Alert archive / Louisiana / Tornado Warnings in 1997
Tornado Warning 3, NWS Lake Charles, LA
NWS Lake Charles, LA issued this tornado warning at Apr 26, 1997, 6:16 AM CDT for Vermilion Parish, Louisiana. It was in force for 59 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
- Apr 26, 1997, 6:16 AM CDT (11:16 UTC)
- Expired
- Apr 26, 1997, 7:15 AM CDT
- In force
- 59 min
- Issued by
- NWS Lake Charles, LA
- Area
- Whole counties
County Vermilion Parish, LA
The radar
The Lake Charles radar (KLCH), 95 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 11:19 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 26, 6:54 AM CDT | Thunderstorm Wind | Pecan Is, 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, 11.3 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.
- Mixed-layer CAPE
- 0 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- No buoyant parcel
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 501 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 64 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 366 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 631 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 0.1
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
159 WFUS1 KLCH 261118 RRA TORLCH LAC113-261215- BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED TORNADO WARNING NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES LA 616 AM CDT SAT APR 26 1997 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN LAKE CHARLES HAS ISSUED A TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 715 AM CDT FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION... IN SOUTHWEST LOUISIANA ...VERMILION PARISH AND ADJACENT COASTAL WATERS AT 610 AM...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A TORNADO DEVELOPING 20 MILES SOUTH OF KAPLAN. MOVEMENT WAS NORTHEAST AT 30 MPH. T COMMUNITIES OF KAPLAN AND GUEYDAN ARE IN THE PATH OF THIS STORM. RADAR ALSO INDICATED A WATERSPOUT DEVELOPING OVER THE GULF 20 MILES SOUTHWEST PECAN ISLAND. THIS STORM WILL MOVE ONSHORE NEAR THE COMMUNITY OF PECAN ISLAND. IF YOU ARE IN THE PATH OF A TORNADO...SEEK SHELTER IN AN INTERIOR ROOM SUCH AS A CLOSET ON THE LOWEST FLOOR. USE BLANKETS...PILLOWS ...OR CUSHIONS TO COVER YOUR BODY FROM FLYING DEBRIS.
The office that day
Everything else NWS Lake Charles, LA issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apr 25, 7:10 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | LCH | Jefferson Davis | 50 min |
| Apr 25, 8:42 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | LCH | Acadia | 63 min |
| Apr 25, 10:08 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | LCH | Calcasieu, Cameron | 67 min |
| Apr 25, 10:45 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | LCH | Jefferson Davis | 60 min |
| Apr 25, 11:19 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | LCH | Cameron | 56 min |
| Apr 26, 12:13 AM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | LCH | Vermilion | 62 min |
| Apr 26, 12:30 AM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | LCH | Lafayette | 60 min |
| Apr 26, 1:00 AM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | LCH | Saint Landry | 60 min |
| Apr 26, 7:53 AM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | LCH | Vermilion | 37 min |
| Apr 26, 8:30 AM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | LCH | Iberia | 30 min |
Nearby
Tornado Warnings in Louisiana, 1997Every tornado warning in 1997Tornadoes in 1997
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.