Alert archive / Louisiana / Tornado Watches in 1997
Tornado Watch 139
The Storm Prediction Center issued this tornado watch at Apr 5, 1997, 2:30 AM CST for 47 parishes in Louisiana; 24 counties in Mississippi. It was in force for 7 hr.
The area
The outline as issued.
The facts
- Issued
- Apr 5, 1997, 2:30 AM CST (08:30 UTC)
- Expired
- Apr 5, 1997, 9:00 AM CST
- In force
- 7 hr
- Issued by
- the Storm Prediction Center
All 71 counties
Acadia Parish, LA, Allen Parish, LA, Ascension Parish, LA, Assumption Parish, LA, Avoyelles Parish, LA, Calcasieu Parish, LA, Caldwell Parish, LA, Cameron Parish, LA, Catahoula Parish, LA, Concordia Parish, LA, East Baton Rouge Parish, LA, East Carroll Parish, LA, East Feliciana Parish, LA, Evangeline Parish, LA, Franklin Parish, LA, Grant Parish, LA, Iberia Parish, LA, Iberville Parish, LA, Jackson Parish, LA, Jefferson Davis Parish, LA, Lafayette Parish, LA, Lafourche Parish, LA, LaSalle Parish, LA, Livingston Parish, LA, Madison Parish, LA, Morehouse Parish, LA, Ouachita Parish, LA, Pointe Coupee Parish, LA, Rapides Parish, LA, Richland Parish, LA, Saint Charles Parish, LA, Saint Helena Parish, LA, Saint James Parish, LA, Saint John the Baptist Parish, LA, Saint Landry Parish, LA, Saint Martin Parish, LA, St. Mary Parish, LA, Tangipahoa Parish, LA, Tensas Parish, LA, Terrebonne Parish, LA, Union Parish, LA, Vermilion Parish, LA, Washington Parish, LA, West Baton Rouge Parish, LA, West Carroll Parish, LA, West Feliciana Parish, LA, Winn Parish, LA, Adams County, MS, Amite County, MS, Claiborne County, MS, Copiah County, MS, Franklin County, MS, Hinds County, MS, Issaquena County, MS, Jefferson County, MS, Jefferson Davis County, MS, Lawrence County, MS, Leake County, MS, Lincoln County, MS, Madison County, MS, Marion County, MS, Pike County, MS, Rankin County, MS, Scott County, MS, Sharkey County, MS, Simpson County, MS, Smith County, MS, Walthall County, MS, Warren County, MS, Wilkinson County, MS, Yazoo County, MS
The radar
The Ft Polk radar (KPOE), 112 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 08:31 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.
Warnings issued inside it
23 tornado, severe thunderstorm and flash flood warnings for its counties while it was in force.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apr 5, 3:01 AM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | LCH | Calcasieu, Cameron | 59 min |
| Apr 5, 4:05 AM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | LCH | Beauregard, Calcasieu | 55 min |
| Apr 5, 4:28 AM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | SHV | Jackson | 32 min |
| Apr 5, 5:27 AM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | LCH | Rapides | 63 min |
| Apr 5, 6:01 AM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | JAN | Morehouse | 44 min |
| Apr 5, 6:03 AM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | JAN | Catahoula | 27 min |
| Apr 5, 6:27 AM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | JAN | Franklin, Richland | 33 min |
| Apr 5, 6:38 AM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | LCH | Lafayette, Saint Landry | 52 min |
| Apr 5, 6:44 AM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | JAN | West Carroll | 46 min |
| Apr 5, 6:44 AM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | JAN | Madison | 46 min |
| Apr 5, 6:57 AM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | JAN | East Carroll | 33 min |
| Apr 5, 7:03 AM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | JAN | Issaquena | 27 min |
| Apr 5, 7:16 AM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | JAN | Sharkey | 44 min |
| Apr 5, 7:33 AM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | JAN | Yazoo | 42 min |
| Apr 5, 7:38 AM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | JAN | Claiborne | 52 min |
| Apr 5, 8:02 AM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | JAN | Warren | 28 min |
| Apr 5, 8:08 AM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | LIX | Amite | 37 min |
| Apr 5, 8:12 AM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | JAN | Copiah, Hinds | 48 min |
| Apr 5, 8:40 AM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | JAN | Madison, Rankin | 65 min |
| Apr 5, 8:43 AM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | LIX | Livingston, Saint Helena, Tangipahoa | 47 min |
| Apr 5, 8:46 AM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | LIX | Amite, Pike | 44 min |
| Apr 5, 8:49 AM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | JAN | Yazoo | 41 min |
| Apr 5, 8:57 AM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | JAN | Simpson | 48 min |
The nearest sounding before it
Lake Charles Mun, LA (KLCH), launched 00:00Z, 8.5 hours before the alert went out and 137 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
- 1185 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -76 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 530 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 52 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 267 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 316 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 1.8
- Supercell composite
- 8.7
The text
The text of this product is not in the archive. The NWS text archive before 2002 is incomplete.
SPC that day
Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apr 4, 10:30 PM CST | Tornado Watch | SPC | Beauregard, Bienville, Bossier, Caddo, Claiborne, De Soto and 10 more | 6 hr |
| Apr 5, 3:15 AM CST | Tornado Watch | SPC | Claiborne, Morehouse, Union | 6 hr |
| Apr 5, 9:00 AM CST | Tornado Watch | SPC | Ascension, Assumption, East Baton Rouge, East Feliciana, Jefferson, Lafourche and 12 more | 6 hr |
| Apr 5, 9:00 AM CST | Tornado Watch | SPC | Alcorn, Attala, Benton, Calhoun, Carroll, Chickasaw and 25 more | 6 hr |
| Apr 5, 1:00 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Watch | SPC | Jackson | 4 hr |
Nearby
Tornado Watches in Louisiana, 1997Tornado Watches in Mississippi, 1997Every tornado watch 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; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.