Alert archive / Louisiana / Tornado Warnings in 1998
Tornado Warning 7, NWS Lake Charles, LA
NWS Lake Charles, LA issued this tornado warning at Jan 21, 1998, 6:08 PM CST for Beauregard Parish, Vernon Parish, Louisiana. It was in force for 57 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
- Jan 21, 1998, 6:08 PM CST (00:08 UTC)
- Expired
- Jan 21, 1998, 7:05 PM CST
- In force
- 57 min
- Issued by
- NWS Lake Charles, LA
- Area
- Whole counties
Counties Beauregard Parish, LA, Vernon Parish, LA
The radar
The Ft Polk radar (KPOE), 41 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 00:10 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 watch it was issued in
The SPC watch in force over the same counties when this warning went out.
| Issued | Product | Office | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jan 21, 2:15 PM CST | Tornado Watch | SPC | 6 hr |
The nearest sounding before it
Lake Charles Mun, LA (KLCH), launched 00:00Z, 0.1 hours before the alert went out and 85 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
- 1567 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -9 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 528 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 46 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 120 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 168 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 1.3
- Supercell composite
- 6.4
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
676 WFUS1 KLCH 220007 RRA TORLCH LAC011-115-220105- BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED TORNADO WARNING NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES LA 608 PM CST WED JAN 21 1998 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN LAKE CHARLES LA HAS ISSUED A TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 705 PM CST FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONS... IN SOUTHWESTERN LOUISIANA ...BEAUREGARD PARISH ...VERNON PARISH AT 605 PM...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A POSSIBLE TORNADO 4 MILES SOUTHEAST OF NEWTON MOVING NORTHEAST AT 20 MPH. THE STORM AND POSSIBLE TORNADO WILL MOVE ALONG THE BEAUREGARD AND VERNON PARISH LINE AFFECTING AREAS NORTH OF MERRYVILLE NEAR JUNCTION AT THE INTERSECTION OF HIGHWAYS 190 AND 111. LARGE HAIL CAN ALSO BE EXPECTED WITH THIS STORM. DIME SIZE HAIL WAS EARLIER REPORTED IN JASPER COUNTY WITH THIS STORM. A TORNADO WARNING MEANS THAT A TORNADO HAS BEEN SIGHTED OR INDICATED BY RADAR. YOU SHOULD ACT QUICKLY TO PROTECT YOURSELF. GO TO A SMALL INTERIOR ROOM ON THE LOWEST FLOOR OF YOUR HOME. USE BLANKETS OR PILLOWS 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 Jan 21, 2:45 PM CST, 3 hours 23 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Jan 21, 2:45 PM CST, 3 hours 23 minutes before
SOUTHEAST TEXAS..SOUTHWEST AND CENTRAL LOUISIANA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES LA 245 PM CST WED JAN 21 1998 WILL NEED TO MAKE THIS QUICK WITH A TORNADO WATCH BEING ISSUED FOR THE SE TX AND SW LA ZONES. LAST FEW VOLUME SCANS ARE SHOWING CNVTN BECOMING MORE ORGANIZED BETWEEN BPT AND HOU WHERE THE BEST MOISTURE CONVERGENCE AND SURFCACE LI/S OF -4 TO -8 EXIST. THE RAPID DESTABILIZATION IS A DIRECT RESULT OF STRONG MOISTURE CONVECTION AND DAYTIME HEATING...WITH SFC TEMPS IN THE LOWER 70S AND DWPTS IN THE LOWER AND MID 60S. LCH VWP SHOWS SOME TURNING IN THE LOW-LEVELS BETWEEN THE SFC AND 5 KFT. MODIFYING THE 12Z LCH SOUNDING WITH THE 20Z SFC OB PRODUCES A CAPE NEAR 2000 J/KG AND A BEST LI OF -4. IT APPEARS THAT WARM FRONT ALONG SE TX THIS MORNING HAS MORE OR LESS MERGED WITH THE STATIONARY FRONT...LOCATED IN A LINE FROM TXK TO TYR TO CLL. MODELS INDICATE MID/UPPER LEVEL TROF GRADUALLY SHIFTING EASTWARD A VIGOROUS SHORT WAVE ROUNDS THE BASE OF TROF THE NEXT 24H. THIS IN CONJUNCTION WITH A WEAK SUB TROP JET MAX...PWS OF 1.2 TO 1.5...850 MB LOW-LEVEL JET...AND A SLOW MOVING FRONTAL BOUNDARY ALL POINT TO A HEAVY RAINFALL EVENT TONIGHT AND EARLY THURSDAY. QPF AMOUNTS OF 1 TO 2 INCHES LOOK REASONABLE WITH ISOLATED AMOUNTS UP TO 4 INCHES. EXPECT FRONTAL PASSAGE IN SE TX AND SW LA NEAR NOONTIME THURSDAY AND ACROSS S CEN AND E CEN LA LATE IN THE AFTERNOON. 5 BPT 65/66/42/50 +6(EARLY)10 LCH 65/66/42/50 +710 LFT 64/65/45/50 8820 AEX 59/62/40/49 9820
In the hours before
Local storm report, Jan 21, 3:19 PM CST, 2 hours 49 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES LA
319 PM CST WED JAN 21 1998
TIME(CST) .....CITY LOCATION.....STATE ...EVENT/REMARKS...
....COUNTY LOCATION....
248 PM KOUNTZE TX 1.75 INCH HAIL
01/21/98 TYLER
KFDM TV-6 METEOROLOGIST
REPORTED GOLF BALL SIZE
HAIL FROM OBSERVER.
316 PM FRED TX 1.00 INCH HAIL
01/21/98 TYLER PUBLIC REPORTED QUARTER SIZE
HAIL.Local storm report, Jan 21, 3:19 PM CST, 2 hours 49 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT...CORRECTED
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES LA
319 PM CST WED JAN 21 1998
TIME(CST) .....CITY LOCATION.....STATE ...EVENT/REMARKS...
....COUNTY LOCATION....
248 PM KOUNTZE TX 1.75 INCH HAIL
01/21/98 HARDIN
KFDM TV-6 METEOROLOGIST
REPORTED GOLF BALL SIZE
HAIL FROM OBSERVER.
316 PM FRED TX 1.00 INCH HAIL
01/21/98 TYLER PUBLIC REPORTED QUARTER SIZE
HAIL.Local storm report, Jan 21, 3:19 PM CST, 2 hours 49 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES LA
319 PM CST WED JAN 21 1998
TIME(CST) .....CITY LOCATION.....STATE ...EVENT/REMARKS...
....COUNTY LOCATION....
248 PM KOUNTZE TX 1.75 INCH HAIL
01/21/98 TYLER
KFDM TV-6 METEOROLOGIST
REPORTED GOLF BALL SIZE
HAIL FROM OBSERVER.
316 PM FRED TX 1.00 INCH HAIL
01/21/98 TYLER PUBLIC REPORTED QUARTER SIZE
HAIL.Local storm report, Jan 21, 3:19 PM CST, 2 hours 49 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT...CORRECTED
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES LA
319 PM CST WED JAN 21 1998
TIME(CST) .....CITY LOCATION.....STATE ...EVENT/REMARKS...
....COUNTY LOCATION....
248 PM KOUNTZE TX 1.75 INCH HAIL
01/21/98 HARDIN
KFDM TV-6 METEOROLOGIST
REPORTED GOLF BALL SIZE
HAIL FROM OBSERVER.
316 PM FRED TX 1.00 INCH HAIL
01/21/98 TYLER PUBLIC REPORTED QUARTER SIZE
HAIL.The office that day
Everything else NWS Lake Charles, LA issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan 21, 8:55 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | LCH | Calcasieu | 35 min |
| Jan 21, 9:23 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | LCH | Beauregard | 62 min |
| Jan 21, 9:38 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | LCH | Allen | 62 min |
| Jan 21, 9:47 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | LCH | Jefferson Davis | 63 min |
| Jan 21, 10:24 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | LCH | Avoyelles | 46 min |
| Jan 21, 10:25 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | LCH | Beauregard | 65 min |
| Jan 21, 11:01 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | LCH | Calcasieu, Cameron | 64 min |
| Jan 21, 11:14 PM CST | Flash Flood Warning | LCH | Beauregard | 2 hr |
| Jan 21, 11:31 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | LCH | Allen, Jefferson Davis | 64 min |
| Jan 21, 11:50 PM CST | Flash Flood Warning | LCH | Calcasieu | 2 hr |
| Jan 22, 12:06 AM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | LCH | Calcasieu, Cameron | 64 min |
| Jan 22, 1:08 AM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | LCH | Jefferson Davis | 47 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; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.