Alert archive / Louisiana / Tornado Watches in 1998

Tornado Watch 149

March 31, 199812 counties in Arkansas; 16 parishes in Louisiana; 11 counties in Texas

The Storm Prediction Center issued this tornado watch at Mar 31, 1998, 12:00 AM CST for 12 counties in Arkansas; 16 parishes in Louisiana; 11 counties in Texas. It was in force for 4 hr.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued: Mar 31, 1998, 12:00 AM CST (06:00 UTC)
Expired: Mar 31, 1998, 4:00 AM CST
In force: 4 hr
Issued by: the Storm Prediction Center

All 39 counties

Ashley County, AR, Bradley County, AR, Calhoun County, AR, Columbia County, AR, Drew County, AR, Hempstead County, AR, Lafayette County, AR, Little River County, AR, Miller County, AR, Nevada County, AR, Ouachita County, AR, Union County, AR, Bienville Parish, LA, Bossier Parish, LA, Caddo Parish, LA, Claiborne Parish, LA, De Soto Parish, LA, Grant Parish, LA, Jackson Parish, LA, Lincoln Parish, LA, Natchitoches Parish, LA, Ouachita Parish, LA, Red River Parish, LA, Sabine Parish, LA, Union Parish, LA, Vernon Parish, LA, Webster Parish, LA, Winn Parish, LA, Angelina County, TX, Cass County, TX, Harrison County, TX, Marion County, TX, Nacogdoches County, TX, Panola County, TX, Rusk County, TX, Sabine County, TX, San Augustine County, TX, Shelby County, TX, Trinity County, TX

Warnings issued inside it

5 tornado, severe thunderstorm and flash flood warnings for its counties while it was in force.

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Mar 31, 12:03 AM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	SHV	Harrison, Panola	62 min
Mar 31, 12:08 AM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	SHV	Miller	62 min
Mar 31, 12:09 AM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	SHV	Nacogdoches	66 min
Mar 31, 12:58 AM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	SHV	Bossier, Caddo	62 min
Mar 31, 2:03 AM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	SHV	Webster	32 min

The nearest sounding before it

Shreveport, LA (KSHV), launched 00:00Z, 6.0 hours before the alert went out and 42 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-p

Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.

Hodograph

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: 812 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -8 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 1286 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 43 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 131 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 229 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.7
Supercell composite: 4.4

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

993 
WWUS9 KMKC 310535
SEL9  
MKC WW 310535
LAZ000-TXZ000-ARZ000-311000-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
TORNADO WATCH NUMBER 149
STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK
1135 PM CST MON MAR 30 1998

THE STORM PREDICTION CENTER HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WATCH FOR PORTIONS OF

   NORTHERN AND WESTERN LOUISIANA                          
   EAST TEXAS                              
   SOUTHERN ARKANSAS                           

EFFECTIVE THIS TUESDAY MORNING FROM MIDNIGHT CST UNTIL 400 AM CST.

TORNADOES...HAIL TO 1 INCHES IN DIAMETER...THUNDERSTORM WIND GUSTS
TO 80 MPH...AND DANGEROUS LIGHTNING ARE POSSIBLE IN THESE AREAS.

THE TORNADO WATCH AREA IS ALONG AND 80 STATUTE MILES EAST AND WEST
OF A LINE FROM 40 MILES EAST SOUTHEAST OF LUFKIN TEXAS TO 40 MILES
NORTH OF EL DORADO ARKANSAS.

REMEMBER...A TORNADO WATCH MEANS CONDITIONS ARE FAVORABLE FOR
TORNADOES AND SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS IN AND CLOSE TO THE WATCH AREA. 
PERSONS IN THESE AREAS SHOULD BE ON THE LOOKOUT FOR THREATENING
WEATHER CONDITIONS AND LISTEN FOR LATER STATEMENTS AND POSSIBLE
WARNINGS.

OTHER WATCH INFORMATION...THIS TORNADO WATCH REPLACES SEVERE
THUNDERSTORM WATCH NUMBER 146.  WATCH NUMBER 146 WILL NOT BE IN
EFFECT AFTER MIDNIGHT CST.  CONTINUE...WW 147...WW 148...

DISCUSSION...ISOLATED BOW HEAD TORNADOES POSSIBLE THIS MORNING
AS E TX SQUALL LINE CONTINUES EWD INTO MODERATELY UNSTABLE AIR
/CAPE TO 1500/.  TAIL END OF LARGE SCALE UPPER TROF NOW OVER THE
SRN HIGH PLAINS SHOULD BEGIN TO ACCELERATE EWD LATER THIS
MORNING...ENHANCING VERTICAL SHEAR OVER WATCH REGION. 

AVIATION...TORNADOES AND A FEW SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WITH HAIL
SURFACE AND ALOFT TO 1 INCHES.  EXTREME TURBULENCE AND SURFACE WIND
GUSTS TO 70 KNOTS.  A FEW CUMULONIMBI WITH MAXIMUM TOPS TO 450. 
MEAN STORM MOTION VECTOR 23035.

...CORFIDI

310,0952 334,0941 334,0912 310,0924

SPC that day

Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Mar 30, 7:00 PM CST	Tornado Watch	SPC	Benton, Boone, Carroll, Crawford, Franklin, Garland and 17 more	6 hr
Mar 30, 7:15 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Watch	SPC	Little River	6 hr
Mar 30, 11:00 PM CST	Tornado Watch	SPC	Baxter, Boone, Clark, Clay, Cleburne, Cleveland and 36 more	5 hr
Mar 31, 4:00 AM CST	Tornado Watch	SPC	Allen, Avoyelles, Beauregard, Calcasieu, Caldwell, Catahoula and 17 more	5 hr

Nearby

Tornado Watches in Louisiana, 1998 Tornado Watches in Arkansas, 1998 Tornado Watches in Texas, 1998 Every tornado watch 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.