Alert archive / Louisiana / Tornado Watches in 2003
Tornado Watch 12
The Storm Prediction Center issued this tornado watch at Feb 21, 2003, 3:40 PM CST for 38 parishes in Louisiana; 9 counties in Mississippi; 11 counties in Texas. It was in force for 6 hr.
The area
The outline as issued.
The facts
- Issued
- Feb 21, 2003, 3:40 PM CST (21:40 UTC)
- Expired
- Feb 21, 2003, 10:00 PM CST
- In force
- 6 hr
- Issued by
- the Storm Prediction Center
All 58 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, Grant 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, Pointe Coupee Parish, LA, Rapides Parish, LA, Sabine 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, Vermilion Parish, LA, Vernon Parish, LA, Washington Parish, LA, West Baton Rouge Parish, LA, West Feliciana Parish, LA, Adams County, MS, Amite County, MS, Franklin County, MS, Lawrence County, MS, Lincoln County, MS, Marion County, MS, Pike County, MS, Walthall County, MS, Wilkinson County, MS, Angelina County, TX, Chambers County, TX, Hardin County, TX, Jasper County, TX, Jefferson County, TX, Nacogdoches County, TX, Newton County, TX, Orange County, TX, Sabine County, TX, San Augustine County, TX, Tyler County, TX
Warnings issued inside it
10 tornado, severe thunderstorm and flash flood warnings for its counties while it was in force.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Feb 21, 3:46 PM CST | Flash Flood Warning | SHV | Grant, Jackson, Natchitoches, Winn | 4 hr |
| Feb 21, 5:01 PM CST | Flash Flood Warning | JAN | Lamar, Marion | 6 hr |
| Feb 21, 5:48 PM CST | Flash Flood Warning | JAN | Franklin, Jefferson Davis, Lawrence, Lincoln | 6 hr |
| Feb 21, 6:05 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | LIX | Pointe Coupee, West Feliciana | 25 min |
| Feb 21, 6:35 PM CST | Flash Flood Warning | LIX | East Feliciana, Pointe Coupee, West Feliciana | 4 hr |
| Feb 21, 7:11 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | JAN | Franklin, Lincoln | 59 min |
| Feb 21, 8:05 PM CST | Tornado Warning | JAN | Lincoln | 30 min |
| Feb 21, 8:27 PM CST | Tornado Warning | JAN | Lawrence | 43 min |
| Feb 21, 9:03 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | JAN | Lincoln | 32 min |
| Feb 21, 9:38 PM CST | Tornado Warning | JAN | Lawrence | 32 min |
Discussions around it
SPC mesoscale discussions over the same counties from four hours before the watch to its end.
The nearest sounding before it
Lake Charles Mun, LA (KLCH), launched 12:00Z, 9.7 hours before the alert went out and 84 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.
- Mixed-layer CAPE
- 543 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -114 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 433 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 45 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 253 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 274 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 6.2
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
000 WWUS20 KWNS 212141 SEL2 SPC WW 212140 LAZ000-MSZ000-TXZ000-CWZ000-220400- URGENT - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED TORNADO WATCH NUMBER 12 STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK 340 PM CST FRI FEB 21 2003 THE STORM PREDICTION CENTER HAS ISSUED A TORNADO WATCH FOR PORTIONS OF SOUTHERN AND CENTRAL LOUISIANA SOUTHWEST MISSISSIPPI SOUTHEAST TEXAS COASTAL WATERS EFFECTIVE THIS FRIDAY AFTERNOON AND EVENING FROM 340 PM UNTIL 1000 PM CST. ...THIS IS A PARTICULARLY DANGEROUS SITUATION... DAMAGING TORNADOES...LARGE HAIL TO 2 INCHES IN DIAMETER... THUNDERSTORM WIND GUSTS TO 80 MPH...AND DANGEROUS LIGHTNING ARE POSSIBLE IN THESE AREAS. THE TORNADO WATCH AREA IS ALONG AND 75 STATUTE MILES NORTH AND SOUTH OF A LINE FROM 65 MILES NORTHWEST OF PORT ARTHUR TEXAS TO 45 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. OTHER WATCH INFORMATION...THIS TORNADO WATCH REPLACES TORNADO WATCH NUMBER 11. WATCH NUMBER 11 WILL NOT BE IN EFFECT AFTER 340 PM CST. DISCUSSION...STRONG TROUGH AND JET MAX ROTATING EWD ACROSS S TX WILL BECOME NEGATIVELY TILTED AS IT APPROACHES SERN TX/LA LATER THIS EVENING. RAPIDLY DEEPENING SURFACE LOW SERN TX WITH PRONOUNCED BOUNDARY EXTENDING EWD ACROSS SRN LA. LOW WILL CONTINUE TO DEEPEN NEWD WITH BOUNDARY SHIFTING NWD THIS EVENING. SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS SERN TX WILL CONTINUE AND WITH STRONG UPPER SUPPORT AN INCREASING THREAT OF TORNADIC SUPERCELLS IS EXPECTED AS SYSTEM MOVES EWD. PARAMETERS SUPPORT POTENTIAL FOR STRONG TORNADOES THIS EVENING AS VIGOROUS UPPER TROUGH APPROACHES. AVIATION...TORNADOES AND A FEW SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WITH HAIL SURFACE AND ALOFT TO 2 INCHES. EXTREME TURBULENCE AND SURFACE WIND GUSTS TO 70 KNOTS. A FEW CUMULONIMBI WITH MAXIMUM TOPS TO 550. MEAN STORM MOTION VECTOR 23040. ...HALES 314,0944 313,0894 292,0894 293,0944
SPC that day
Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Feb 21, 1:43 AM CST | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Acadia, Allen, Avoyelles, Beauregard, Calcasieu, Cameron and 6 more | 2 hr |
| Feb 21, 4:35 AM CST | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Ascension, Assumption, Avoyelles, Concordia, East Baton Rouge, East Feliciana and 16 more | 115 min |
| Feb 21, 9:02 AM CST | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Beauregard, Calcasieu, Cameron, Sabine, Vernon | 58 min |
| Feb 21, 9:40 AM CST | Tornado Watch | SPC | Acadia, Allen, Beauregard, Calcasieu, Caldwell, Cameron and 11 more | 6 hr |
| Feb 21, 11:47 AM CST | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Acadia, Allen, Beauregard, Calcasieu, Cameron, Evangeline and 4 more | 118 min |
| Feb 21, 3:32 PM CST | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Allen, Beauregard, Calcasieu, Evangeline, Jefferson Davis, Vernon | 118 min |
| Feb 21, 5:20 PM CST | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Claiborne, East Carroll, Franklin, Jackson, Lincoln, Madison and 5 more | 4 hr |
| Feb 21, 5:50 PM CST | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Acadia, Allen, Ascension, Assumption, Avoyelles, Beauregard and 32 more | 115 min |
| Feb 21, 2:43 AM CST | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Dimmit, Edwards, Frio, Kinney, La Salle, Maverick and 5 more | 3 hr |
| Feb 21, 3:53 AM CST | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Aransas, Austin, Brazoria, Calhoun, Colorado, Fort Bend and 13 more | 3 hr |
| Feb 21, 4:10 AM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Watch | SPC | Atascosa, Bandera, Bastrop, Bexar, Blanco, Brazos and 26 more | 6 hr |
| Feb 21, 4:25 AM CST | Tornado Watch | SPC | Austin, Brazoria, Brazos, Burleson, Calhoun, Colorado and 15 more | 6 hr |
| Feb 21, 5:58 AM CST | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Atascosa, Bandera, Bastrop, Bexar, Blanco, Brazos and 26 more | 2 hr |
| Feb 21, 6:16 AM CST | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Austin, Brazoria, Brazos, Burleson, Calhoun, Colorado and 17 more | 119 min |
| Feb 21, 1:30 PM CST | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Hardin, Harris, Jasper, Liberty, Montgomery, Newton and 3 more | 2 hr |
Nearby
Tornado Watches in Louisiana, 2003Tornado Watches in Texas, 2003Tornado Watches in Mississippi, 2003Every tornado watch 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.