Alert archive / Louisiana / Tornado Warnings in 1995

Tornado Warning 39, NWS Lake Charles, LA

May 18, 1995Allen Parish, Louisiana

NWS Lake Charles, LA issued this tornado warning at May 18, 1995, 2:41 PM CDT for Allen Parish, Louisiana. It was in force for 64 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, 2:41 PM CDT (19:41 UTC)
Expired
May 18, 1995, 3:45 PM CDT
In force
64 min
Issued by
NWS Lake Charles, LA
Area
Whole counties

County Allen Parish, LA

What was reported inside it

TimeReportWhereRemark
May 18, 3:30 PM CDTTornado F1Oakdale, LAA tornado touched down in Oakdale causing minor damge to a hospital. A nurse suffered minor injuries. A number of trees were also blown down. 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, 7.7 hours before the alert went out and 69 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°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 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 181943
TORLCH
LAC003-182045-
 
BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES LA
241 PM CDT THU MAY 18 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
 
   ...ALLEN PARISH
 
AT 240 PM...DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A TORNADO MOVING TOWARDS
THE TOWN OF MITTIE IN ALLEN PARISH. THIS STORM WAS MOVING EAST AT 25
MPH.
 
TOWNS ALONG AND NEAR THE PATH OF THIS STORM ARE MITTIE AND HOMES ALONG
ROUTE 26.
 
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 ANZD COVER YOUR HEAD WITH YOUR HANDS.

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 18, 1:39 PM CDTTornado WarningLCHBeauregard66 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

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; verification from NCEI's Storm Data; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive.