Alert archive / Louisiana / Tornado Watches in 2002

Tornado Watch 715

October 2, 200239 parishes in Louisiana; 23 counties in Mississippi

The Storm Prediction Center issued this tornado watch at Oct 2, 2002, 9:25 PM CDT for 39 parishes in Louisiana; 23 counties in Mississippi. It was in force for 13 hr.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued: Oct 2, 2002, 9:25 PM CDT (02:25 UTC)
Expired: Oct 3, 2002, 10:00 AM CDT
In force: 13 hr
Issued by: the Storm Prediction Center

All 62 counties

Acadia Parish, LA, Allen Parish, LA, Ascension Parish, LA, Assumption Parish, LA, Avoyelles Parish, LA, Beauregard Parish, LA, Calcasieu Parish, LA, Cameron Parish, LA, Concordia Parish, LA, East Baton Rouge Parish, LA, East Feliciana Parish, LA, Evangeline Parish, LA, Iberia Parish, LA, Iberville Parish, LA, Jefferson Davis Parish, LA, Jefferson Parish, LA, Lafayette Parish, LA, Lafourche Parish, LA, Livingston Parish, LA, Orleans Parish, LA, Plaquemines Parish, LA, Pointe Coupee Parish, LA, Rapides Parish, LA, Saint Bernard Parish, LA, Saint Charles Parish, LA, Saint Helena Parish, LA, Saint James Parish, LA, Saint John the Baptist Parish, LA, Saint Landry Parish, LA, Saint Martin Parish, LA, Saint Tammany Parish, LA, St. Mary Parish, LA, Tangipahoa Parish, LA, Terrebonne Parish, LA, Vermilion Parish, LA, Vernon Parish, LA, Washington Parish, LA, West Baton Rouge Parish, LA, West Feliciana Parish, LA, Adams County, MS, Amite County, MS, Covington County, MS, Forrest County, MS, Franklin County, MS, George County, MS, Greene County, MS, Hancock County, MS, Harrison County, MS, Jackson County, MS, Jefferson Davis County, MS, Jones County, MS, Lamar County, MS, Lawrence County, MS, Lincoln County, MS, Marion County, MS, Pearl River County, MS, Perry County, MS, Pike County, MS, Stone County, MS, Walthall County, MS, Wayne County, MS, Wilkinson County, MS

Warnings issued inside it

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Oct 2, 9:37 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	LIX	Terrebonne	13 hr
Oct 3, 1:02 AM CDT	Tornado Warning	LIX	Jefferson	28 min
Oct 3, 4:06 AM CDT	Tornado Warning	LIX	Jefferson, Saint Charles	7 hr
Oct 3, 4:29 AM CDT	Tornado Warning	LIX	Jefferson, Orleans, Saint Charles	7 hr
Oct 3, 4:29 AM CDT	Tornado Warning	LIX	Saint Charles	8 hr
Oct 3, 6:29 AM CDT	Flash Flood Warning	LIX	Saint Tammany	4 hr
Oct 3, 8:20 AM CDT	Tornado Warning	LIX	Saint Tammany, Washington	4 hr
Oct 3, 9:50 AM CDT	Flash Flood Warning	LCH	Vermilion	4 hr
Oct 3, 9:50 AM CDT	Tornado Warning	LIX	Assumption	3 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Lake Charles Mun, LA (KLCH), launched 00:00Z, 2.4 hours before the alert went out and 170 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: 1680 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -5 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 841 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 5 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: -50 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: -28 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.0
Supercell composite: 0.0

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
WWUS20 KWNS 030232
SEL5  
SPC WW 030225
LAZ000-MSZ000-CWZ000-031500-

URGENT - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
TORNADO WATCH NUMBER 715
STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK
925 PM CDT WED OCT 2 2002

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

   SOUTHERN AND CENTRAL LOUISIANA                          
   SOUTHERN MISSISSIPPI                        
   COASTAL WATERS                     

EFFECTIVE THIS WEDNESDAY NIGHT AND THURSDAY MORNING FROM 925 PM
UNTIL 1000 AM CDT.

TORNADOES...HAIL TO 0.5 INCH IN DIAMETER...THUNDERSTORM WIND GUSTS
TO 80 MPH...AND DANGEROUS LIGHTNING ARE POSSIBLE IN THESE AREAS.

THE TORNADO WATCH AREA IS ALONG AND 90 STATUTE MILES NORTH AND
SOUTH OF A LINE FROM 20 MILES WEST SOUTHWEST OF LAKE CHARLES
LOUISIANA TO 40 MILES EAST NORTHEAST OF GULFPORT MISSISSIPPI.

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.

DISCUSSION...TORNADO THREAT EXPECTED TO INCREASE/SPREAD NWD ACROSS
SRN LA/MS AS HRCN LILI CONTINUES NNW THROUGH EARLY THURSDAY.  VWP
DATA FROM LCH AND SLI HAVE SHOWN ONLY A MODEST INCREASE IN LOW
LEVEL SHEAR OVER THE PAST SEVERAL HOURS...REFLECTING LILIS
RELATIVELY TIGHT/CONFINED CIRCULATION.  BUT STRONGER FLOW IS
ALREADY BEGINNING TO AFFECT THE LA COAST...WHERE DISCRETE
CONVECTIVE CELLS ARE PRESENT ALONG OUTER EDGE OF MAIN CIRCULATION. 
TORNADO THREAT MAY INCREASE AS THIS CONVECTION ENCOUNTERS
INCREASING SURFACE FRICTION UPON MOVING INLAND DURING THE NEXT FEW
HOURS. 

AVIATION...TORNADOES AND A FEW SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WITH HAIL
SURFACE AND ALOFT TO 0.5 INCH...EXTREME TURBULENCE AND SURFACE WIND
GUSTS TO 70 KNOTS.  A FEW CUMULONIMBI WITH MAXIMUM TOPS TO 500. 
MEAN STORM MOTION VECTOR 12045.

...CORFIDI

311,0933 315,0882 291,0882 284,0933

SPC that day

Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Oct 3, 9:55 AM CDT	Tornado Watch	SPC	Ascension, Assumption, Avoyelles, Catahoula, Concordia, East Baton Rouge and 31 more	12 hr

Nearby

Tornado Watches in Louisiana, 2002 Tornado Watches in Mississippi, 2002 Every tornado watch 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.