Alert archive / Louisiana / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1999

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 9, NWS Lake Charles, LA

January 22, 1999Saint Landry Parish, Louisiana

NWS Lake Charles, LA issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Jan 22, 1999, 1:44 PM CST for Saint Landry Parish, Louisiana. It was in force for 61 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 22, 1999, 1:44 PM CST (19:44 UTC)
Expired: Jan 22, 1999, 2:45 PM CST
In force: 61 min
Issued by: NWS Lake Charles, LA
Area: Whole counties

County Saint Landry Parish, LA

The radar

The Ft Polk radar (KPOE), 111 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 19:46 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 22, 2:00 PM CST	Hail 0.75	Opelousas, LA

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 22, 9:45 AM CST	Tornado Watch	SPC	6 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Lake Charles Mun, LA (KLCH), launched 12:00Z, 7.7 hours before the alert went out and 126 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: 2024 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -7 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 561 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 58 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 214 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 249 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 1.9
Supercell composite: 9.8

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KLCH 221943
SVRLCH
LAC097-222045-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES LA
144 PM CST FRI JAN 22 1999

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN LAKE CHARLES HAS ISSUED A

* SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING FOR...
  ST. LANDRY PARISH IN SOUTH CENTRAL LOUISIANA

* UNTIL 245 PM CST

* AT 1340 PM CST... NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED
  A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM LOCATED 15 MILES SOUTHWEST OF OPELOUSAS.
  THIS STORM WILL MOVE RAPIDLY TOWARDS THE NORTHEAST.

* THE SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WILL BE NEAR...
  OPELOUSAS BY 150 PM CST
  LEBEAU    BY 200 PM CST

A TORNADO WATCH IS ALSO IN EFFECT FOR THE WARNED AREA.
REMEMBER...SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS CAN AND OCCASIONALLY DO PRODUCE
TORNADOES WITH LITTLE OR NO ADVANCE WARNING. IF A TORNADO
APPROACHES YOUR AREA...REMAIN CALM...MOVE TO A SMALL INTERIOR
ROOM ON THE LOWEST FLOOR OF YOUR HOME OR BUSINESS...SUCH AS A
BATHROOM OR CLOSET. PROTECT YOURSELF FROM FLYING DEBRIS WITH
BLANKETS OR PILLOWS.

K. KUYPER

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before this severe thunderstorm 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 severe thunderstorm warning went out at Jan 22, 9:50 AM CST, 3 hours 54 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jan 22, 9:50 AM CST, 3 hours 54 minutes before

SOUTHWEST...CENTRAL LOUISIANA AND SOUTHEAST TEXAS FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES LA
950 AM CST FRI JAN 22 1999

BUSY MORNING ACROSS LCH FA...PER SPS TORNADO WATCH 30 IN EFFECT
UNTIL 22Z (400 PM) FOR ALL OF SOUTH/CENTRAL LA AND ADJACENT COASTAL
WATERS. 88-D SHOWING WEAKER BAND OF TSRA MOVING OUT OF FA WITH NEXT
LINE OF STRONG TSRA DEVELOPING OVER TYLER...HARDIN...AND JEFFERSON
COUNTIES. 12Z LCH SOUNDING SHOWING LI AT -10...LLVL JET CONTINUES TO
PUMP COPIOUS AMOUNTS OF MSTR INTO LA...PW NR 1.6. VWP INDICATING
UNIDIRECTIONAL SHEAR WITH LLVL JET NR 50 KT AT 1K FT. IR LOOP SHOWS
UPPER LVL LOW OVER CENTRAL TX. AS JET MAX  ROTATES ACROSS MODERATELY
UNSTABLE AIRMASS THIS MORNING AND AFTERNOON...EXPECT TO SEE OUTBREAK
OF SVR WEATHER.

FOR SE TX...NEED TO UPDATE ZONES TO TAKE OUT EXPIRED WW. SEND CHANGES
IN WORK ZONES SHORTLY.

FOR LA...NEED TOR WATCH.

13

In the hours before

Local storm report, Jan 22, 10:52 AM CST, 2 hours 52 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES LA
1052 AM CST FRI JAN 22 1999

TIME(CST)  .....CITY LOCATION.....STATE   ...EVENT/REMARKS...
           ....COUNTY LOCATION....

1030 AM    S OF SALEM                TX   TORNADO
01/22/99   NEWTON

1040 AM    EVANS                     LA   TORNADO
01/22/99   VERNON

Local storm report, Jan 22, 11:03 AM CST, 2 hours 41 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES LA
1103 AM CST FRI JAN 22 1999

TIME(CST)  .....CITY LOCATION.....STATE   ...EVENT/REMARKS...
           ....COUNTY LOCATION....

1102 AM    NORTH OF LEESVILLE       LA      1.75 INCH HAIL
01/22/99   VERNON

Local storm report, Jan 22, 11:03 AM CST, 2 hours 41 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES LA
1103 AM CST FRI JAN 22 1999

TIME(CST)  .....CITY LOCATION.....STATE   ...EVENT/REMARKS...
           ....COUNTY LOCATION....

1102 AM    NORTH OF LEESVILLE       LA      1.75 INCH HAIL
01/22/99   VERNON

The office that day

Everything else NWS Lake Charles, LA issued on the same UTC day.

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Jan 21, 7:48 PM CST	Tornado Warning	LCH	Rapides	47 min
Jan 22, 10:26 AM CST	Tornado Warning	LCH	Beauregard, Vernon	64 min
Jan 22, 11:31 AM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	LCH	Rapides, Vernon	64 min
Jan 22, 11:37 AM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	LCH	Avoyelles	63 min
Jan 22, 12:27 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	LCH	Saint Landry	63 min
Jan 22, 1:00 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	LCH	Acadia	65 min
Jan 22, 2:36 PM CST	Tornado Warning	LCH	Lafayette	64 min
Jan 22, 2:58 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	LCH	Iberia	62 min
Jan 22, 5:09 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	LCH	St. Mary	61 min

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Louisiana, 1999 Every severe thunderstorm warning 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.