Alert archive / Louisiana / Tornado Warnings in 1998

Tornado Warning 27, NWS Lake Charles, LA

September 12, 1998Lafayette Parish, Louisiana

NWS Lake Charles, LA issued this tornado warning at Sep 12, 1998, 9:17 AM CDT for Lafayette Parish, Louisiana. It was in force for 48 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, 9:17 AM CDT (14:17 UTC)
Expired
Sep 12, 1998, 10:05 AM CDT
In force
48 min
Issued by
NWS Lake Charles, LA
Area
Whole counties

County Lafayette Parish, LA

The radar

The Lake Charles radar (KLCH), 111 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 14:18 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.

The nearest sounding before it

Lake Charles Mun, LA (KLCH), launched 12:00Z, 2.3 hours before the alert went out and 110 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°0°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 121417 RRA
TORLCH
LAC055-121505-

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

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN LAKE CHARLES HAS ISSUED A

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

* UNTIL 1005 AM CDT

* AT 914 AM CDT... SPOTTERS REPORTED A TORNADO 7 MILES NORTHWEST OF
  LAFAYETTE OR NEAR RIDGELLA MOVING NORTH AT 35 MPH.

* TORNADO WILL BE NEAR
  SCOTT    BY 920 AM CDT
  CARENCRO BY 920 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 CUSHIONS TO PROTECT YOUR BODY FROM FLYING
DEBRIS.

&

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, 8:47 AM CDTTornado WarningLCHAllen53 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; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.