Alert archive / Louisiana / Tornado Warnings in 1998

Tornado Warning 1, NWS Lake Charles, LA

January 12, 1998Beauregard Parish, Louisiana

NWS Lake Charles, LA issued this tornado warning at Jan 12, 1998, 1:05 AM CST for Beauregard Parish, Louisiana. It was in force for 50 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
Jan 12, 1998, 1:05 AM CST (07:05 UTC)
Expired
Jan 12, 1998, 1:55 AM CST
In force
50 min
Issued by
NWS Lake Charles, LA
Area
Whole counties

County Beauregard Parish, LA

The radar

The Lake Charles radar (KLCH), 59 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 07:04 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
Jan 12, 1:45 AM CSTThunderstorm WindDry Creek, 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.

IssuedProductOfficeLasted
Jan 11, 11:30 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WatchSPC7 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Lake Charles Mun, LA (KLCH), launched 00:00Z, 7.1 hours before the alert went out and 60 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, Lake Charles Mun, LA at 00:00Z on 1998-01-12Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 16 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 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, Lake Charles Mun, LA at 00:00Z on 1998-01-12The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 148 square meters per square second.1939587897117Sfc1 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
16 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-82 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
953 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
67 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
148 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
253 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.7

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

295 
WFUS1 KLCH 120707 RRA
TORLCH
LAC011-120755-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES LA
105 AM CST MON JAN 12 1998

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN LAKE CHARLES LA HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 155 AM CST
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...

IN SOUTHWESTERN LOUISIANA

   ...BEAUREGARD PARISH

AT 105 AM CST...NEXRAD DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A POSSIBLE TORNADO
5 MILES SOUTHWEST OF DERIDDER MOVING NORTHEAST AT 30 MPH. PEOPLE
IN AND NEAR DERIDDER SHOULD TAKE COVER NOW.

THIS IS A DANGEROUS STORM SITUATION. ACT QUICKLY. GO TO A SMALL
INTERIOR ROOM ON THE LOWEST FLOOR. AVOID WINDOWS AND DOORS. ABANDON
CARS AND MOBILE HOMES FOR A STURDIER BUILDING OR GET INTO A DITCH
OR CULVERT.

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jan 12, 1:23 AM CSTTornado WarningLCHAllen47 min
Jan 12, 1:47 AM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLCHEvangeline33 min
Jan 12, 2:11 AM CSTTornado WarningLCHAllen29 min
Jan 12, 2:25 AM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLCHEvangeline45 min
Jan 12, 2:33 AM CSTFlash Flood WarningLCHAllen, Evangeline117 min
Jan 12, 2:33 AM CSTFlash Flood WarningLCHBeauregard117 min
Jan 12, 2:38 AM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLCHAvoyelles62 min
Jan 12, 3:13 AM CSTTornado WarningLCHEvangeline47 min
Jan 12, 3:53 AM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLCHSaint Landry62 min
Jan 12, 4:29 AM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLCHCalcasieu61 min
Jan 12, 4:52 AM CSTFlash Flood WarningLCHAllen, Evangeline4 hr
Jan 12, 5:33 AM CSTFlash Flood WarningLCHBeauregard4 hr
Jan 12, 5:43 AM CSTFlash Flood WarningLCHSaint Landry2 hr
Jan 12, 7:01 AM CSTFlash Flood WarningLCHCalcasieu, Jefferson Davis119 min
Jan 12, 7:47 AM CSTFlash Flood WarningLCHSaint Landry118 min
Jan 12, 8:11 AM CSTFlash Flood WarningLCHAcadia119 min
Jan 12, 9:02 AM CSTFlash Flood WarningLCHAllen, Evangeline, Jefferson Davis3 hr
Jan 12, 9:02 AM CSTFlash Flood WarningLCHBeauregard, Calcasieu3 hr
Jan 12, 9:50 AM CSTFlash Flood WarningLCHAcadia, Saint Landry2 hr

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Louisiana, 1998Every tornado warning in 1998Tornadoes in 1998

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.