Alert archive / Louisiana / Tornado Warnings in 1998

Tornado Warning 22, NWS Lake Charles, LA

September 11, 1998Jefferson Davis Parish, Louisiana

NWS Lake Charles, LA issued this tornado warning at Sep 11, 1998, 10:53 AM CDT for Jefferson Davis Parish, Louisiana. It was in force for 47 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
Sep 11, 1998, 10:53 AM CDT (15:53 UTC)
Expired
Sep 11, 1998, 11:40 AM CDT
In force
47 min
Issued by
NWS Lake Charles, LA
Area
Whole counties

County Jefferson Davis Parish, LA

The radar

The Lake Charles radar (KLCH), 42 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 15:55 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
Sep 11, 10:55 AM CDTTornado F1Lake Arthur, 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
Sep 11, 4:30 AM CDTTornado WatchSPC9 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Lake Charles Mun, LA (KLCH), launched 12:00Z, 3.9 hours before the alert went out and 41 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 12:00Z on 1998-09-11Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 40 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 12:00Z on 1998-09-11The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 295 square meters per square second.19395878Sfc1 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
40 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-111 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
636 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
24 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
295 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
422 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.3

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KLCH 111553 RRA
TORLCH
LAC053-111640-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES LA
1053 AM CDT FRI SEP 11 1998

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN LAKE CHARLES HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
  JEFFERSON DAVIS PARISH IN SOUTHWESTERN LOUISIANA

* UNTIL 1140 AM CDT

* AT 1049 AM CDT... NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR
  INDICATED A DEVELOPING TORNADO 12 MILES SOUTH OF JENNINGS OR 4
  MILES SOUTHWEST OF LAKE ARTHUR MOVING NORTH AT 35 MPH.

* THE TORNADIC THUNDERSTORM WILL BE NEAR
  LAKE ARTHUR BY 1052 AM CDT
  JENNINGS BY 1105 AM CDT
  WELSH BY 1110 AM CDT
  LACASSINE BY 1113 AM CDT
  HATHAWAY BY 1120 AM CDT

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
Sep 11, 7:24 AM CDTTornado WarningLCHCameron46 min
Sep 11, 1:49 PM CDTFlash Flood WarningLCHCalcasieu, Cameron4 hr
Sep 11, 4:37 PM CDTFlash Flood WarningLCHAcadia, Allen, Beauregard, Jefferson Davis3 hr
Sep 11, 4:37 PM CDTFlash Flood WarningLCHVermilion3 hr
Sep 11, 5:11 PM CDTTornado WarningLCHAcadia64 min
Sep 11, 5:42 PM CDTTornado WarningLCHJefferson Davis43 min
Sep 11, 5:45 PM CDTTornado WarningLCHAllen, Evangeline65 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.