Tornado Watch 70

Issued

Feb 21, 2008, 1:41 PM CST (19:41 UTC)

Expired

Feb 21, 2008, 9:00 PM CST

In force

7 hr

Issued by

the Storm Prediction Center

Largest hail expected

1.5 in

Strongest gust expected

60 kt

The Lake Charles radar (KLCH), 99 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 19:40 UTC, the scan nearest the moment this went out.

Open the radar archive at this moment

The archived warnings, watches and discussions in force at that minute are drawn over the scan, this one among them.

Two or more tornadoes

50%

One or more EF2 to EF5 tornadoes

30%

Ten or more severe wind reports

30%

One or more gusts of 65 knots or more

30%

Ten or more severe hail reports

60%

One or more hailstones of 2 inches or more

30%

Six or more combined severe hail and wind reports

80%

• Mesoscale Discussion 279Feb 21, 12:56 PM CST
• Mesoscale Discussion 280Feb 21, 4:55 PM CST
• Mesoscale Discussion 283Feb 21, 7:22 PM CST

000
WWUS20 KWNS 211939
SEL0  
SPC WW 211939
LAZ000-MSZ000-TXZ000-CWZ000-220300-

URGENT - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
TORNADO WATCH NUMBER 70
NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK
140 PM CST THU FEB 21 2008

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

       CENTRAL AND SOUTHWEST LOUISIANA
       WILKINSON COUNTY MISSISSIPPI
       SOUTHEASTERN TEXAS
       COASTAL WATERS

EFFECTIVE THIS THURSDAY AFTERNOON AND EVENING FROM 140 PM UNTIL
900 PM CST.

TORNADOES...HAIL TO 1.5 INCHES IN DIAMETER...THUNDERSTORM WIND
GUSTS TO 70 MPH...AND DANGEROUS LIGHTNING ARE POSSIBLE IN THESE
AREAS.

THE TORNADO WATCH AREA IS APPROXIMATELY ALONG AND 65 STATUTE
MILES NORTH AND SOUTH OF A LINE FROM 30 MILES WEST OF HUNTSVILLE
TEXAS TO 20 MILES SOUTHEAST OF BATON ROUGE LOUISIANA.  FOR A
COMPLETE DEPICTION OF THE WATCH SEE THE ASSOCIATED WATCH OUTLINE
UPDATE (WOUS64 KWNS WOU0).

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...THUNDERSTORMS WILL CONTINUE TO INTENSIFY/INCREASE
ACROSS SERN TX INTO SWRN/S-CENTRAL LA THROUGH THE AFTERNOON AS
CAPPING WEAKENS WITHIN VERY MOIST BOUNDARY LAYER.  DEEP ASCENT WILL
ALSO INCREASE THROUGH THE DAY AHEAD OF STRONG MID/UPPER LEVEL TROUGH
NOW MOVING ACROSS THE SRN PLAINS.  IN RESPONSE...A SURFACE LOW WILL
DEEPEN AND LIFT NEWD INTO CENTRAL LA THROUGH THE MID EVENING. 
EFFECTIVE SHEAR REMAINS MORE THAN ADEQUATE FOR SUPERCELLS...WITH
SUFFICIENT LOW LEVEL SHEAR AND LOW LCL HEIGHTS FOR ADDITIONAL
TORNADO THREAT.  ISOLATED DAMAGING WINDS AND LARGE HAIL ARE
ADDITIONAL HAZARDS.

AVIATION...TORNADOES AND A FEW SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WITH HAIL
SURFACE AND ALOFT TO 1.5 INCHES. EXTREME TURBULENCE AND SURFACE
WIND GUSTS TO 60 KNOTS. A FEW CUMULONIMBI WITH MAXIMUM TOPS TO
450. MEAN STORM MOTION VECTOR 25030.


...EVANS

Tornado Watches in Louisiana, 2008Tornado Watches in Texas, 2008Tornado Watches in Mississippi, 2008Every tornado watch in 2008

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; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.