Alert archive / Louisiana / Tornado Warnings in 1999

Tornado Warning 36, NWS Lake Charles, LA

March 2, 1999Calcasieu Parish, Louisiana

NWS Lake Charles, LA issued this tornado warning at Mar 2, 1999, 8:03 PM CST for Calcasieu Parish, Louisiana. It was in force for 47 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: Mar 2, 1999, 8:03 PM CST (02:03 UTC)
Expired: Mar 2, 1999, 8:50 PM CST
In force: 47 min
Issued by: NWS Lake Charles, LA
Area: Whole counties

County Calcasieu Parish, LA

The radar

The Lake Charles radar (KLCH), 18 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 02:06 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
Mar 2, 8:08 PM CST	Hail 0.75	Sulphur, 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
Mar 2, 4:30 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Watch	SPC	6 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Lake Charles Mun, LA (KLCH), launched 00:00Z, 2.1 hours before the alert went out and 19 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: 2326 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -18 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 553 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 38 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 198 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 259 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 2.6
Supercell composite: 15.0

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

999 
WFUS1 KLCH 030205 RRA
TORLCH
LAC019-030250-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES LA
803 PM CST TUE MAR 2 1999

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN LAKE CHARLES HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
  CALCASIEU PARISH IN SOUTHWESTERN LOUISIANA

* UNTIL 850 PM CST

* AT 800 PM CST... NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED
  A TORNADO 17 MILES NORTHWEST OF LAKE CHARLES MOVING SOUTHEAST AT
  25 MPH.

* THE TORNADIC THUNDERSTORM WILL BE NEAR
  SULPHUR BY 810 PM CST
  WESTLAKE AT 815 PM CST
  LAKE CHARLES BY 820 PM CST

THIS IS A DANGEROUS STORM SITUATION. ACT QUICKLY. GO TO A
SMALL INTERIOR ROOM ON THE LOWEST FLOOR. AVOID WINDOWS AND
DOORS. ABANDON CARS AND MOBILE HOMES FOR A STURDIER BUILDING
OR GET INTO A DITCH OR CULVERT.

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 Mar 2, 7:37 PM CST, 26 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Mar 2, 7:37 PM CST, 26 minutes before

SOUTHWEST...CENTRAL LOUISIANA AND SOUTHEAST TEXAS FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES LA
737 PM CST TUE MAR 2 1999

LINE OF STORMS PRODUCING LARGE HAIL AND FEW TORNADOES NOW EXITING SE
TX ZONES. FORECAST WILL BE UPDATED BASED ON MOVEMENT OF FRONTAL
BOUNDARY AND ASSOCIATED WATCHES WARNINGS AND WEATHER. 8

In the hours before

Local storm report, Mar 2, 5:45 PM CST, 2 hours 18 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES LA
545 PM CST TUE MAR 2 1999

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

0545 PM    7 SW BURKEVILLE           TX   1.50 INCH HAIL
03/02/99   NEWTON

Local storm report, Mar 2, 6:19 PM CST, 1 hour 44 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES LA
619 PM CST TUE MAR 2 1999

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

0612 PM    5 W BURKEVILLE            TX   TORNADO
03/02/99   NEWTON                         SHERIFF REPORTE VISUAL
                                          SIGHTING OF TORNADO AND MANY
                                          TREES BLOWN DOWN BEAR HWY
                                          63/FM 1012 INTERSECTION.

Local storm report, Mar 2, 6:52 PM CST, 1 hour 11 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES LA
652 PM CST TUE MAR 2 1999

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

0643 PM    JUNCTION                  LA   1.75 INCH HAIL
03/02/99   BEAUREGARD

Local storm report, Mar 2, 7:36 PM CST, 27 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES LA
736 PM CST TUE MAR 2 1999

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

0630 PM    BOYCE                    LA    1.75 INCH HAIL
03/02/99   RAPIDES

Local storm report, Mar 2, 7:55 PM CST, 8 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES LA
855 PM CST TUE MAR 2 1999

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

0600 PM    10 E JASPER              TX    TORNADO
03/02/99   JASPER                         ON THE JASPER/NEWTON CO LINE
                                          4 HOMES DESTROYED...SEVERAL
                                          INJURIES...IN HUFF CREEK AREA.

Local storm report, Mar 2, 7:56 PM CST, 7 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES LA
756 PM CST TUE MAR 2 1999

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

0745 PM    WEIL                      LA   0.88 INCH HAIL
03/02/99   RAPIDES                        NICKLE AND DIME SIZE HAIL
                                          REPORTED BY SKYWARN SPOTTER

0757 PM    DEQUINCY                  LA   1.00 INCH HAIL
03/02/99   CALCASIEU                      REPORTED BY NWS EMPLOYEE

0808 PM    SULPHUR                   LA   0.75 INCH HAIL
03/02/99   CALCASIEU                      REPORTED BY SKYWARN SPOTTER

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Mar 2, 6:35 PM CST	Tornado Warning	LCH	Beauregard	60 min
Mar 2, 6:54 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	LCH	Vernon	66 min
Mar 2, 7:26 PM CST	Tornado Warning	LCH	Beauregard	64 min
Mar 2, 7:30 PM CST	Tornado Warning	LCH	Calcasieu	60 min
Mar 2, 7:45 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	LCH	Rapides	65 min
Mar 2, 7:58 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	LCH	Allen	47 min
Mar 2, 8:19 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	LCH	Vermilion	46 min
Mar 2, 8:32 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	LCH	Cameron	63 min
Mar 2, 8:43 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	LCH	Lafayette	47 min
Mar 2, 10:50 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	LCH	Saint Martin	35 min
Mar 2, 11:16 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	LCH	Iberia	34 min
Mar 2, 11:41 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	LCH	St. Mary	64 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.