Alert archive / Louisiana / Tornado Warnings in 2002

Tornado Warning 22, NWS Lake Charles, LA

December 30, 2002Calcasieu Parish, Louisiana

NWS Lake Charles, LA issued this tornado warning at Dec 30, 2002, 11:43 PM CST for Calcasieu Parish, Louisiana. It was in force for 62 min. No storm report in the archive falls inside the area while it was in force.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued: Dec 30, 2002, 11:43 PM CST (05:43 UTC)
Expired: Dec 31, 2002, 12:45 AM CST
In force: 62 min
Issued by: NWS Lake Charles, LA
Area: Counties, with a storm outline in the text

County Calcasieu Parish, LA

The radar

The Lake Charles radar (KLCH), 27 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 05:44 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.

Issued	Product	Office	Lasted
Dec 30, 8:55 PM CST	Tornado Watch	SPC	5 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Lake Charles Mun, LA (KLCH), launched 00:00Z, 5.7 hours before the alert went out and 27 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: 631 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -9 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 594 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 43 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 198 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 233 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.5
Supercell composite: 3.3

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

044 
WFUS54 KLCH 310543
TORLCH
LAC019-310645-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES LA
1143 PM CST MON DEC 30 2002

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN LAKE CHARLES HAS ISSUED A

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

* UNTIL 1245 AM CST

* AT 1139 PM CST...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A
  A DEVELOPING TORNADO OVER CENTRAL CALCASIEU PARISH...MOVING
  NORTHEAST AT 20 MPH.

* THIS TORNADIC STORM WILL BE NEAR...
RURAL NORTHEASTERN CALCASIEU PARISH

A TORNADO MAY FORM AT ANY TIME - TAKE COVER NOW. ABANDON MOBILE HOMES
AND VEHICLES FOR MORE SUBSTANTIAL SHELTER. AVOID WINDOWS.

CALL 337-477-5285 TO REPORT SEVERE WEATHER TO THE WEATHER SERVICE.

LAT...LON 3040 9320 3024 9321 3030 9308 3037 9304
          3038 9313 3040 9315

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Dec 30, 9:02 PM CST	Special Marine Warning	LCH		58 min
Dec 30, 9:53 PM CST	Special Marine Warning	LCH		67 min
Dec 30, 10:58 PM CST	Special Marine Warning	LCH		62 min
Dec 30, 10:58 PM CST	Special Marine Warning	LCH		62 min
Dec 30, 11:11 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	LCH	Calcasieu, Cameron	64 min
Dec 30, 11:50 PM CST	Tornado Warning	LCH	Jefferson Davis	25 min
Dec 30, 11:52 PM CST	Special Marine Warning	LCH		68 min
Dec 31, 12:22 AM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	LCH	Acadia	23 min
Dec 31, 12:37 AM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	LCH	Vermilion	53 min
Dec 31, 12:45 AM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	LCH	Lafayette	60 min
Dec 31, 12:47 AM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	LCH	Saint Landry	28 min
Dec 31, 12:54 AM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	LCH	Iberia, Saint Martin	66 min
Dec 31, 1:11 AM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	LCH	St. Mary	64 min
Dec 31, 1:55 AM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	LCH	Saint Martin	35 min
Dec 31, 1:58 AM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	LCH	Saint Martin	32 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Louisiana, 2002 Every tornado warning in 2002 Tornadoes in 2002

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.