Alert archive / Louisiana / Tornado Warnings in 1999

Tornado Warning 29, NWS Jackson, MS

January 21, 1999Catahoula Parish, Louisiana

NWS Jackson, MS issued this tornado warning at Jan 21, 1999, 9:55 PM CST for Catahoula Parish, Louisiana. It was in force for 50 min. 1 report came from inside the area while it was in force.

The area

The counties it named, with what was reported inside it.

The facts

Issued: Jan 21, 1999, 9:55 PM CST (03:55 UTC)
Expired: Jan 21, 1999, 10:45 PM CST
In force: 50 min
Issued by: NWS Jackson, MS
Area: Whole counties

County Catahoula Parish, LA

The radar

The Ft Polk radar (KPOE), 121 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 03:59 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.

What was reported inside it

Time	Report	Where	Remark
Jan 21, 10:00 PM CST	Tornado F1	Harrisonburg, LA	One house received minor structural damage and one storage shed was damaged. A thirty foot tall antenna was blown down and approximately ten trees were uprooted.

NCEI Storm Data entries that began inside the alert's area while it was in force. Before 2003 the local storm report archive is thin, so this is the record of what happened rather than what was phoned in.

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, 8:30 PM CST	Tornado Watch	SPC	7 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Jackson, MS (KJAN), launched 00:00Z, 3.9 hours before the alert went out and 182 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: 957 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -9 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 1350 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 43 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 156 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 263 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.6
Supercell composite: 4.8

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KJAN 220355 RRA
TORJAN
LAC025-220445-

BULLETIN- EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE JACKSON MS
955 PM CST THU JAN 21 1999

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN JACKSON HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
  CATAHOULA PARISH IN NORTHEASTERN LOUISIANA

* UNTIL 1045 PM CST

* AT 953 PM CST... RADAR INDICATED A TORNADO 17 MILES SOUTHWEST OF
  HARRISONBURG... MOVING NORTHEAST AT 50 MPH.

* SOME LOCATIONS IN THE PATH OF THIS DANGEROUS STORM INhCLUDE...
  HARRISONBURG AT 1010 PM CST
  SICILY ISLAND AT 1025 PM CST

IF YOU ARE IN A MULTIPLE STORY BUILDING...GO TO A SMALL INTERIOR
ROOM AWAY FROM WINDOWS.

67

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.

In the hours before

Local storm report, Jan 21, 9:40 PM CST, 15 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE JACKSON MS
1040 PM CDT THU JAN 21 1999

TIME(CDT)  .....CITY LOCATION..... STATE  ...EVENT/REMARKS...
           ....PARISH/COUNTY LOCATION....

0316 PM    CLEVELAND                 MS   TORNADO
01/21/99   BOLIVAR                        PILOT REPORTED TORNADO 5
                                          MILES NORTHWEST OF
                                          CLEVELAND.

0316 PM    CLEVELAND                 MS   TORNADO
01/21/99   BOLIVAR                        TRAILER OVER TURNED DAMAGE
                                          AND DEBRIS. ROOF TORN OFF
                                          A SHOP WITH A TRACTOR
                                          FLIPPED OVER ON A FARM.

0755 PM                              AR   1.75 INCH HAIL
01/21/99   CHICOT                         GOLFBALL SIZE HAIL AT LAKE
                                          VILLAGE.

8903 PM
01/21/99   CHICOT                    AR   TORNADO NEAR LAKE VILLAGE.

0820 PM                              MS   1.75 INCH HAIL
01/21/99   WASHINGTON                     GOLF BALL SIZE HAIL AT
                                          METCALFE.

0830 PM                              AR   2.75 INCH HAIL
01/21/99   CHICOT                         BASEBALL SIZE HAIL AT LAKE
                                          VILLAGE.

0907 PM    AIMWELL                   LA   TORNADO TOUCH DOWN NEAR
01/21/99   CATAHOULA                      AIMWELL...WEST OF
                                          HARRISBURG.

0928 PM    SHAW                      MS   TORNADO TOUCH DOWN BETWEEN
01/21/99   BOLIVAR                        INDIANOLA AND SHAW.

0934 PM    SHAW                      MS   TORNADO ON GROUND.
01/21/99   BOLIVAR                        TORNADO.

0959 PM                              LA   TORNADO
01/21/99   CATAHOULA                      TORNADO...POWERLINES AND
                                          TREES DOWN.

1033 PM    HOLLANDALE                MS   TORNADO
01/21/99   WASHINGTON                     TORNADO REPORTED 2 MILES
                                          SW OF HOLLANDALE.

The office that day

Everything else NWS Jackson, MS issued on the same UTC day.

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Jan 21, 6:33 PM CST	Tornado Warning	JAN	Morehouse	47 min
Jan 21, 7:07 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	JAN	Richland	48 min
Jan 21, 7:32 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	JAN	Franklin	48 min
Jan 21, 7:35 PM CST	Tornado Warning	JAN	West Carroll	50 min
Jan 21, 8:03 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	JAN	Catahoula	32 min
Jan 21, 8:12 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	JAN	East Carroll	48 min
Jan 21, 8:47 PM CST	Tornado Warning	JAN	Franklin	48 min
Jan 21, 8:55 PM CST	Tornado Warning	JAN	Catahoula	50 min
Jan 21, 9:21 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	JAN	East Carroll	49 min
Jan 21, 9:30 PM CST	Tornado Warning	JAN	Franklin	35 min
Jan 21, 9:42 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	JAN	Tensas	48 min
Jan 21, 9:49 PM CST	Tornado Warning	JAN	East Carroll	46 min
Jan 21, 10:00 PM CST	Tornado Warning	JAN	Tensas	50 min
Jan 21, 10:09 PM CST	Tornado Warning	JAN	Madison	51 min
Jan 21, 10:36 PM CST	Tornado Warning	JAN	Franklin	49 min
Jan 21, 11:12 PM CST	Tornado Warning	JAN	Madison	48 min
Jan 22, 6:53 AM CST	Tornado Warning	JAN	Morehouse	47 min
Jan 22, 7:33 AM CST	Tornado Warning	JAN	West Carroll	37 min
Jan 22, 7:40 AM CST	Tornado Warning	JAN	Morehouse	40 min
Jan 22, 11:51 AM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	JAN	Catahoula, Concordia	49 min
Jan 22, 12:10 PM CST	Tornado Warning	JAN	Catahoula	50 min
Jan 22, 12:39 PM CST	Tornado Warning	JAN	Tensas	46 min
Jan 22, 12:48 PM CST	Tornado Warning	JAN	Concordia	47 min
Jan 22, 1:12 PM CST	Tornado Warning	JAN	Madison	48 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Louisiana, 1999 Every tornado warning in 1999 Tornadoes in 1999

Sources

The product and its follow-ups from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service and Storm Prediction Center text; verification from NCEI's Storm Data; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.