Alert archive / Louisiana / Tornado Warnings in 2012

Tornado Warning 43, NWS Lake Charles, LA

March 20, 2012Calcasieu Parish, Louisiana

NWS Lake Charles, LA issued this tornado warning at Mar 20, 2012, 2:46 PM CDT for Calcasieu Parish, Louisiana. It was in force for 29 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 20, 2012, 2:46 PM CDT (19:46 UTC)
Expired
Mar 20, 2012, 3:15 PM CDT
In force
29 min
Issued by
NWS Lake Charles, LA
Area
Storm-based polygon

County Calcasieu Parish, LA

The radar

The Lake Charles radar (KLCH), 42 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 19:46 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.

The watch it was issued in

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

IssuedProductOfficeLasted
Mar 20, 9:46 AM CDTTornado WatchSPC7 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Lake Charles Mun, LA (KLCH), launched 12:00Z, 7.8 hours before the alert went out and 44 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, Lake Charles Mun, LA at 12:00Z on 2012-03-20Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 1368 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.
HodographHodograph, Lake Charles Mun, LA at 12:00Z on 2012-03-20The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 225 square meters per square second.193958Sfc1 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
1368 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-14 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
555 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
40 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
225 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
338 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
1.2
Supercell composite
8.8

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

076 
WFUS54 KLCH 201946
TORLCH
LAC019-202015-
/O.NEW.KLCH.TO.W.0043.120320T1946Z-120320T2015Z/

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES LA
246 PM CDT TUE MAR 20 2012

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN LAKE CHARLES HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
  NORTHWESTERN CALCASIEU PARISH IN SOUTHWEST LOUISIANA...
  THIS INCLUDES VINTON...

* UNTIL 315 PM CDT

* AT 241 PM CDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE METEOROLOGISTS DETECTED A
  SEVERE THUNDERSTORM CAPABLE OF PRODUCING A TORNADO 7 MILES
  SOUTHWEST OF VINTON...MOVING NORTHEAST AT 20 MPH.

* THE TORNADO WILL BE NEAR...
  VINTON BY 305 PM CDT...
  EDGERLY AND LUNITA BY 315 PM CDT...

PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...

NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RADAR INDICATES A TORNADO MAY FORM AT ANY
TIME. TAKE COVER NOW! ABANDON MOBILE HOMES AND VEHICLES. MOVE TO AN
INTERIOR ROOM OR HALLWAY ON THE LOWEST FLOOR AWAY FROM WINDOWS.

A TORNADO WATCH REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 500 PM CDT TUESDAY AFTERNOON
FOR SOUTHWESTERN LOUISIANA AND SOUTHEAST TEXAS.

&&

PLEASE REPORT SEVERE WEATHER TO THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE AT
337-477-5285 EXTENSION 1.

LAT...LON 3012 9370 3014 9370 3014 9369 3015 9371
      3017 9370 3018 9371 3040 9359 3040 9356
      3027 9338 3010 9368
TIME...MOT...LOC 1947Z 220DEG 15KT 3016 9366

$$

25

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Mar 20, 9:33 AM CDTRiver Flood WarningLCHAllen7 days
Mar 20, 9:33 AM CDTRiver Flood WarningLCHAllen, Jefferson Davis9 days
Mar 20, 9:33 AM CDTRiver Flood WarningLCHCalcasieu7 days
Mar 20, 9:33 AM CDTRiver Flood WarningLCHBeauregard5 days
Mar 20, 9:33 AM CDTRiver Flood WarningLCHAllen6 days
Mar 20, 9:33 AM CDTRiver Flood WarningLCHAcadia, Allen, Evangeline, Jefferson Davis6 days
Mar 20, 9:33 AM CDTRiver Flood WarningLCHAcadia, Jefferson Davis4 days
Mar 20, 2:43 PM CDTFlash Flood WarningLCHBeauregard, Vernon5 hr
Mar 20, 3:18 PM CDTFlash Flood WarningLCHBeauregard, Calcasieu6 hr
Mar 20, 6:05 PM CDTFlash Flood WarningLCHVernon3 hr

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Louisiana, 2012Every tornado warning in 2012Tornadoes in 2012

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; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.