Alert archive / Louisiana / Tornado Watches in 2004

Tornado Watch 202

May 13, 200437 parishes in Louisiana; Adams County, Wilkinson County, Mississippi

The Storm Prediction Center issued this tornado watch at May 13, 2004, 2:55 PM CDT for 37 parishes in Louisiana; Adams County, Wilkinson County, Mississippi. It was in force for 6 hr.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued
May 13, 2004, 2:55 PM CDT (19:55 UTC)
Expired
May 13, 2004, 9:00 PM CDT
In force
6 hr
Issued by
the Storm Prediction Center
All 39 counties

Acadia Parish, LA, Allen Parish, LA, Assumption Parish, LA, Avoyelles Parish, LA, Bienville Parish, LA, Bossier Parish, LA, Caldwell Parish, LA, Catahoula Parish, LA, Claiborne Parish, LA, Concordia Parish, LA, Evangeline Parish, LA, Franklin Parish, LA, Grant Parish, LA, Iberia Parish, LA, Iberville Parish, LA, Jackson Parish, LA, Jefferson Davis Parish, LA, Lafayette Parish, LA, LaSalle Parish, LA, Lincoln Parish, LA, Morehouse Parish, LA, Natchitoches Parish, LA, Ouachita Parish, LA, Pointe Coupee Parish, LA, Rapides Parish, LA, Red River Parish, LA, Richland Parish, LA, Saint Landry Parish, LA, Saint Martin Parish, LA, St. Mary Parish, LA, Union Parish, LA, Vermilion Parish, LA, Vernon Parish, LA, Webster Parish, LA, West Baton Rouge Parish, LA, West Feliciana Parish, LA, Winn Parish, LA, Adams County, MS, Wilkinson County, MS

Warnings issued inside it

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 13, 3:00 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLCHBeauregard, Calcasieu, Vernon60 min
May 13, 3:17 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningSHVBossier43 min
May 13, 3:57 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLCHBeauregard, Calcasieu, Vernon63 min
May 13, 4:31 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLCHAllen, Jefferson Davis59 min
May 13, 5:16 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLCHAcadia, Evangeline, Saint Landry59 min
May 13, 8:41 PM CDTFlash Flood WarningLIXWest Feliciana3 hr

Discussions around it

SPC mesoscale discussions over the same counties from four hours before the watch to its end.

The nearest sounding before it

Shreveport, LA (KSHV), launched 12:00Z, 7.9 hours before the alert went out and 174 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-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Shreveport, LA at 12:00Z on 2004-05-13Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 2148 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°0°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.
HodographHodograph, Shreveport, LA at 12:00Z on 2004-05-13The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 79 square meters per square second.19395878Sfc1 km3 km6 km9 kmRMLM
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
2148 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-18 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
620 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
16 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
79 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
151 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.

308 
WWUS20 KWNS 131954
SEL2  
SPC WW 131955
LAZ000-CWZ000-140200-

URGENT - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
TORNADO WATCH NUMBER 202
NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK
255 PM CDT THU MAY 13 2004

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

       MUCH OF LOUISIANA EXCEPT SOUTHEAST PORTION
       COASTAL WATERS

EFFECTIVE THIS THURSDAY AFTERNOON AND EVENING FROM 255 PM UNTIL
900 PM CDT.

TORNADOES...HAIL TO 2 INCHES IN DIAMETER...THUNDERSTORM WIND GUSTS
TO 70 MPH...AND DANGEROUS LIGHTNING ARE POSSIBLE IN THESE AREAS.

THE TORNADO WATCH AREA IS ALONG AND 60 STATUTE MILES EAST AND WEST
OF A LINE FROM 55 MILES NORTHWEST OF MONROE LOUISIANA TO 20 MILES
SOUTHEAST OF INTRACOASTAL CITY 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...CONTINUE...WW 198...WW 199...WW 200...WW
201...

DISCUSSION...WELL ORGANIZED SEVERE MCS ERN TX WILL CONTINUE EWD
FEEDING ON THE VERY MOIST AND UNSTABLE AIR MASS AVAILABLE W OF MS
RIVER. WITH 30-40 KNOT SLY LOW LEVEL JET...SHEAR WILL SUPPORT
ISOLATED TORNADOES ON LEADING EDGE LINE OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS.  IN
ADDITION DAMAGING WINDS ARE LIKELY ALONG THE LINE AS IT CONTINUES
EWD ACROSS LA.

AVIATION...TORNADOES AND A FEW SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WITH HAIL
SURFACE AND ALOFT TO 2 INCHES. EXTREME TURBULENCE AND SURFACE WIND
GUSTS TO 60 KNOTS. A FEW CUMULONIMBI WITH MAXIMUM TOPS TO 550.
MEAN STORM MOTION VECTOR 27025.


...HALES

330,0914 293,0905 293,0925 330,0934

SPC that day

Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 12, 8:03 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCJefferson, Lafourche, Orleans, Plaquemines, Saint Bernard, Saint Charles and 1 more57 min
May 13, 12:10 PM CDTTornado WatchSPCAllen, Beauregard, Calcasieu6 hr
May 13, 1:38 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBeauregard, Calcasieu, Sabine97 min
May 13, 3:54 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAcadia, Allen, Assumption, Avoyelles, Bienville, Caldwell and 29 more2 hr
May 13, 5:22 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCCalcasieu53 min
May 13, 6:23 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAcadia, Allen, Assumption, Avoyelles, Bienville, Caldwell and 30 more97 min

Nearby

Tornado Watches in Louisiana, 2004Tornado Watches in Mississippi, 2004Every tornado watch in 2004

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.