Alert archive / Louisiana / Tornado Warnings in 1995

Tornado Warning 38, NWS Lake Charles, LA

May 18, 1995Beauregard Parish, Louisiana; Newton County, Texas

NWS Lake Charles, LA issued this tornado warning at May 18, 1995, 1:39 PM CDT for Beauregard Parish, Louisiana; Newton County, Texas. It was in force for 66 min. 1 report 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
May 18, 1995, 1:39 PM CDT (18:39 UTC)
Expired
May 18, 1995, 2:45 PM CDT
In force
66 min
Issued by
NWS Lake Charles, LA
Area
Whole counties

Counties Beauregard Parish, LA, Newton County, TX

What was reported inside it

TimeReportWhereRemark
May 18, 2:35 PM CDTTornado F1Deridder, LADime-size hail and thunderstorm wind gusts which downed trees was reported in DeRidder. South of DeRidder a tornado touched down, damaging several house roofs and sheared off trees. Tornado path length and width estimated.

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, 6.7 hours before the alert went out and 74 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 1995-05-18Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 1596 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 1995-05-18The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 185 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
1596 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-57 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
660 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
51 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
185 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
189 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
1.3
Supercell composite
9.5

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KLCH 181842
TORLCH
LAC011-TXC351-181945-
 
BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES LA
139 PM CDT THU MAY 18 1995
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN LAKE CHARLES HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  245 PM CDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONS...
 
IN SOUTHWEST LOUISIANA
 
   ...BEAUREGARD PARISH
 
 
IN SOUTHEAST TEXAS
 
   ...NEWTON COUNTY
 
AT 1:39 PM RADAR INDICATED A TORNADO IN SOUTHEAST TEXAS JUST NORTH OF
KIRBYVILLE. MOVEMENT WAS EAST AT 25 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
0SUCH AS A CLOSET ON THE LOWEST FLOOR.  USE BLANKETS...PILLOWS...
OR CUSHIONS TO COVER YOUR BODY.  AVOID WINDOWS.

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 18, 2:41 PM CDTTornado WarningLCHAllen64 min
May 18, 3:12 PM CDTTornado WarningLCHEvangeline63 min
May 18, 3:41 PM CDTTornado WarningLCHAvoyelles64 min
May 18, 5:27 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLCHBeauregard63 min
May 18, 6:51 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLCHJefferson Davis49 min
May 18, 8:35 AM CDTTornado WarningLCHHardin55 min
May 18, 3:04 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLCHHardin, Jefferson56 min
May 18, 4:14 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLCHNewton61 min
May 18, 4:27 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLCHHardin, Jefferson63 min
May 18, 5:18 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLCHNewton57 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Louisiana, 1995Tornado Warnings in Texas, 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; verification from NCEI's Storm Data; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive.