Alert archive / Louisiana / Tornado Warnings in 1995

Tornado Warning 40, NWS Lake Charles, LA

May 18, 1995Evangeline Parish, Louisiana

NWS Lake Charles, LA issued this tornado warning at May 18, 1995, 3:12 PM CDT for Evangeline Parish, Louisiana. It was in force for 63 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, 3:12 PM CDT (20:12 UTC)
Expired: May 18, 1995, 4:15 PM CDT
In force: 63 min
Issued by: NWS Lake Charles, LA
Area: Whole counties

County Evangeline Parish, LA

What was reported inside it

Time	Report	Where	Remark
May 18, 3:30 PM CDT	Tornado F1	Beaver, LA	A tornado touched down near Beaver damaging a few houses and downing trees. Tornado path length and width estimated. In Mamou and Ville Platte, numerous trees and large tree limbs were downed by thunderstorm winds.

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, 8.2 hours before the alert went out and 102 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-p

Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.

Hodograph

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 182013
TORLCH
LAC039-182115-
 
BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES LA
312 PM CDT THU MAY 18 1995
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN LAKE CHARLES HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  415 PM CDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...
 
IN SOUTHWEST LOUISIANA
 
   ...EVANGELINE PARISH
 
AT 3:10 PM CDT...DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A TORNADO 20 MILES WEST OF
VILLE PLATTE. MOVEMENT WAS EAST AT 30 MPH.
 
 
DO NOT USE YOUR CAR TO TRY TO OUTRUN A TORNADO.  CARS ARE EASILY
TOSSED AROUND BY TORNADO WINDS.  IF YOU ARE CAUGHT IN THE PATH OF
A TORNADO...LEAVE THE CAR AND GO TO A STRONG BUILDING.  IF NO
STRUCTURE IS NEARBY...SEEK SHELTER IN A DITCH OR LOW SPOT.

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
May 18, 1:39 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	LCH	Beauregard	66 min
May 18, 2:41 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	LCH	Allen	64 min
May 18, 3:41 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	LCH	Avoyelles	64 min
May 18, 5:27 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	LCH	Beauregard	63 min
May 18, 6:51 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	LCH	Jefferson Davis	49 min

Nearby

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