Alert archive / Louisiana / Tornado Watches in 1998

Tornado Watch 89

March 7, 199816 parishes in Louisiana; 6 counties in Mississippi

The Storm Prediction Center issued this tornado watch at Mar 7, 1998, 3:30 PM CST for 16 parishes in Louisiana; 6 counties in Mississippi. It was in force for 4 hr.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued: Mar 7, 1998, 3:30 PM CST (21:30 UTC)
Expired: Mar 7, 1998, 7:00 PM CST
In force: 4 hr
Issued by: the Storm Prediction Center

All 22 counties

Avoyelles Parish, LA, Bienville Parish, LA, Caldwell Parish, LA, Catahoula Parish, LA, Concordia Parish, LA, De Soto Parish, LA, Franklin Parish, LA, Grant Parish, LA, Jackson Parish, LA, LaSalle Parish, LA, Natchitoches Parish, LA, Rapides Parish, LA, Red River Parish, LA, Sabine Parish, LA, Tensas Parish, LA, Winn Parish, LA, Adams County, MS, Amite County, MS, Claiborne County, MS, Franklin County, MS, Jefferson County, MS, Wilkinson County, MS

Warnings issued inside it

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Mar 7, 4:13 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	JAN	Concordia	47 min
Mar 7, 4:20 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	LIX	Wilkinson	30 min
Mar 7, 5:46 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	SHV	Sabine	49 min

The nearest sounding before it

Shreveport, LA (KSHV), launched 12:00Z, 9.5 hours before the alert went out and 128 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: 0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: No buoyant parcel
Mixed-layer LCL: 472 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 66 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 226 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 292 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.0
Supercell composite: 0.4

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

121 
WWUS9 KMKC 072105
SEL9  
MKC WW 072105
LAZ000-MSZ000-080100-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
TORNADO WATCH NUMBER 89
STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK
305 PM CST SAT MAR 7 1998

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

   NORTHERN LOUISIANA                          
   WESTERN MISSISSIPPI                        

EFFECTIVE THIS SATURDAY AFTERNOON AND EVENING FROM 330 PM UNTIL 700
PM CST.

TORNADOES...HAIL TO 2 INCHES IN DIAMETER...THUNDERSTORM WIND GUSTS
TO 70 MPH...AND DANGEROUS LIGHTNING ARE POSSIBLE IN THESE AREAS.

THE TORNADO WATCH AREA IS ALONG AND 45 STATUTE MILES NORTH AND
SOUTH OF A LINE FROM 40 MILES SOUTH OF SHREVEPORT LOUISIANA TO 35
MILES EAST OF NATCHEZ MISSISSIPPI.

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 87.  WATCH NUMBER 87 WILL NOT BE IN
EFFECT AFTER 330 PM CST.  CONTINUE...WW 88...

DISCUSSION...INTENSE THUNDERSTORMS ARE LIFTING NWD ACROSS SOUTHERN
LA. CELL OVER VERNON PARIISH IS EXHIBITING SUPERCELL
CHARACTERISTICS. POTENTIAL FOR LARGE HAIL AND ISOLATED TORNADOES
WILL SPREAD INTO NRN LA AND WESTERN MS DURING THE NEXT FEW HOURS.

AVIATION...TORNADOES AND A FEW SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WITH HAIL
SURFACE AND ALOFT TO 2 INCHES.  EXTREME TURBULENCE AND SURFACE WIND
GUSTS TO 60 KNOTS.  A FEW CUMULONIMBI WITH MAXIMUM TOPS TO 450. 
MEAN STORM MOTION VECTOR 22030.


...VESCIO

323,0934 321,0904 305,0904 311,0934

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, 1:30 PM CST	Tornado Watch	SPC	Acadia, Allen, Ascension, Assumption, Avoyelles, Beauregard and 29 more	6 hr

Nearby

Tornado Watches in Louisiana, 1998 Tornado Watches in Mississippi, 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.