Alert archive / Louisiana / Tornado Warnings in 1997

Tornado Warning 21, NWS Shreveport, LA

May 27, 1997Ouachita Parish, Louisiana

NWS Shreveport, LA issued this tornado warning at May 27, 1997, 8:12 PM CDT for Ouachita Parish, Louisiana. It was in force for 48 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 27, 1997, 8:12 PM CDT (01:12 UTC)
Expired
May 27, 1997, 9:00 PM CDT
In force
48 min
Issued by
NWS Shreveport, LA
Area
Whole counties

County Ouachita Parish, LA

The radar

The Shreveport radar (KSHV), 158 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 01:14 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

TimeReportWhereRemark
May 27, 8:15 PM CDTThunderstorm Wind 100Monroe, LAA squall line pushed through Ouachita Parish during the evening toppling trees and power lines. Many homes suffered wind damage and roads were blocked by trees. Several people were trapped inside their cars by downed power lines. Over 200 telephone poles we

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.

IssuedProductOfficeLasted
May 27, 7:00 PM CDTTornado WatchSPC6 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Jackson, MS (KJAN), launched 00:00Z, 1.2 hours before the alert went out and 196 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-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Jackson, MS at 00:00Z on 1997-05-28Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 3525 joules per kilogram.LCLEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.
HodographHodograph, Jackson, MS at 00:00Z on 1997-05-28The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 32 square meters per square second.1939Sfc1 km3 km6 km9 kmRMLM
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
3525 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-4 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1180 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
10 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
32 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
76 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.0

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

251 
WFUS1 KSHV 280111 RRA
TORSHV
LAC073-280200-
 
BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SHREVEPORT LA
812 PM CDT TUE MAY 27 1997
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN SHREVEPORT HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  900 PM CDT
FOR THE FOLLOWING AREA...
 
IN NORTHEAST LOUISIANA
 
   ...OUACHITA PARISH
 
AT 810 PM CDT DOPPLER RADAR IN SHREVEPORT INDICATED A POSSIBLE
TORNADO DEVELOPING OVER THE SOUTHEAST PART OF MONROE MOVING TO THE
EAST AT 20 MPH.
 
THIS STORM WILL MOVE ALONG AND JUST NORTH OF I-20.
 
 
 
IF YOU ARE IN THE PATH OF THIS TORNADO...GO TO AN INTERIOR HALLWAY
...CLOSET...OR BATHROOM ON THE LOWEST FLOOR. AVOID WINDOWS.
 
IF YOU ARE CAUGHT OUTSIDE...HURRY TO A NEARBY REINFORCED BUILDING.
AS A LAST RESORT...SEEK SHELTER IN A CULVERT...DITCH OR LOW SPOT.

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 27, 7:01 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningSHVSabine59 min
May 27, 7:14 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningSHVJackson, Lincoln61 min
May 27, 7:50 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningSHVCaldwell, Ouachita55 min
May 27, 8:09 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningSHVNatchitoches51 min
May 27, 8:14 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningSHVDe Soto61 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.