Alert archive / Louisiana / Tornado Warnings in 1996
Tornado Warning 5, NWS Lake Charles, LA
NWS Lake Charles, LA issued this tornado warning at Apr 14, 1996, 7:39 PM CDT for Rapides Parish, Louisiana. It was in force for 66 min. 2 reports 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
- Apr 14, 1996, 7:39 PM CDT (00:39 UTC)
- Expired
- Apr 14, 1996, 8:45 PM CDT
- In force
- 66 min
- Issued by
- NWS Lake Charles, LA
- Area
- Whole counties
County Rapides Parish, LA
The radar
The Ft Polk radar (KPOE), 42 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 00:42 UTC, the scan nearest the moment this went out.
Open the radar archive at this moment
The archived warnings, watches and discussions in force at that minute are drawn over the scan, this one among them.
What was reported inside it
| Time | Report | Where | Remark |
|---|---|---|---|
| Apr 14, 8:31 PM CDT | Hail 0.75 | (Aex)England Afb Alx, LA | |
| Apr 14, 8:40 PM CDT | Tornado F0 | Boyce, LA |
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.
The nearest sounding before it
Lake Charles Mun, LA (KLCH), launched 00:00Z, 0.7 hours before the alert went out and 136 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.
- Mixed-layer CAPE
- 1868 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -94 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 682 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 37 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 64 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 95 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.4
- Supercell composite
- 3.3
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
000 TTAA00 KLCH 150039 RRA TORLCH LAC079-150145- BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED TORNADO WARNING NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES LA 739 PM CDT SUN APR 14 1996 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN LAKE CHARLES HAS ISSUED A TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 845 PM CDT FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION... IN CENTRAL LOUISIANA ...RAPIDES PARISH AT 735 PM CDT...NEXRAD DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A POSSIBLE TORNADO NEAR THE COMMUNITY OF FLATWOODS MOVING SOUTHEAST AT 30 MPH. THE TOWNS OF HOT WELLS...ZIMMERMAN...AND BOYCE ARE IN THE PATH OF THIS STORM. THIS IS A DANGEROUS STORM SITUATION. ACT QUICKLY. IF YOU ARE IN THE PATH OF THIS TORNADO MOVE TO A SHELTER BELOW GROUND IF AVAILABLE. OTHERWISE...GO TO VA SMALL INTERIOR ROOM ON THE LOWEST FLOOR POSSIBLE. AVOID WINDOWS. ABANDON CARS AND MOBILE HOMES FOR A REINFORCED BUILDING OR GET INTO A DITCH OR CULVERT.
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.
NWS Lake Charles, LA wrote its last area forecast discussion before this tornado warning went out at Apr 14, 7:23 PM CDT, 16 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Apr 14, 7:23 PM CDT, 16 minutes before
SOUTHEAST TEXAS..SOUTHWEST AND CENTRAL LOUISIANA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES LA 723 PM CDT SUN APR 14 1996 SVR ACTIVITY IN JASPER COUNTY TX AND JUST N OF VERNON PARISH LA...88-D SHOWING VILS GTR THN 65. CAN INCRS POPS TNITE TO LIKELY FOR LFT AND AEX. LINEAR SE MOVEMENT ON LINE WAS 18KTS. MARBLE SIZE HAIL COMMON WITH THESE. 11
In the hours before
Local storm report, Apr 14, 2:22 PM CDT, 5 hours 17 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES LA 220 PM CDT SUN APR 14 1996 TIME(CDT) .....CITY LOCATION.....STATE ...EVENT/REMARKS... DATE ....PARISH LOCATION.... 02140 PM DEVILLE LA .5 INCH HAIL 04/14/96 RAPIDES REPORTED BY RAPIDES 911
The office that day
Everything else NWS Lake Charles, LA issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apr 14, 7:31 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | LCH | Vernon | 59 min |
| Apr 14, 8:42 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | LCH | Rapides | 63 min |
Nearby
Tornado Warnings in Louisiana, 1996Every tornado warning in 1996Tornadoes in 1996
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; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.