Alert archive / Louisiana / Tornado Warnings in 1998

Tornado Warning 26, NWS Lake Charles, LA

September 12, 1998Allen Parish, Louisiana

NWS Lake Charles, LA issued this tornado warning at Sep 12, 1998, 8:47 AM CDT for Allen Parish, Louisiana. It was in force for 53 min. No storm report in the archive falls inside the area while it was in force.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Sep 12, 1998, 8:47 AM CDT (13:47 UTC)
Expired
Sep 12, 1998, 9:40 AM CDT
In force
53 min
Issued by
NWS Lake Charles, LA
Area
Whole counties

County Allen Parish, LA

The nearest sounding before it

Lake Charles Mun, LA (KLCH), launched 12:00Z, 1.8 hours before the alert went out and 69 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 1998-09-12Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 527 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 1998-09-12The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 145 square meters per square second.193958Sfc1 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
527 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-12 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
744 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
19 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
145 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
171 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.0

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KLCH 121346 RRA
TORLCH
LAC003-121440-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES LA
847 AM CDT SAT SEP 12 1998

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN LAKE CHARLES HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
  ALLEN PARISH IN SOUTHWESTERN LOUISIANA

* UNTIL 940 AM CDT

* AT 837 AM CDT... NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED
  A TORNADO 12 MILES NORTHEAST OF KINDER OR 6 MILES SOUTHWEST OF
  WARD MOVING NORTH AT 40 MPH.

* TORNADO WILL BE NEAR
  WARD  BY 837 AM CDT
  OAKDALE BY 849 AM CDT
  ELIZABETH BY 852 AM CDT


IF YOU ARE CAUGHT IN THE PATH OF A TORNADO...SEEK SHELTER
IN AN INTERIOR ROOM SUCH AS A CLOSET ON THE LOWEST FLOOR. USE
BLANKETS...PILLOWS OR CUHSHIONS TO PROTECT YOUR BODY FROM FLYING
DEBRIS.

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 Sep 12, 2:25 AM CDT, 6 hours 22 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Sep 12, 2:25 AM CDT, 6 hours 22 minutes before
SOUTHEAST TEXAS..SOUTHWEST AND CENTRAL LOUISIANA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES LA
225 AM CDT SAT SEP 12 1998

SFC PLOT SHOWS T.D. FRANCES STILL JUST WNW OF HOUSTON AND MOVING
SLOWLY NNE. WINDS ACROSS THE FA ARE GENERALLY SOUTH AT 10-15 MPH AND
GUSTY WITH SLIGHTLY HIGHER SPEEDS AT THE COAST. 88-D SHOWS RAINBANDS
NOW MOVING OUT OF FA INTO N LA...MS...AND SE LA. LOOKING AT IR LOOP
AND RADAR OUT HGX AND CRP...ONLY WEAK BANDING WITH SCATTERED TSRA
INDICATED IN NW GULF.

ETA AND NGM OFF IN MOVEMENT AND INTENSITY OF T.D. AVN HAS BETTER
SOLUTION...TAKES SYSTEM SLOWLY NORTHWARD INTO N TX. T.D. FRANCES WILL
MOVE NORTHWARD IN FLOW AROUND RIDGE OVER MIDWEST INTO SE STATES. BY
END OF PD...SYSTEM WILL FILL AS RIDGE OVER SE U.S. BEGINS TO BUILD
ACROSS FA. IN THE MEANTIME...FA WILL REMAIN IN DEEP TROPICAL FLOW WITH
PERIODS OF TSRA. WINDS ACROSS THE NW GULF WILL BE SE/S KEEPING COASTAL
FLOODING A PROBLEM AS WATER SLOWLY SUBSIDES. CURRENTLY...TIDES RUNNING
3 TO 4 FEET ABOVE ASTRONOMICAL LEVELS...WITH MANY ROADS STILL CLOSED
IN JEFFERSON COUNTY AND CAMERON PARISH. MINOR FLOODING REPORTED IN
VERMILION AND ST MARY PARISHES.

QPF TOTALS REMAIN IN THE 2 TO 4 INCH CATEGORY ACROSS AREA TODAY.
WITH PREVIOUS HEAVY RAINFALL ON FRIDAY...WILL KEEP FFA UP FOR ENTIRE
FA. WOULD LIKE TO INCLUDE LOCALLY HEAVY RAINFALL POSSIBLE IN ZONES
AND WINDS AT 15 TO 20 MPH AND GUSTY.

WENT A DEGREE OR TWO COOLER THAN MOS GUIDANCE DUE TO CLDS.

13

BPT 85/78/88/78 8664
LCH 85/78/89/77 7754
LFT 85/79/90/76 7754
AEX 84/74/90/75 8654

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Sep 11, 10:16 PM CDTFlash Flood WarningLCHLafayette, Saint Landry3 hr
Sep 12, 9:17 AM CDTTornado WarningLCHLafayette48 min
Sep 12, 9:23 AM CDTTornado WarningLCHVermilion32 min
Sep 12, 11:00 AM CDTFlash Flood WarningLCHCalcasieu2 hr
Sep 12, 1:04 PM CDTTornado WarningLCHRapides61 min
Sep 12, 2:27 PM CDTFlash Flood WarningLCHEvangeline2 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; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive.