Alert archive / Louisiana / Tornado Warnings in 2003

Tornado Warning 12, NWS Lake Charles, LA

November 18, 2003Vernon Parish, Louisiana

NWS Lake Charles, LA issued this tornado warning at Nov 18, 2003, 1:10 AM CST for Vernon Parish, Louisiana. It was in force for 35 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: Nov 18, 2003, 1:10 AM CST (07:10 UTC)
Expired: Nov 18, 2003, 1:45 AM CST
In force: 35 min
Issued by: NWS Lake Charles, LA
Area: Counties, with a storm outline in the text

County Vernon Parish, LA

The watch it was issued in

The SPC watch in force over the same counties when this warning went out.

Issued	Product	Office	Lasted
Nov 17, 11:50 PM CST	Tornado Watch	SPC	5 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Lake Charles Mun, LA (KLCH), launched 00:00Z, 7.2 hours before the alert went out and 136 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: 877 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -1 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 631 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 58 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 200 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 222 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 1.2
Supercell composite: 7.0

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
WFUS54 KLCH 180710
TORLCH
LAC115-180745-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES LA
108 AM CST TUE NOV 18 2003

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN LAKE CHARLES HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
  VERNON PARISH IN WEST CENTRAL LOUISIANA

* UNTIL 145 AM CST

* AT 1257 AM CST...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A
  A THUNDERSTORM CAPABLE OF PRODUCING A TORNADO 10 MILES WEST OF 
  ANACOCO...MOVING EAST AT 40 MPH.

* THIS TORNADIC STORM WILL BE NEAR...
  ANACOCO BY 125 AM CST
  KURTHWOOD BY 135 AM CST
  ALCO BY 140 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 3137 9335 3120 9327 3131 9288 3146 9308

$$

LGE

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Nov 18, 12:26 AM CST	Tornado Warning	LCH	Vernon	34 min
Nov 18, 12:56 AM CST	Special Marine Warning	LCH		64 min
Nov 18, 4:31 AM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	LCH	Avoyelles	29 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Louisiana, 2003 Every tornado warning in 2003 Tornadoes in 2003

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.