Alert archive / Louisiana / Tornado Warnings in 1999
Tornado Warning 44, NWS Lake Charles, LA
NWS Lake Charles, LA issued this tornado warning at Mar 13, 1999, 11:33 AM CST for Vermilion 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 13, 1999, 11:33 AM CST (17:33 UTC)
- Expired
- Mar 13, 1999, 12:20 PM CST
- In force
- 47 min
- Issued by
- NWS Lake Charles, LA
- Area
- Whole counties
County Vermilion Parish, LA
The radar
The Lake Charles radar (KLCH), 95 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 17:32 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 13, 11:45 AM CST | Tornado F0 | Gueydan, 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 nearest sounding before it
Lake Charles Mun, LA (KLCH), launched 12:00Z, 5.6 hours before the alert went out and 93 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.
- 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
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
999 WFUS1 KLCH 131736 RRA TORLCH LAC113-131820- BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED TORNADO WARNING NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES LA 1133 AM CST SAT MAR 13 1999 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN LAKE CHARLES HAS ISSUED A * TORNADO WARNING FOR... VERMILION PARISH IN SOUTHWESTERN LOUISIANA * UNTIL 1220 PM CST * AT 1132 AM CST... NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A TORNADO 5 MILES NORTH OF ABBEVILLE OR 4 MILES SOUTHWEST OF MAURICE MOVING NORTHEAST AT 35 MPH. * THE TORNADIC THUNDERSTORM WILL BE NEAR MAURICE BY 1140 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, 8:30 AM CST, 3 hours 3 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Mar 13, 8:30 AM CST, 3 hours 3 minutes before
SOUTHWEST...CENTRAL LOUISIANA AND SOUTHEAST TEXAS FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES LA 830 AM CST SAT MAR 13 1999 LOOPING WATER VAPOR IMAGERY REVEALS COLD AIR SPILLING ACROSS WESTERN TEXAS...MERIDIONAL POTENTIAL ENERGY IS BEING EXPENDED (CONVERTED TO KINETIC ENERGY) AS THE ATMOSPHERE MOVES TOWARD EQUILIBRIUM. FIRST PROBLEM...THE SURFACE ANALYSIS DOES NOT REVEAL THE BAROCLINIC SEEDLING (SURFACE CYCLONE) THAT WILL RECEIVE THIS KINETIC ENERGY. THE MAPS FCST GUIDANCE SPINS-UP A CYCLONE OVER WEST CENTRAL LOUISIANA ...FORECAST TO OCCLUDE OVER NORTHEAST LOUISIANA BY THIS EVENING. THIS SOLUTION SEEMS REASONABLE PROVIDED THE FOLLOWING SCENARIO UNFOLDS... NAMELY THE 850 MB LOW (SITUATED OVER THE EASTERN TEXAS-OKLAHOMA BORDER) DEEPENS EASTWARD TOWARD THE SURFACE. WITH CP AIR SPILLING ACROSS THE FCST AREA IN WAKE OF FRONT...BRISK NORTHERLIES WILL PREVAIL ACROSS THE COASTAL WATERS. DOWNWARD MOMENTUM TRANSFER MAY BRING THE NORTHERLIES ACROSS THE COASTAL WATERS (FROM HIGH ISLAND TO WHITE LAKE) TO NEAR GALE FORCE SUN MORNING. 7/21 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
The office that day
Everything else NWS Lake Charles, LA issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mar 13, 1:01 AM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | LCH | Vernon | 64 min |
| Mar 13, 8:02 AM CST | Tornado Warning | LCH | Evangeline | 63 min |
| Mar 13, 8:22 AM CST | Tornado Warning | LCH | Saint Landry | 33 min |
| Mar 13, 12:34 PM CST | Tornado Warning | LCH | Saint Martin | 46 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; verification from NCEI's Storm Data; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.