Alert archive / Louisiana / Tornado Watches in 1997

Tornado Watch 759

October 24, 199739 parishes in Louisiana; 17 counties in Mississippi; 6 counties in Texas

The Storm Prediction Center issued this tornado watch at Oct 24, 1997, 12:30 AM CDT for 39 parishes in Louisiana; 17 counties in Mississippi; 6 counties in Texas. It was in force for 7 hr.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued: Oct 24, 1997, 12:30 AM CDT (05:30 UTC)
Expired: Oct 24, 1997, 7:00 AM CDT
In force: 7 hr
Issued by: the Storm Prediction Center

All 62 counties

Acadia Parish, LA, Allen Parish, LA, Ascension Parish, LA, Assumption Parish, LA, Avoyelles Parish, LA, Beauregard Parish, LA, Calcasieu Parish, LA, Cameron Parish, LA, Catahoula Parish, LA, Concordia Parish, LA, East Baton Rouge Parish, LA, East Feliciana Parish, LA, Evangeline Parish, LA, Grant Parish, LA, Iberia Parish, LA, Iberville Parish, LA, Jefferson Davis Parish, LA, Lafayette Parish, LA, LaSalle Parish, LA, Livingston Parish, LA, Natchitoches Parish, LA, Orleans Parish, LA, Pointe Coupee Parish, LA, Rapides Parish, LA, Sabine 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, Saint Tammany Parish, LA, St. Mary Parish, LA, Tangipahoa Parish, LA, Vermilion Parish, LA, Vernon Parish, LA, Washington Parish, LA, West Baton Rouge Parish, LA, West Feliciana Parish, LA, Adams County, MS, Amite County, MS, Copiah County, MS, Covington County, MS, Franklin County, MS, Hancock County, MS, Jefferson County, MS, Jefferson Davis County, MS, Lamar County, MS, Lawrence County, MS, Lincoln County, MS, Marion County, MS, Pearl River County, MS, Pike County, MS, Simpson County, MS, Walthall County, MS, Wilkinson County, MS, Jasper County, TX, Jefferson County, TX, Newton County, TX, Orange County, TX, Sabine County, TX, San Augustine County, TX

The radar

The Ft Polk radar (KPOE), 64 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 05:34 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

7 tornado, severe thunderstorm and flash flood warnings for its counties while it was in force.

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Oct 24, 12:37 AM CDT	Tornado Warning	JAN	Copiah	53 min
Oct 24, 12:47 AM CDT	Tornado Warning	LCH	Evangeline, Jefferson Davis	58 min
Oct 24, 1:36 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	SHV	Sabine	39 min
Oct 24, 1:46 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	JAN	Jefferson	29 min
Oct 24, 1:56 AM CDT	Tornado Warning	LCH	Vermilion	64 min
Oct 24, 3:49 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	LCH	Allen, Evangeline	41 min
Oct 24, 3:49 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	LCH	Avoyelles	41 min

The nearest sounding before it

Lake Charles Mun, LA (KLCH), launched 00:00Z, 5.5 hours before the alert went out and 116 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: 880 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -3 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 853 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 45 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 124 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 173 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.7
Supercell composite: 3.4

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

432 
WWUS9 KMKC 240506
SEL9  
MKC WW 240506
TXZ000-LAZ000-MSZ000-241200-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
TORNADO WATCH NUMBER 759
STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK
1206 AM CDT FRI OCT 24 1997

THE STORM PREDICTION CENTER HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WATCH FOR PORTIONS OF

   EXTREME SOUTHEAST TEXAS                              
   CENTRAL AND SOUTHERN LOUISIANA                          
   SOUTHWEST MISSISSIPPI                        
   AND ADJACENT COASTAL WATERS

EFFECTIVE THIS FRIDAY MORNING FROM 1230 AM UNTIL 700 AM CDT.

TORNADOES...HAIL TO 1 3/4 INCHES IN DIAMETER...THUNDERSTORM WIND
GUSTS TO 80 MPH...AND DANGEROUS LIGHTNING ARE POSSIBLE IN THESE
AREAS.

THE TORNADO WATCH AREA IS ALONG AND 80 STATUTE MILES EITHER SIDE OF
A LINE FROM 45 MILES NORTH NORTHWEST OF PORT ARTHUR TEXAS TO 65
MILES EAST SOUTHEAST OF MC COMB MISSISSIPPI.

REMEMBER...A TORNADO WATCH MEANS CONDITIONS ARE FAVORABLE FOR
TORNADOES AND SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS IN AND CLOSE TO THE WATCH AREA. 
PERSONS IN THESE AREAS SHOULD BE ON THE LOOKOUT FOR THREATENING
WEATHER CONDITIONS AND LISTEN FOR LATER STATEMENTS AND POSSIBLE
WARNINGS.

OTHER WATCH INFORMATION...THIS TORNADO WATCH REPLACES TORNADO WATCH
NUMBER 758.  WATCH NUMBER 758 WILL NOT BE IN EFFECT AFTER 30 AM
CDT.

DISCUSSION...SEVERAL CLUSTERS OF THUNDERSTORMS CONTINUE ACROSS THE
AREA IN ASSOCIATION WITH A STRONG UPPER-LEVEL DISTURBANCE. ALTHOUGH
INSTABILITY IS ONLY MARGINAL...WIND FIELDS ARE QUITE CONDUCIVE FOR
SUPERCELL STORMS AND ISOLATED TORNADOES.


AVIATION...TORNADOES AND A FEW SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WITH HAIL
SURFACE AND ALOFT TO 1 3/4 INCHES.  EXTREME TURBULENCE AND SURFACE
WIND GUSTS TO 70 KNOTS.  A FEW CUMULONIMBI WITH MAXIMUM TOPS TO
520.  MEAN STORM MOTION VECTOR 25040.


...VESCIO

314,0942 315,0893 293,0892 292,0941

SPC that day

Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Oct 23, 8:00 PM CDT	Tornado Watch	SPC	Acadia, Allen, Beauregard, Calcasieu, Cameron, Evangeline and 4 more	6 hr

Nearby

Tornado Watches in Louisiana, 1997 Tornado Watches in Mississippi, 1997 Tornado Watches in Texas, 1997 Every 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.