Alert archive / Louisiana / Tornado Warnings in 2003

Tornado Warning 2, NWS Lake Charles, LA

March 18, 2003Avoyelles Parish, Rapides Parish, Louisiana

NWS Lake Charles, LA issued this tornado warning at Mar 18, 2003, 4:45 PM CST for Avoyelles Parish, Rapides Parish, Louisiana. It was in force for 45 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: Mar 18, 2003, 4:45 PM CST (22:45 UTC)
Expired: Mar 18, 2003, 5:30 PM CST
In force: 45 min
Issued by: NWS Lake Charles, LA
Area: Counties, with a storm outline in the text

Counties Avoyelles Parish, LA, Rapides 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
Mar 18, 2:15 PM CST	Tornado Watch	SPC	7 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Lake Charles Mun, LA (KLCH), launched 12:00Z, 10.8 hours before the alert went out and 150 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: 787 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 52 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 129 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 147 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.0
Supercell composite: 0.2

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

353 
WFUS54 KLCH 182245
TORLCH
LAC009-079-182330-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES LA
443 PM CST TUE MAR 18 2003

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN LAKE CHARLES HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
  RAPIDES PARISH IN CENTRAL LOUISIANA
  AVOYELLES PARISH IN CENTRAL LOUISIANA

* UNTIL 530 PM CST

* AT 439 PM CST...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A
  A DEVELOPING TORNADO IN EASTERN RAPIDES PARISH OR 11 MILES 
  SOUTHWEST OF EFFIE...MOVING NORTHEAST AT 40 MPH.

* THIS TORNADIC STORM WILL BE NEAR...
  CENTERPOINT...EFFIE BY 455 PM CST
  DEVILLE BY 505 PM CST

THIS TORNADO MAY BE WRAPPED IN RAIN - IF YOU WAIT UNTIL YOU SEE OR HEAR
IT COMING...IT MAY BE TOO LATE TAKE COVER NOW

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

LAT...LON 3114 9243 3102 9229 3128 9199 3142 9215

$$

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Mar 18, 1:45 PM CST	Special Marine Warning	LCH		60 min
Mar 18, 3:08 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	LCH	Vernon	67 min
Mar 18, 3:42 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	LCH	Rapides	63 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.