Alert archive / Louisiana / Tornado Warnings in 1998
Tornado Warning 18, NWS Lake Charles, LA
NWS Lake Charles, LA issued this tornado warning at Mar 16, 1998, 1:56 PM CST for Calcasieu Parish, Louisiana. It was in force for 34 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 16, 1998, 1:56 PM CST (19:56 UTC)
- Expired
- Mar 16, 1998, 2:30 PM CST
- In force
- 34 min
- Issued by
- NWS Lake Charles, LA
- Area
- Whole counties
County Calcasieu Parish, LA
The radar
The Lake Charles radar (KLCH), 18 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 19:56 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 16, 2:00 PM CST | Thunderstorm Wind | Sulphur, 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 nearest sounding before it
Lake Charles Mun, LA (KLCH), launched 12:00Z, 7.9 hours before the alert went out and 19 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
- 0 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- No buoyant parcel
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 601 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 47 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 297 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 453 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- -0.0
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
822 WFUS1 KLCH 161957 RRA TORLCH LAC019-162030- BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED TORNADO WARNING NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES LA 156 PM CST MON MAR 16 1998 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN LAKE CHARLES LA HAS ISSUED A TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 230 PM CST FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION... IN SOUTHWESTERN LOUISIANA ...CALCASIEU PARISH AT 155 PM CST...NATIONAL WEATHER SEVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A DEVELOPING TORNADO 6 MILES NORTHWEST OF SULPHUR MOVING NORTHEAST AT 35 MPH. PEOPLE BETWEEN DEQUINCY AND SULPHUR 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.
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 16, 1:15 PM CST, 41 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Mar 16, 1:15 PM CST, 41 minutes before
SOUTHEAST TEXAS..SOUTHWEST AND CENTRAL LOUISIANA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES LA 115 PM CST MON MAR 16 1998 FIRST ROUND OF HEAVY RAIN IS HALFWAY THROUGH CWA...MOVING OUT OF SE TX COUNTIES. THEREFORE...WOULD LIKE TO DISCONTINUE THE FLASH FLOOD WATCH FOR SE TX ZONES...HARDIN...TYLER...JASPER...NEWTON...ORANGE... AND JEFFERSON. WOULD ALSO LIKE TO DISCONTINUE COASTAL FLOOD WATCH AS SEAS WILL COME DOWN TONIGHT. RADAR AND SFC REPORTS OF PRECIP ARE RUNNING 2 INCHES OR LESS...SO ATTM...DONT WANT A FFA FOR LA ZONES TONIGHT. ANY LOCALIZED FLOODING CAN BE HANDLED WITH FFS/FFW IF NECESSARY. LOW IS LIFTING N/NE FROM N TX INTO OK. LOOKS LIKE TUESDAY WILL TURN INTO AT LEAST A PARTLY SUNNY DAY...AND WARM. WITH HIGH TEMPS/DEW POINTS ...IT WOULDNT TAKE MUCH TO GET SCATTERED CONVECTION TUESDAY. FOR TX ZONES...SHWRS/TSTMS ENDING BEFORE MIDNIGHT TONIGHT. LCH AND LFT NEED TO BE SPLIT BECAUSE LCH WILL HAVE STORMS ENDING BEFORE MIDNIGHT ...BUT LFT COULD CONTINUE LATER...AS WELL AS AEX AREA. 15 BPT 60/78/60/80 4312 LCH 60/78/60/78 4312 LFT 60/77/60/78 8312 AEX 58/75/58/76 8212
The office that day
Everything else NWS Lake Charles, LA issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mar 16, 2:08 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | LCH | Beauregard | 32 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.