Alert archive / Louisiana / Tornado Warnings in 2002

Tornado Warning 23, NWS Lake Charles, LA

December 30, 2002Jefferson Davis Parish, Louisiana

NWS Lake Charles, LA issued this tornado warning at Dec 30, 2002, 11:50 PM CST for Jefferson Davis Parish, Louisiana. It was in force for 25 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, 11:50 PM CST (05:50 UTC)
Expired: Dec 31, 2002, 12:15 AM CST
In force: 25 min
Issued by: NWS Lake Charles, LA
Area: Counties, with a storm outline in the text

County Jefferson Davis Parish, LA

The radar

The Lake Charles radar (KLCH), 40 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 05:49 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, 5.8 hours before the alert went out and 39 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.

365 
WFUS54 KLCH 310550
TORLCH
LAC053-310615-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES LA
1150 PM CST MON DEC 30 2002

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN LAKE CHARLES HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
  JEFFERSON DAVIS PARISH IN SOUTHWEST LOUISIANA

* UNTIL 1215 AM CST

* AT 1144 PM CST...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A
  A DEVELOPING TORNADO 15 MILES SOUTHWEST OF FENTON...MOVING EAST AT
  35 MPH.

* THIS TORNADIC STORM WILL BE NEAR...
  WOODLAWN BY MIDNIGHT CST
  LACASSINE BY 1205 AM CST
  FENTON BY 1210 AM CST
  WELSH...ROANOKE BY 1215 AM CST

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

TORNADOES AT NIGHT ARE ESPECIALLY DANGEROUS. DO NOT WAIT UNTIL YOU
SEE OR HEAR THE TORNADO - IT MAY BE TOO LATE. TAKE COVER NOW

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

LAT...LON 3039 9303 3019 9299 3025 9265 3047 9271

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, 11:43 PM CST	Tornado Warning	LCH	Calcasieu	62 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.