Alert archive / Louisiana / Tornado Warnings in 1995

Tornado Warning 34, NWS Lake Charles, LA

May 11, 1995Vermilion Parish, Louisiana

NWS Lake Charles, LA issued this tornado warning at May 11, 1995, 2:44 PM CDT for Vermilion Parish, Louisiana. It was in force for 39 min.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
May 11, 1995, 2:44 PM CDT (19:44 UTC)
Expired
May 11, 1995, 3:23 PM CDT
In force
39 min
Issued by
NWS Lake Charles, LA
Area
Whole counties

County Vermilion Parish, LA

The nearest sounding before it

Lake Charles Mun, LA (KLCH), launched 12:00Z, 7.7 hours before the alert went out and 93 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 1995-05-11Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 1692 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 12:00Z on 1995-05-11The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 96 square meters per square second.19395878Sfc1 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
1692 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-73 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
764 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
39 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
96 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
94 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.2
Supercell composite
1.7

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KLCH 111946
TORLCH
LAC113-112045-
 
BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES LA
244 PM CDT THU MAY 11 1995
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN LAKE CHARLES HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  345 PM CDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...
 
IN SOUTHWEST LOUISIANA
 
   ...VERMILION PARISH
 
AT 240 PM THE PUBLIC REPORTED SIGHTING TWO WATERSPOUTS OVER WHITE LAKE.
LAKE CHARLES DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A RAPIDLY DEVELPING THUNDERSTORM
ABOUT 5 MILES SOUTHWEST OF INTRACOASTAL CITY.  THE THUNDERSTORM IS
MOVING NORTEAST AT 30 MPH.
 
IF YOU ARE IN THE PATH OF A TORNADO...THE SAFEST PLACE IS A
BASEMENT.  GET UNDER A WORKBENCH OR PIECE OF STURDY FURNITURE.
IF NO BASEMENT IS AVAILABLE...SEEK SHELTER IN AN INTERIOR ROOM
SUCH AS A CLOSET ON THE LOWEST FLOOR.  USE BLANKETS...PILLOWS...
OR CUSHIONS 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 11, 12:35 PM CDT, 2 hours 9 minutes before
TXZ165-201-181-511-215-182-152-216-167-166-180-112230-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PORT ARTHUR TX
1235 PM CDT THU MAY 11 1995

...A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH IS IN EFFECT UNTIL 600 PM CDT THIS
THURSDAY EVENING FOR EAST AND SOUTHEAST TEXAS AND THE ADJACENT
COASTAL WATERS...

JEFFERSON...ORANGE...HARDIN...TYLER...JASPER...NEWTON...SABINE
...SAN AUGUSTINE...ANGELINA...AND NACOGDOCHES COUNTIES ARE INCLUDED
IN THIS WATCH.

AT 1230 PM NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RADAR SHOWED A LINE OF STRONG TO
SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WERE LOCATED FROM 45 MILES SOUTH OF LAKE CHARLES
IN THE GULF WATERS TO 10 MILES SOUTHWEST OF SABINE PASS TO GALVESTON
BAY TO JUST SOUTH OF HOUSTON EXTENDING TO THE AUSTIN AREA.

MOVEMENT WAS NORTHEAST NEAR 25 MPH

LARGE HAIL...DAMAGING WINDS...AND TORRENTIAL DOWNPOURS WILL BE POSSIBLE
IN AND NEAR THE WATCH AREA.

PLEASE STAY TUNED TO NOAA WEATGHER RADIO OR LOCAL WEATHER SOURCES FOR
UPDATES OR POSJSIBLE WARNINGS ISSUED BY THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE.

COLBY

NNNN

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Louisiana, 1995Every tornado warning in 1995Tornadoes in 1995

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.