Alert archive / Louisiana / Tornado Warnings in 1998
Tornado Warning 11, NWS Lake Charles, LA
NWS Lake Charles, LA issued this tornado warning at Feb 10, 1998, 2:34 PM CST for Beauregard Parish, Vernon Parish, Louisiana. It was in force for 66 min. 3 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
- Feb 10, 1998, 2:34 PM CST (20:34 UTC)
- Expired
- Feb 10, 1998, 3:40 PM CST
- In force
- 66 min
- Issued by
- NWS Lake Charles, LA
- Area
- Whole counties
Counties Beauregard Parish, LA, Vernon Parish, LA
The radar
The Ft Polk radar (KPOE), 41 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 20:34 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.
What was reported inside it
| Time | Report | Where | Remark |
|---|---|---|---|
| Feb 10, 2:40 PM CST | Thunderstorm Wind | Merryville, LA | |
| Feb 10, 2:50 PM CST | Thunderstorm Wind | Leesville, LA | |
| Feb 10, 3:03 PM CST | Thunderstorm Wind 61 | Ft Polk, 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Feb 10, 1:00 PM CST | Tornado Watch | SPC | 6 hr |
The nearest sounding before it
Lake Charles Mun, LA (KLCH), launched 12:00Z, 8.6 hours before the alert went out and 85 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
- 380 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -57 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 709 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 47 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 125 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 182 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.2
- Supercell composite
- 1.2
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
000 TTAA00 KLCH 102034 RRA TORLCH LAC011-115-102140- BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED TORNADO WARNING NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES LA 234 PM CST TUE FEB 10 1998 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN LAKE CHARLES LA HAS ISSUED A TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 340 PM CST FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONS... IN SOUTHWESTERN LOUISIANA ...BEAUREGARD PARISH ...VERNON PARISH AT 230 PM...DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A DEVELOPING TORNADO BETWEEN JUNCTION AND ROSEPINE. THESE STORMS HAVE A HISTORY OF TORNADOES IN JASPER AND NEWTON COUNTIES. MOVEMENT WAS NORTHEAST AT 40 MPH. THIS IS A DANGEROUS STORM SITUATION. ACT QUICKLY. GO TO A SMALL INTERIOR ROOM ON THE LOWEST FLOOR. AVOID WINDOWS AND DOORS. ABANDON CdARS AND MOBILE HOMES FOR A STURDIER BUILDING OR GET INTO A DITCH OR CULVERT. ERICKSON
What forecasters said that day
The local office's own words before this tornado warning went out, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.
NWS Lake Charles, LA wrote its last area forecast discussion before this tornado warning went out at Feb 10, 2:19 PM CST, 15 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Feb 10, 2:19 PM CST, 15 minutes before
SOUTHEAST TEXAS..SOUTHWEST AND CENTRAL LOUISIANA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES LA 219 PM CST TUE FEB 10 1998 THINGS ARE REALLY JUMPING AROUND HERE THIS AFTERNOON. SFC LOW HAS BECOME ORGANIZED ACROSS EASTERN TEXAS THIS AFTERNOON WITH ATTENDANT EXTENDING FROM NEAR LFK TO NEAR HOU. COLD FRONT IS EXPECTED TO OUT OF THE FA BY 03Z WITH THE SFC LOW MOVING NORTHEAST INTO AR. WOULD EXPECT SHRA AND TSRA ACTIVITY TO END SHORTLY AFTER FROPA AND AS DRY SLOT OF VIGOROUS 5H S/W MOVES ACROSS THE AREA. THINGS WILL DRY OUT WEDNESDAY INTO THURSDAY AS UPPER FLOW BECOMES SOMEWHAT ZONAL AND HIGH PRESSURE TAKES CONTROL AT THE SFC. LCH 47/64/42/63 6(EARLY)000 LFT 48/63/41/63 6(BEFORE MID)000 AEX 46/60/40/62 6(BEFORE MID)000 BPT 47/65/43/65 6(EARLY)000
In the hours before
Special weather statement, Feb 10, 10:20 AM CST, 4 hours 14 minutes before
LAZ027>033-041>045-051>055-TXZ180>182-201-215-216-101900- SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES LA 1020 AM CST TUE FEB 10 1998 ...TORNADO WATCH IS IN EFFECT UNTIL 400 PM FOR SOUTHEAST TEXAS... ...SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS EXPECTED TO MOVE ACROSS SOUTHWEST... CENTRAL AND SOUTH-CENTRAL LOUISIANA LATE THIS AFTERNOON AND INTO TONIGHT... THE STORM PREDICTION CENTER HAS ISSUED A TORNADO WATCH UNTIL 400 PM FOR THE FOLLOWING COUNTIES IN SOUTHEAST TEXAS: TYLER... JASPER...NEWTON...HARDIN...JEFFERSON AND ORANGE AS WELL AS THE ADJACENT COASTAL WATERS. SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED TO DEVELOP ACROSS SOUTHEAST TEXAS THIS AFTERNOON AS A STRONG UPPER LEVEL DISTURBANCE AND ASSOCIATED COLD FRONT MOVE INTO THE AREA. THE THUNDERSTORMS WILL MOVE INTO SOUTHWEST LOUSIANA BY MID AFTERNOON AND EXIT THE EXTREME SOUTH-CENTRAL PORTION OF LOUISIANA BY MIDNIGHT. THE SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WILL BE CAPABLE OF PRODUCING WIND GUSTS OF 80 MPH...LARGE HAIL AND ISOLATED TORNADOES. RAINFALL AMOUNTS WILL GENERALLY BE AROUND 1 INCH...HOWEVER AMOUNTS OF 3 INCHES WILL BE POSSIBLE. THIS IS A DANGEROUS WEATHER SITUATION. PERSONS IN SOUTHEAST TEXAS... SOUTHERN AND CENTRAL LOUISIANA SHOULD STAY TUNED TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO OR LOCAL TV AND RADIO FOR THE LATEST INFORMATION.
Special weather statement, Feb 10, 10:20 AM CST, 4 hours 14 minutes before
LAZ027>033-041>045-051>055-TXZ180>182-201-215-216-101900- SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES LA 1020 AM CST TUE FEB 10 1998 ...TORNADO WATCH IS IN EFFECT UNTIL 400 PM FOR SOUTHEAST TEXAS... ...SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS EXPECTED TO MOVE ACROSS SOUTHWEST... CENTRAL AND SOUTH-CENTRAL LOUISIANA LATE THIS AFTERNOON AND INTO TONIGHT... THE STORM PREDICTION CENTER HAS ISSUED A TORNADO WATCH UNTIL 400 PM FOR THE FOLLOWING COUNTIES IN SOUTHEAST TEXAS: TYLER... JASPER...NEWTON...HARDIN...JEFFERSON AND ORANGE AS WELL AS THE ADJACENT COASTAL WATERS. SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED TO DEVELOP ACROSS SOUTHEAST TEXAS THIS AFTERNOON AS A STRONG UPPER LEVEL DISTURBANCE AND ASSOCIATED COLD FRONT MOVE INTO THE AREA. THE THUNDERSTORMS WILL MOVE INTO SOUTHWEST LOUSIANA BY MID AFTERNOON AND EXIT THE EXTREME SOUTH-CENTRAL PORTION OF LOUISIANA BY MIDNIGHT. THE SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WILL BE CAPABLE OF PRODUCING WIND GUSTS OF 80 MPH...LARGE HAIL AND ISOLATED TORNADOES. RAINFALL AMOUNTS WILL GENERALLY BE AROUND 1 INCH...HOWEVER AMOUNTS OF 3 INCHES WILL BE POSSIBLE. THIS IS A DANGEROUS WEATHER SITUATION. PERSONS IN SOUTHEAST TEXAS... SOUTHERN AND CENTRAL LOUISIANA SHOULD STAY TUNED TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO OR LOCAL TV AND RADIO FOR THE LATEST INFORMATION.
The office that day
Everything else NWS Lake Charles, LA issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Feb 10, 2:24 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | LCH | Beauregard, Calcasieu, Vernon | 61 min |
| Feb 10, 2:24 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | LCH | Cameron | 61 min |
| Feb 10, 3:06 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | LCH | Allen, Rapides | 64 min |
| Feb 10, 3:25 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | LCH | Calcasieu, Cameron | 60 min |
| Feb 10, 3:55 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | LCH | Jefferson Davis | 45 min |
| Feb 10, 4:11 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | LCH | Allen, Evangeline, Rapides | 39 min |
| Feb 10, 4:30 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | LCH | Cameron | 45 min |
| Feb 10, 4:41 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | LCH | Avoyelles, Saint Landry | 59 min |
| Feb 10, 4:41 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | LCH | Acadia | 59 min |
| Feb 10, 5:10 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | LCH | Vermilion | 60 min |
| Feb 10, 5:24 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | LCH | Lafayette | 46 min |
| Feb 10, 5:42 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | LCH | Acadia, Saint Landry | 33 min |
| Feb 10, 5:59 PM CST | Tornado Warning | LCH | Saint Landry | 36 min |
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.