Alert archive / Louisiana / Tornado Warnings in 1997

Tornado Warning 5, NWS New Orleans, LA

May 3, 1997Livingston Parish, Saint Helena Parish, Tangipahoa Parish, Louisiana

NWS New Orleans, LA issued this tornado warning at May 3, 1997, 3:10 AM CDT for Livingston Parish, Saint Helena Parish, Tangipahoa Parish, Louisiana. It was in force for 35 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: May 3, 1997, 3:10 AM CDT (08:10 UTC)
Expired: May 3, 1997, 3:45 AM CDT
In force: 35 min
Issued by: NWS New Orleans, LA
Area: Whole counties

Counties Livingston Parish, LA, Saint Helena Parish, LA, Tangipahoa Parish, LA

What was reported inside it

Time	Report	Where	Remark
May 3, 3:15 AM CDT	Thunderstorm Wind	Independence, LA
May 3, 3:15 AM CDT	Hail 1.75	Independence, 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 watch it was issued in

The SPC watch in force over the same counties when this warning went out.

Issued	Product	Office	Lasted
May 3, 2:00 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Watch	SPC	6 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Slidell Radar S, LA (KSIL), launched 00:00Z, 8.2 hours before the alert went out and 97 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: 2040 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -8 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 786 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 32 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 105 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 168 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.9
Supercell composite: 5.2

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

339 
WFUS1 KNEW 030810 RRA
TORNEW
LAC063-091-105-030845-
 
BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NEW ORLEANS LA
310 AM CDT SAT MAY 3 1997
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN NEW ORLEANS HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  345 AM CDT
FOR RESIDENTS IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONS...
 
IN SOUTHEAST LOUISIANA
 
   ...NORTHEASTERN LIVINGSTON PARISH
   ...SOUTHEASTERN ST. HELENA PARISH...WESTERN TANGIPAHOA PARISH
 
AT 307 AM CDT...RADAR INDICATED A POSSIBLE TORNADO DEVELOPING IN A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM LOCATED ON THE PARISH LINE SOUTH OF MONTPELIER.
THIS STORM WAS SHOWING ERRATIC MOVEMENT BUT WAS GENERALLY MOVING EAST
AT 40 MPH. RESIDENTS ALONG HIGHWAY 40 WEST OF INDEPENDENCE AND THE TOWN
OF INDEPENDENCE ARE IN THE PATH OF THIS DANGEROUS STORM. TAKE COVER
IMMEDIATELY

The office that day

Everything else NWS New Orleans, LA issued on the same UTC day.

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
May 3, 1:30 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	LIX	Pointe Coupee, West Feliciana	30 min
May 3, 2:37 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	LIX	East Baton Rouge	38 min
May 3, 2:55 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	LIX	Saint Helena	35 min
May 3, 3:00 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	LIX	Livingston	30 min
May 3, 3:44 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	LIX	Saint Tammany, Tangipahoa	31 min
May 3, 4:14 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	LIX	Saint Tammany	46 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.