Alert archive / Louisiana / Tornado Warnings in 1999

Tornado Warning 29, NWS Lake Charles, LA

January 29, 1999Rapides Parish, Louisiana

NWS Lake Charles, LA issued this tornado warning at Jan 29, 1999, 5:49 PM CST for Rapides Parish, Louisiana. It was in force for 61 min. No storm report in the archive falls inside the area while it was in force.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Jan 29, 1999, 5:49 PM CST (23:49 UTC)
Expired
Jan 29, 1999, 6:50 PM CST
In force
61 min
Issued by
NWS Lake Charles, LA
Area
Whole counties

County Rapides Parish, LA

The radar

The Ft Polk radar (KPOE), 42 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 23:49 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.

The watch it was issued in

The SPC watch in force over the same counties when this warning went out.

IssuedProductOfficeLasted
Jan 29, 1:15 PM CSTTornado WatchSPC6 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Lake Charles Mun, LA (KLCH), launched 12:00Z, 11.8 hours before the alert went out and 136 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-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Lake Charles Mun, LA at 12:00Z on 1999-01-29Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 708 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°0°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.
HodographHodograph, Lake Charles Mun, LA at 12:00Z on 1999-01-29The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 153 square meters per square second.193958Sfc1 km3 km6 km9 kmRMLM
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
708 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-20 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
648 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
33 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
153 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
229 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.6
Supercell composite
3.9

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

999 
WFUS1 KLCH 292351 RRA
TORLCH
LAC079-300050-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES LA
549 PM CST FRI JAN 29 1999

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN LAKE CHARLES HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
  RAPIDES PARISH IN CENTRAL LOUISIANA

* UNTIL 650 PM CST

* AT 549 PM CST... NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED
  A TORNADO 22 MILES SOUTHWEST OF ALEXANDRIA OR 5 MILES WEST OF
  MELDER MOVING NORTHEAST AT 15 MPH.

* THE TORNADIC THUNDERSTORM WILL BE NEAR
  MELDER BY 555 PM CST
  LECOMPTE BY 640 PM CST

IF YOU ARE CAUGHT IN THE PATH OF A TORNADO...SEEK SHELTER
IN AN INTERIOR ROOM SUCH AS A CLOSET ON THE LOWEST FLOOR. USE
BLANKETS...PILLOWS OR CUSHIONS TO PROTECT YOUR BODY FROM FLYING
DEBRIS.

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.

NWS Lake Charles, LA wrote its last area forecast discussion before this tornado warning went out at Jan 29, 1:51 PM CST, 3 hours 58 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jan 29, 1:51 PM CST, 3 hours 58 minutes before
SOUTHWEST...CENTRAL LOUISIANA AND SOUTHEAST TEXAS FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES LA
151 PM CST FRI JAN 29 1999

TOR WATCH 39 HAS BEEN ISSUED FOR A LARGE PORTION LCH FA. STRONG/SEVERE
CELLS STARTING TO DEVELOP OVER NORTHERN SECTION OF FA NEAR SFC
BOUNDARY. WIND SHEAR AND INSTABILITIES ARE CONDUCIVE FOR ROTATING
CELLS CAPABLE OF PRODUCING ISOLATED TORNADOES. TSRA DEVELOPMENT WILL
CONTINUE THROUGH THE AFTERNOON HOURS INTO THE EVENING.

18Z SFC ANALYSIS INDICATES LOW OVER SOUTH TEXAS WITH TROF AXIS
EXTENDING INTO CENTRAL LOUISIANA. SFC LOW WILL MOVE NE ALONG
BOUNDARY OVER EAST-CENTRAL TEXAS TONIGHT.  STRONG 100 KT JET MAX
AT 300 MB WILL ROTATE AROUND BASE OF UPPER LOW AND ENHANCE CONVECTION
NEAR AND SOUTH OF BOUNDARY ACROSS AREA.

CURRENT FFA CONFIGURATION LOOKS GOOD.  BELIEVE CELLS WILL DEVELOP
NEAR THE COAST AND INTENSIFY AS THEY MOVE NORTH. THEREFORE...
SIGNIFICANT PRECIP SHOULD REMAIN OVER NORTHERN ZONES WHERE CURRENT
WATCH IS LOCATED.  BOTH MODELS INDICATE SIGNIFICANT DRYING BY SAT 12Z.
PRECIP SHOULD BEGIN TO END FROM THE WEST AT THIS TIME.  WILL STILL
HOLD ON TO POPS...MAINLY FOR LOUISIANA ZONES SATURDAY.

12

LCH EB 065/067 048/062 8310
LFT EB 066/070 051/060 7720
AEX EB 064/069 050/056 +320
BPT EB 062/067 047/060 8210

In the hours before

Special weather statement, Jan 29, 3:11 PM CST, 2 hours 38 minutes before
LAZ027>033-041>045-051>055-TXZ180>182-201-215-216-300300-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES LA
311 PM CST FRI JAN 29 1999

...TORNADO WATCH IN EFFECT UNTIL 700 PM FOR SOUTHEAST TEXAS AND
   PORTIONS OF SOUTHERN AND CENTRAL LOUISIANA...

...FLASH FLOOD WATCH IN EFFECT TONIGHT FOR PORTIONS OF SOUTHEAST
   TEXAS AND CENTRAL LOUISIANA...

NUMEROUS SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WILL CONTINUE THIS EVENING
OVER SOUTHEAST TEXAS...CENTRAL AND SOUTHERN LOUISIANA. SOME OF THESE
STORMS MAY BE SEVERE WITH LARGE HAIL...DAMAGING WINDS AND ISOLATED
TORNADOES.  FLASH FLOODING WILL ALSO BE POSSIBLE ACROSS NORTHERN
SECTIONS OF SOUTHEAST TEXAS AND CENTRAL LOUISIANA.

THE THUNDERSTORMS ARE IN RESPONSE TO A SLOW MOVING UPPER LEVEL
DISTURBANCE OVER CENTRAL TEXAS. THIS FEATURE WILL CONTINUE TO SLOWLY
MOVE EASTWARD TONIGHT.  THE THUNDERSTORM ACTIVITY IS EXPECTED TO END
FROM THE WEST SATURDAY MORNING ACROSS SOUTHEAST TEXAS AND SATURDAY
AFTERNOON OVER LOUISIANA.

ACTIVATION OF SKYWARN STORM SPOTTERS IS NEEDED.

A TORNADO WATCH MEANS CONDITIONS ARE FAVORABLE FOR TORNADOES IN AND
NEAR THE WATCH AREA.

RESIDENTS ARE URGED TO STAY TUNED THIS EVENING TO NOAA WEATHER
RADIO...COMMERCIAL TELEVISION OR RADIO FOR LATER STATEMENTS AND
POSSIBLE WARNINGS. ADDITIONAL WEATHER INFORMATION CAN BE OBTAINED AT
OUR WEBSITE AT: WWW.SRH.NOAA.GOV/LCH.
Local storm report, Jan 29, 3:42 PM CST, 2 hours 7 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES LA
342 PM CST FRI JAN 29 1999

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

0247 PM    MAGNOLIA SPRINGS          TX   TORNADO
01/29/99   JASPER                         STRUCTURAL DAMAGE TO
                                          BUILDINGS.

0307 PM    3 N ROGANVILLE            TX   TORNADO
01/29/99   JASPER                         STRUCTURAL DAMAAGE TO
                                          BUILDINGS.
Local storm report, Jan 29, 3:42 PM CST, 2 hours 7 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES LA
342 PM CST FRI JAN 29 1999

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

0247 PM    MAGNOLIA SPRINGS          TX   TORNADO
01/29/99   JASPER                         STRUCTURAL DAMAGE TO
                                          BUILDINGS.

0307 PM    3 N ROGANVILLE            TX   TORNADO
01/29/99   JASPER                         STRUCTURAL DAMAAGE TO
                                          BUILDINGS.
Local storm report, Jan 29, 4:36 PM CST, 1 hour 13 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES LA
436 PM CST FRI JAN 29 1999

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

0140 PM    BALL                      LA   LIGHTNING
01/29/99   RAPIDES                        *** 1 INJ ***
                                          PERSON STRUCK IN THE LEG.
                                          SUSTAINED MINOR INJURIES AND
                                          WAS TRANSPORTED TO THE
                                          HOSPITAL.
Local storm report, Jan 29, 4:58 PM CST, 51 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES LA
458 PM CST FRI JAN 29 1999

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

0231 PM    5 W SPURGER               TX   TORNADO
01/29/99   JASPER                         NUMEROUS TREES DOWN ON
                                          FM 1013. REPORTED BY MEDIA.

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jan 29, 12:48 PM CSTTornado WarningLCHBeauregard62 min
Jan 29, 2:08 PM CSTTornado WarningLCHAllen47 min
Jan 29, 2:17 PM CSTTornado WarningLCHRapides63 min
Jan 29, 4:06 PM CSTFlash Flood WarningLCHRapides, Vernon119 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Louisiana, 1999Every tornado warning in 1999Tornadoes 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; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.