Alert archive / Louisiana / Tornado Warnings in 1998
Tornado Warning 16, NWS Lake Charles, LA
NWS Lake Charles, LA issued this tornado warning at Mar 6, 1998, 1:22 PM CST for Vermilion Parish, Louisiana. It was in force for 63 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
- Mar 6, 1998, 1:22 PM CST (19:22 UTC)
- Expired
- Mar 6, 1998, 2:25 PM CST
- In force
- 63 min
- Issued by
- NWS Lake Charles, LA
- Area
- Whole counties
County Vermilion Parish, LA
The radar
The Lake Charles radar (KLCH), 95 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 19:24 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mar 6, 1:50 PM CST | Hail 1.75 | Abbeville, 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mar 6, 1:20 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Watch | SPC | 5 hr |
The nearest sounding before it
Lake Charles Mun, LA (KLCH), launched 12:00Z, 7.4 hours before the alert went out and 93 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
- 445 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -31 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 547 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 39 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 20 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 146 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 0.3
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
971 WFUS1 KLCH 061920 RRA TORLCH LAC113-062025- BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED TORNADO WARNING NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES LA 122 PM CST FRI MAR 6 1998 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN LAKE CHARLES LA HAS ISSUED A TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 225 PM CST FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION... IN SOUTHWESTERN LOUISIANA ...VERMILION PARISH AT 118 PM CST...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A DEVELOPING TORNADO 5 MILES WEST OF KAPLAN. MOVEMENT WAS EAST AT 20 MPH. THE COMMUNTIES OF KAPLAN...ABBEVILLE...ERATH...AND DELCAMBRE ARE IN THE PATH OF THIS STORM. THIS STORM PRODUCED GOLFBALL SIZED HAIL AS IT MOVED THROUGH LAKE ARTHUR.
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 Mar 6, 9:30 AM CST, 3 hours 52 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Mar 6, 9:30 AM CST, 3 hours 52 minutes before
SOUTHEAST TEXAS..SOUTHWEST AND CENTRAL LOUISIANA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES LA 930 AM CST FRI MAR 6 1998 IR AND VIS SAT LOOP SHOWING CONSIDERABLE MID/HIGH LEVEL CLOUDS ABOVE FOG AND LOW CLOUDS. ISOLATED STRONG TSTM OCCURRING OFFSHORE 25 MILES S OF HIGH ISLAND. NEARLY STATIONARY FRONT LOCATED JUST N OF BPT TO LEESVILLE TO NEAR AEX. ALONG AND S OF FRONT AIRMASS IS MOIST AND UNSTABLE WITH MODIFIED 12Z LCH SOUNDING SHOWING LI OF -6 AND CAPE OF 1200. MOISTURE DEPTH IS LACKING WITH DRY LAYER ABOVE SHALLOW MOIST LAYER...THEREFORE EXPECT WIDELY SCT/SCT SHOWERS AND TSTMS THIS AFT...SOME OF WHICH MAY BE STRONG TO SVR. BEST CHC SVR WILL COME LATE TONIGHT AND SAT WITH APPROACH OF MID/UPPER LEVEL TROF. FOR UPDATED ZONES...SUGGEST MENTIONING TSTMS FOR COASTAL SE TX ZONES AND RAISING POPS TO 30 PERCENT AND CHANGING WINDS TO SE. CAN DROP DENSE FOG ADVISORY AREAWIDE. FOR LA ZONES...CHG AFT CLOUDS TO M CLOUDY. 1
In the hours before
Local storm report, Mar 6, 12:38 PM CST, 44 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES LA
1238 PM CST FRI MAR 6 1998
TIME(CST) .....CITY LOCATION.....STATE ...EVENT/REMARKS...
....COUNTY LOCATION....
1225 PM LAFAYETTE LA 0.75 INCH HAIL
03/06/98 LAFAYETTE REPORTED BY SKYWARN SPOTTERS
ERICKSONLocal storm report, Mar 6, 12:38 PM CST, 44 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES LA
1238 PM CST FRI MAR 6 1998
TIME(CST) .....CITY LOCATION.....STATE ...EVENT/REMARKS...
....COUNTY LOCATION....
1225 PM LAFAYETTE LA 0.75 INCH HAIL
03/06/98 LAFAYETTE REPORTED BY SKYWARN SPOTTERS
ERICKSONLocal storm report, Mar 6, 12:43 PM CST, 39 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES LA
1243 PM CST FRI MAR 6 1998
TIME(CST) .....CITY LOCATION.....STATE ...EVENT/REMARKS...
....COUNTY LOCATION....
1240 PM LAKE ARTHUR LA 1.00 INCH HAIL
03/06/98 JEFFERSON DAVIS REPORTED BY POLICE DEPT
ERICKSONLocal storm report, Mar 6, 12:43 PM CST, 39 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES LA
1243 PM CST FRI MAR 6 1998
TIME(CST) .....CITY LOCATION.....STATE ...EVENT/REMARKS...
....COUNTY LOCATION....
1240 PM LAKE ARTHUR LA 1.00 INCH HAIL
03/06/98 JEFFERSON DAVIS REPORTED BY POLICE DEPT
ERICKSONLocal storm report, Mar 6, 12:52 PM CST, 30 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES LA
1252 PM CST FRI MAR 6 1998
TIME(CST) .....CITY LOCATION.....STATE ...EVENT/REMARKS...
....COUNTY LOCATION....
1245 PM LAFAYETTE LA 0.75 INCH HAIL
03/06/98 LAFAYETTE REPORTED BY BALL TEAM
ERICKSONLocal storm report, Mar 6, 12:52 PM CST, 30 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES LA
1252 PM CST FRI MAR 6 1998
TIME(CST) .....CITY LOCATION.....STATE ...EVENT/REMARKS...
....COUNTY LOCATION....
1245 PM LAFAYETTE LA 0.75 INCH HAIL
03/06/98 LAFAYETTE REPORTED BY BALL TEAM
ERICKSONThe office that day
Everything else NWS Lake Charles, LA issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mar 6, 12:31 PM CST | Tornado Warning | LCH | Vermilion | 49 min |
| Mar 6, 12:39 PM CST | Tornado Warning | LCH | Lafayette, Saint Martin | 61 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.