Alert archive / Louisiana / Tornado Warnings in 1997

Tornado Warning 4, NWS Lake Charles, LA

May 28, 1997Cameron Parish, Louisiana

NWS Lake Charles, LA issued this tornado warning at May 28, 1997, 1:21 PM CDT for Cameron Parish, Louisiana. It was in force for 69 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 28, 1997, 1:21 PM CDT (18:21 UTC)
Expired: May 28, 1997, 2:30 PM CDT
In force: 69 min
Issued by: NWS Lake Charles, LA
Area: Whole counties

County Cameron Parish, LA

The radar

The Lake Charles radar (KLCH), 31 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 18:25 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
May 28, 1:40 PM CDT	Tornado F0	Creole, LA	A small tornado touched down in the bayous just north of Creole, resulting in no injuries or damages.

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 12:00Z, 6.4 hours before the alert went out and 30 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: 418 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -230 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 1363 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 66 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 699 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 723 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.0
Supercell composite: 3.9

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

399 
WFUS1 KLCH 281824 RRA
TORLCH
LAC023-LAZ503-281930-
 
BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO AND SPECIAL MARINE WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES LA
121 PM CDT WED MAY 28 1997
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN LAKE CHARLES HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO AND SPECIAL MARINE WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  230 PM CDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...
 
IN SOUTHWEST LOUISIANA
 
   ...SOUTHEASTERN CAMERON PARISH
 
  AND FOR MARINE INTERESTS ON THE COASTAL WATERS FROM...
 
   ...CAMERON  TO  WHITE LAKE
 
AT 118 PM DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A DEVELOPING TORNADO 2 MILES EAST
OF GRAND CHENIER MOVING WEST AT 5 MPH. GRAND CHENIER IS IN THE PATH
OF THIS STORM. SHERRIFS OFFICE REPORTED A BRIEF TOUCHDOWN NEAR GRAND
CHENIER.
 
MARINERS NEAR THE COAST SHOULD WATCH FOR WATERSPOUTS AND MOVE AWAY
AT A 90 DEGREE ANGLE FROM ITS APPARENT MOVEMENT.
 
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
May 28, 12:03 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	LCH	Vernon	57 min
May 28, 3:00 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	LCH	Iberia, Saint Martin	45 min
May 28, 4:31 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	LCH	Cameron	59 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Louisiana, 1997 Every tornado warning in 1997 Tornadoes 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.