Alert archive / Louisiana / Tornado Watches in 2001

Tornado Watch 852

December 16, 200136 parishes in Louisiana; 7 counties in Texas

The Storm Prediction Center issued this tornado watch at Dec 16, 2001, 10:00 PM CST for 36 parishes in Louisiana; 7 counties in Texas. It was in force for 5 hr.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued: Dec 16, 2001, 10:00 PM CST (04:00 UTC)
Expired: Dec 17, 2001, 3:00 AM CST
In force: 5 hr
Issued by: the Storm Prediction Center

All 43 counties

Acadia Parish, LA, Allen Parish, LA, Avoyelles Parish, LA, Beauregard Parish, LA, Bienville Parish, LA, Bossier Parish, LA, Calcasieu Parish, LA, Caldwell Parish, LA, Cameron Parish, LA, Catahoula Parish, LA, Claiborne Parish, LA, Concordia Parish, LA, De Soto Parish, LA, East Carroll Parish, LA, Evangeline Parish, LA, Franklin Parish, LA, Grant Parish, LA, Jackson Parish, LA, Jefferson Davis Parish, LA, Lafayette Parish, LA, LaSalle Parish, LA, Lincoln Parish, LA, Morehouse Parish, LA, Natchitoches Parish, LA, Ouachita Parish, LA, Rapides Parish, LA, Red River Parish, LA, Richland Parish, LA, Sabine Parish, LA, Saint Landry Parish, LA, Union Parish, LA, Vermilion Parish, LA, Vernon Parish, LA, Webster Parish, LA, West Carroll Parish, LA, Winn Parish, LA, Chambers County, TX, Hardin County, TX, Jasper County, TX, Jefferson County, TX, Newton County, TX, Orange County, TX, Sabine County, TX

Warnings issued inside it

1 tornado, severe thunderstorm and flash flood warnings for its counties while it was in force.

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Dec 17, 1:07 AM CST	Flash Flood Warning	JAN	East Carroll, Morehouse, West Carroll	3 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Lake Charles Mun, LA (KLCH), launched 00:00Z, 4.0 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.

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: 1068 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -3 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 531 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 40 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 169 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 178 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 1.1
Supercell composite: 6.2

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
WWUS20 KWNS 170417
SEL2  
MKC WW 170416 COR TO EXCLUDE MENTION OF MS
LAZ000-TXZ000-CWZ000-170900-

URGENT - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
TORNADO WATCH NUMBER 852
STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK
956 PM CST SUN DEC 16 2001

THE STORM PREDICTION CENTER HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WATCH FOR PORTIONS OF

   NORTHERN...CENTRAL AND WESTERN LOUISIANA                       
   SOUTHEAST TEXAS                              
   COASTAL WATERS                     

EFFECTIVE THIS SUNDAY NIGHT AND MONDAY MORNING FROM 1000 PM UNTIL
300 AM CST.

TORNADOES...HAIL TO 0.5 INCH IN DIAMETER...THUNDERSTORM WIND GUSTS
TO 60 MPH...AND DANGEROUS LIGHTNING ARE POSSIBLE IN THESE AREAS.

THE TORNADO WATCH AREA IS ALONG AND 75 STATUTE MILES EAST AND WEST
OF A LINE FROM 40 MILES SOUTHEAST OF PORT ARTHUR TEXAS TO 40 MILES
NORTH NORTHWEST OF MONROE LOUISIANA.

REMEMBER...A TORNADO WATCH MEANS CONDITIONS ARE FAVORABLE FOR
TORNADOES AND SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS IN AND CLOSE TO THE WATCH AREA. 
PERSONS IN THESE AREAS SHOULD BE ON THE LOOKOUT FOR THREATENING
WEATHER CONDITIONS AND LISTEN FOR LATER STATEMENTS AND POSSIBLE
WARNINGS.

OTHER WATCH INFORMATION...THIS TORNADO WATCH REPLACES TORNADO WATCH
NUMBER 850.  WATCH NUMBER 850 WILL NOT BE IN EFFECT AFTER 1000 PM
CST.  CONTINUE...WW 851...

DISCUSSION...THREAT FOR ISOLATED TORNADOES EXPECTED TO PERSIST
INVOF SEGMENTED SQUALL LINE TRAILING SWD FROM NW LA SURFACE
LOW...WHERE SURFACE DEWPOINTS REMAIN NEAR 70F AND DEEP SHEAR IS ON
THE ORDER OF 60 KTS. 

AVIATION...TORNADOES AND A FEW SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WITH HAIL
SURFACE AND ALOFT TO 0.5 INCH...EXTREME TURBULENCE AND SURFACE WIND
GUSTS TO 50 KNOTS.  A FEW CUMULONIMBI WITH MAXIMUM TOPS TO 450. 
MEAN STORM MOTION VECTOR 23035.

...CORFIDI

330,0910 293,0921 293,0944 330,0933

SPC that day

Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Dec 16, 6:00 PM CST	Tornado Watch	SPC	Bienville, Bossier, Caddo, Claiborne, De Soto, Lincoln and 5 more	5 hr

Nearby

Tornado Watches in Louisiana, 2001 Tornado Watches in Texas, 2001 Every tornado watch in 2001

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.