Alert archive / Louisiana / Tornado Warnings in 1999

Tornado Warning 43, NWS Lake Charles, LA

March 13, 1999Saint Landry Parish, Louisiana

NWS Lake Charles, LA issued this tornado warning at Mar 13, 1999, 8:22 AM CST for Saint Landry Parish, Louisiana. It was in force for 33 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
Mar 13, 1999, 8:22 AM CST (14:22 UTC)
Expired
Mar 13, 1999, 8:55 AM CST
In force
33 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 14:23 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
Mar 13, 5:00 AM CSTTornado WatchSPC5 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Lake Charles Mun, LA (KLCH), launched 12:00Z, 2.4 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-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Lake Charles Mun, LA at 12:00Z on 1999-03-13Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 759 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 1999-03-13The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 259 square meters per square second.19395878Sfc1 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
759 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-35 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
639 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
53 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
259 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
311 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
1.3
Supercell composite
7.8

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

999 
WFUS1 KLCH 131425 RRA
TORLCH
LAC097-131455-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES LA
822 AM CST SAT MAR 13 1999

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN LAKE CHARLES HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
  ST. LANDRY PARISH IN SOUTH CENTRAL LOUISIANA

* UNTIL 855 AM CST

* AT 818 AM CST... NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED
  A TORNADO 15 MILES NORTHEAST OF OPELOUSAS OR 7 MILES WEST OF
  MELVILLE MOVING NORTHEAST AT 35 MPH.

* THE TORNADIC THUNDERSTORM WILL BE NEAR
  MELVILLE BY 825 AM 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 13, 1:15 AM CST, 7 hours 7 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Mar 13, 1:15 AM CST, 7 hours 7 minutes before
SOUTHWEST...CENTRAL LOUISIANA AND SOUTHEAST TEXAS FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES LA
115 AM CST SAT MAR 13 1999

SHORT TERM...SVR WX/HVY RAINFALL GOOD BET ACROSS ENTIRE CWA UNTIL
FRONT PASSES. CURRENTLY COMPUTED LI -4 OR GREATER...HELICITY VALUES
NEAR 350 AND CAPE BETWEEN 1200-1600 OVER SW LA AND SE TX. WILL FOLLOW
MESO ETA SOLUTION FOR PASSAGE OF FRONT...WHICH SHOULD BE NEAR BPT AT
12Z...AEX TO LFT LINE AT 15Z AND EAST OF CWA AROUND 18Z.

GOOD CAA BEHIND FRONT WILL DROP TEMPS DURING THE DAY. 540 THICKNESS
DROPS INTO LAKES AREA OF TX ACROSS CENTRAL LA BY 12Z SUN. WILL KEEP
CLOUDS IN FORECAST THRU SUN AFTN AS THIS WILL BE THE TIME 850 TROF
MOVES EAST OF AREA AND LOWER RH MOVES IN.

COASTAL FLOOD WATCH WILL BE DROPPED AS TIDES RUNNING BELOW CRITICAL
LEVELS AND NEXT HIGH TIDES WILL NOT OCCUR UNTIL AFT WINDS HAVE
SHIFTED TO THE NW.

BPT CE 68 (FALL 57)/43/53/34 6(EARLY)000
LCH CE 66 (FALL 56)/43/53/33 8(EARLY)000
LFT CE 65 (FALL 57)/45/53/33 9(MORNING)000
AEX CE 62 (FALL 52)/40/50/29 9(MORNING)000

7

In the hours before

Local storm report, Mar 13, 2:22 AM CST, 6 hours before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES LA
222 AM CST SAT MAR 13 1999

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

1225 AM    5 N BURKVILLE             TX   WIND DAMAGE
03/13/99   NEWTON                         SEVERAL POWER LINES DOWN
                                          REPORTED BY THE SHERIFFS
                                          DEPARTMENT.
Local storm report, Mar 13, 4:28 AM CST, 3 hours 54 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES LA
428 AM CST SAT MAR 13 1999

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

0300 AM    8 N JASPER                TX   FLOODING
03/13/99   JASPER                         COUNTY ROADS 29 AND 23
                                          FLOODED AND IMPASSABLE.
                                          REPORTED BY SHERIFFS
                                          DEPARTMENT.

0300 AM    5 NE WOODVILLE            TX   FLOODING
03/13/99   TYLER                          US 190 BETWEEN WOODVILLE AND
                                          DAM B IMPASSABLE. REPORTED
                                          BY MEDIA.
Local storm report, Mar 13, 4:28 AM CST, 3 hours 54 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES LA
428 AM CST SAT MAR 13 1999

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

0300 AM    8 N JASPER                TX   FLOODING
03/13/99   JASPER                         COUNTY ROADS 29 AND 23
                                          FLOODED AND IMPASSABLE.
                                          REPORTED BY SHERIFFS
                                          DEPARTMENT.

0300 AM    5 NE WOODVILLE            TX   FLOODING
03/13/99   TYLER                          US 190 BETWEEN WOODVILLE AND
                                          DAM B IMPASSABLE. REPORTED
                                          BY MEDIA.

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Mar 13, 1:01 AM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLCHVernon64 min
Mar 13, 8:02 AM CSTTornado WarningLCHEvangeline63 min
Mar 13, 11:33 AM CSTTornado WarningLCHVermilion47 min
Mar 13, 12:34 PM CSTTornado WarningLCHSaint Martin46 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.