Alert archive / Louisiana / Tornado Watches in 1998

Tornado Watch 88

March 7, 199835 parishes in Louisiana

The Storm Prediction Center issued this tornado watch at Mar 7, 1998, 1:30 PM CST for 35 parishes in Louisiana. It was in force for 6 hr.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued: Mar 7, 1998, 1:30 PM CST (19:30 UTC)
Expired: Mar 7, 1998, 7:00 PM CST
In force: 6 hr
Issued by: the Storm Prediction Center

All 35 counties

Acadia Parish, LA, Allen Parish, LA, Ascension Parish, LA, Assumption Parish, LA, Avoyelles Parish, LA, Beauregard Parish, LA, Calcasieu Parish, LA, Cameron Parish, LA, East Baton Rouge Parish, LA, East Feliciana Parish, LA, Evangeline Parish, LA, Iberia Parish, LA, Iberville Parish, LA, Jefferson Davis Parish, LA, Jefferson Parish, LA, Lafayette Parish, LA, Lafourche Parish, LA, Livingston Parish, LA, Orleans Parish, LA, Pointe Coupee Parish, LA, Saint Charles Parish, LA, Saint Helena Parish, LA, Saint James Parish, LA, Saint John the Baptist Parish, LA, Saint Landry Parish, LA, Saint Martin Parish, LA, Saint Tammany Parish, LA, St. Mary Parish, LA, Tangipahoa Parish, LA, Terrebonne Parish, LA, Vermilion Parish, LA, Vernon Parish, LA, Washington Parish, LA, West Baton Rouge Parish, LA, West Feliciana Parish, LA

The radar

The Lake Charles radar (KLCH), 105 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 19:29 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.

Warnings issued inside it

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Mar 7, 1:50 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	LCH	Allen	45 min
Mar 7, 2:20 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	LCH	Saint Landry	60 min
Mar 7, 2:51 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	LCH	Beauregard	34 min
Mar 7, 2:58 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	LCH	Vernon	47 min
Mar 7, 3:49 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	LCH	Vernon	46 min
Mar 7, 4:14 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	LIX	Assumption	61 min
Mar 7, 4:20 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	LIX	West Feliciana	30 min
Mar 7, 4:46 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	LIX	Saint Charles, Saint John the Baptist	34 min
Mar 7, 5:00 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	LIX	Saint Tammany, Tangipahoa, Washington	35 min
Mar 7, 5:44 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	LIX	Terrebonne	61 min
Mar 7, 6:04 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	LIX	Lafourche, Saint Charles	61 min
Mar 7, 6:07 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	LIX	Ascension, Assumption, Saint James	48 min
Mar 7, 6:58 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	LIX	Saint Tammany	47 min

The nearest sounding before it

Lake Charles Mun, LA (KLCH), launched 12:00Z, 7.5 hours before the alert went out and 104 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: 666 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -108 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 549 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 46 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 201 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 285 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.0
Supercell composite: 3.9

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

401 
WWUS9 KMKC 071853
SEL8  
MKC WW 071853
LAZ000-080100-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
TORNADO WATCH NUMBER 88
STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK
1253 PM CST SAT MAR 7 1998

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

   ALL OF SOUTHERN LOUISIANA                          
   AND ADJACENT COASTAL WATERS

EFFECTIVE THIS SATURDAY AFTERNOON AND EVENING FROM 130 PM UNTIL 700
PM CST.

THIS IS A PARTICULARLY DANGEROUS SITUATION WITH THE POSSIBILITY OF
VERY DAMAGING TORNADOES.  ALSO...LARGE HAIL TO 3 INCHES IN
DIAMETER...THUNDERSTORM WIND GUSTS TO 80 MPH...AND DANGEROUS
LIGHTNING ARE POSSIBLE IN THESE AREAS.

THE TORNADO WATCH AREA IS ALONG AND 65 STATUTE MILES EITHER SIDE OF
A LINE FROM 35 MILES WEST NORTHWEST OF LAKE CHARLES LOUISIANA TO 25
MILES EAST OF NEW ORLEANS LOUISIANA.

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...  CONTINUE...WW 85...WW 86...WW 87...

DISCUSSION...ISOLATED SUPERCELL THUNDERSTORMS DEVELOPING OVER
SOUTHWEST LA WILL TRACK NORTHEASTWARD ACROSS SOUTHERN LA THROUGH
THE EVENING.  STRONG WIND FIELDS...DEGREE OF INSTABILITY ...AND
PROXIMITY OF BOUNDARIES IN THIS REGION SUGGEST THREAT OF LARGE HAIL
AND TORNADOES WITH STRONGEST CELLS.

AVIATION...TORNADOES AND A FEW SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WITH HAIL
SURFACE AND ALOFT TO 3 INCHES.  EXTREME TURBULENCE AND SURFACE WIND
GUSTS TO 70 KNOTS.  A FEW CUMULONIMBI WITH MAXIMUM TOPS TO 500. 
MEAN STORM MOTION VECTOR 24035.

...HART

311,0933 305,0894 290,0895 292,0935

SPC that day

Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Mar 7, 3:45 AM CST	Tornado Watch	SPC	Acadia, Allen, Ascension, Assumption, Avoyelles, Beauregard and 30 more	6 hr
Mar 7, 6:00 AM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Watch	SPC	Caldwell, Catahoula, Concordia, East Carroll, Franklin, LaSalle and 6 more	5 hr
Mar 7, 8:45 AM CST	Tornado Watch	SPC	Bienville, Bossier, Caddo, Claiborne, De Soto, Grant and 8 more	5 hr
Mar 7, 12:30 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Watch	SPC	Caldwell, Catahoula, Concordia, East Carroll, Franklin, LaSalle and 6 more	6 hr
Mar 7, 3:30 PM CST	Tornado Watch	SPC	Avoyelles, Bienville, Caldwell, Catahoula, Concordia, De Soto and 10 more	4 hr

Nearby

Tornado Watches in Louisiana, 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; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.