Alert archive / Louisiana / Tornado Warnings in 1992

Tornado Warning 7, NWS Lake Charles, LA

May 16, 1992Grant Parish, Louisiana

NWS Lake Charles, LA issued this tornado warning at May 16, 1992, 7:09 PM CDT for Grant Parish, Louisiana. It was in force for 36 min.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
May 16, 1992, 7:09 PM CDT (00:09 UTC)
Expired
May 16, 1992, 7:45 PM CDT
In force
36 min
Issued by
NWS Lake Charles, LA
Area
Whole counties

County Grant Parish, LA

The nearest sounding before it

Lake Charles Mun, LA (KLCH), launched 00:00Z, 0.2 hours before the alert went out and 176 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 1992-05-17Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 242 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 00:00Z on 1992-05-17The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity -2 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
242 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-16 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1005 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
13 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
-2 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
-8 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 170012
TORLCH
LAC043-170045-
 
BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES LA
709 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
 
   ...GRANT PARISH
 
RADAR SHOWED THE THUNDERSTORMS THAT PRODUCED A TORNADO TOUCHDOWN IN
RAPIDES PARISH AROUND 645 PM CDT JUST NORTHWEST OF ALEXANDRIA MOVING
INTO GRANT PARISH.
 
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.

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, 31 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.