Alert archive / Louisiana / Tornado Watches in 2002

Tornado Watch 734

November 5, 200226 parishes in Louisiana; 4 counties in Mississippi

The Storm Prediction Center issued this tornado watch at Nov 5, 2002, 4:25 AM CST for 26 parishes in Louisiana; 4 counties in Mississippi. It was in force for 6 hr.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued: Nov 5, 2002, 4:25 AM CST (10:25 UTC)
Expired: Nov 5, 2002, 10:00 AM CST
In force: 6 hr
Issued by: the Storm Prediction Center

All 30 counties

Ascension Parish, LA, Assumption Parish, LA, Avoyelles Parish, LA, East Baton Rouge Parish, LA, East Feliciana Parish, LA, Iberia Parish, LA, Iberville Parish, LA, Jefferson Parish, LA, Lafayette Parish, LA, Lafourche Parish, LA, Livingston Parish, LA, Orleans Parish, LA, Pointe Coupee 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, Washington Parish, LA, West Baton Rouge Parish, LA, West Feliciana Parish, LA, Amite County, MS, Pike County, MS, Walthall County, MS, Wilkinson County, MS

Warnings issued inside it

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Nov 5, 9:56 AM CST	Tornado Warning	LIX	Saint Charles	49 days
Nov 5, 9:56 AM CST	Tornado Warning	LIX	Jefferson, Saint Charles	49 days

The nearest sounding before it

Slidell Radar S, LA (KSIL), launched 00:00Z, 10.4 hours before the alert went out and 157 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: 0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: No buoyant parcel
Mixed-layer LCL: 474 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 49 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 132 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 185 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.0
Supercell composite: 0.4

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
WWUS20 KWNS 051024
SEL4  
WWUS20 KWNS 051025
SPC WW 051025
LAZ000-MSZ000-CWZ000-051600-

URGENT - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
TORNADO WATCH NUMBER 734
STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK
425 AM CST TUE NOV 5 2002

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

   SOUTHEAST LOUISIANA                          
   SOUTHWEST MISSISSIPPI                        
   COASTAL WATERS                     

EFFECTIVE THIS TUESDAY MORNING FROM 425 AM UNTIL 1000 AM CST.

TORNADOES...THUNDERSTORM WIND GUSTS TO 70 MPH...AND DANGEROUS
LIGHTNING ARE POSSIBLE IN THESE AREAS.

THE TORNADO WATCH AREA IS ALONG AND 70 STATUTE MILES NORTH AND
SOUTH OF A LINE FROM 20 MILES WEST OF LAFAYETTE LOUISIANA TO 35
MILES NORTHEAST OF NEW ORLEANS 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.


DISCUSSION...CONDITIONS BECOMING FAVORABLE FOR ISOLATED TORNADIC
SUPERCELLS AS WARM FRONT MOVES INLAND ACROSS SERN LA.  AIRMASS IN
WARM SECTOR VERY MOIST AND MARGINALLY UNSTABLE...WHILE SHEAR
PROFILES SUPPORT SUPERCELLS.  PRIMARY CONCERN WILL BE WITH STORMS
THAT CAN DEVELOP AHEAD OF N/S LINE MOVING EWD ACROSS SWRN LA ALONG
WITH LEWP WITHIN LINE.


AVIATION...TORNADOES AND A FEW SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WITH EXTREME
TURBULENCE AND SURFACE WIND GUSTS TO 60 KNOTS.  A FEW CUMULONIMBI
WITH MAXIMUM TOPS TO 500.  MEAN STORM MOTION VECTOR 23035.


...HALES

311,0921 312,0894 292,0894 291,0921

SPC that day

Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Nov 5, 9:50 AM CST	Tornado Watch	SPC	Jefferson, Lafourche, Orleans, Plaquemines, Saint Bernard, Saint Tammany	5 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.