAY 16 1992
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN LAKE CHARLES HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  745 PM CDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONS
 
IN CENTRAL LOUISIANA
 
   ...RAPIDES PARISH
 
RAPIDES PARISH CIVIL DEFENSE REPORTED A TORNADO TOUCHDOWN IN THE
TIOGA/PINEVILLE AREA IN RAPIDES PARISH ABOUT 645 PM CDT.
 
RADAR SHOWED THUNDERSTORMS IN THE AREA MOVING SLOWLY NORTH.
 
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, May 16, 6:38 PM CDT, 14 minutes before
LAZ005>009-011>014-MSZ010-TXZ028-032-033-045>049-170035-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT AND RADAR SUMMARY
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES LA
638 PM CDT SAT MAY 16 1992

AT 627 PM...A THUNDERSTORM...WITH VERY HEAVY RAIN...WAS DRIFTING
SLOWLY NORTH IN EASTERN RAPIDES PARISH.  STRONG GUSTY WINDS..HEAVY
RAIN..SMALL HAIL..AND DANGEROUS LIGHTNING COULD ACCOMPANY THIS STORM
AS IT MOVES THROUGH THE PARISH.

ELSEWHERE...WIDELY SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS...WITH VERY HEAVY RAIN...
WERE OBSERVED FROM JUST WEST OF BATON ROUGE TO NEAR BUNKIE..AND FROM
JUST NORTH OF LEESVILLE TO 10 MILES NORTH OF SAN AUGUSTINE TEXAS.

A NARROW BAND OF RAIN AND THUNDERSTORMS CONTINUED IN SOUTHEAST TEXAS
FROM THE COASTAL SECTIONS BETWEEN FREEPORT AND GALVESTON TO THE LAKE
LIVINGSTON AREA.

MOVEMENT WAS SLOWLY NORTH AT NEAR 5 MILES AN HOUR.

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Louisiana, 1992Every tornado warning in 1992Tornadoes in 1992

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.