Alert archive / Louisiana / Tornado Watches in 2013

Tornado Watch 37

February 21, 201316 parishes in Louisiana; 6 counties in Texas

The Storm Prediction Center issued this tornado watch at Feb 21, 2013, 1:37 PM CST for 16 parishes in Louisiana; 6 counties in Texas. It was in force for 5 hr.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued
Feb 21, 2013, 1:37 PM CST (19:37 UTC)
Expired
Feb 21, 2013, 7:00 PM CST
In force
5 hr
Issued by
the Storm Prediction Center
Largest hail expected
1.5 in
Strongest gust expected
60 kt
All 22 counties

Acadia Parish, LA, Allen Parish, LA, Avoyelles Parish, LA, Beauregard Parish, LA, Calcasieu Parish, LA, Caldwell Parish, LA, Evangeline Parish, LA, Grant Parish, LA, Jefferson Davis Parish, LA, LaSalle Parish, LA, Natchitoches Parish, LA, Rapides Parish, LA, Sabine Parish, LA, Saint Landry Parish, LA, Vernon Parish, LA, Winn Parish, LA, Hardin County, TX, Jasper County, TX, Newton County, TX, Orange County, TX, Sabine County, TX, Tyler County, TX

What SPC expected

The probabilities SPC published with the watch, for the watch area over its life.

Two or more tornadoes
30%
One or more EF2 to EF5 tornadoes
20%
Ten or more severe wind reports
40%
One or more gusts of 65 knots or more
30%
Ten or more severe hail reports
20%
One or more hailstones of 2 inches or more
10%
Six or more combined severe hail and wind reports
70%

Warnings issued inside it

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Feb 21, 1:46 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLCHJasper, Tyler59 min
Feb 21, 1:59 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLCHVernon46 min
Feb 21, 2:22 PM CSTTornado WarningSHVSabine23 min
Feb 21, 2:53 PM CSTTornado WarningLCHVernon22 min
Feb 21, 3:06 PM CSTTornado WarningSHVNatchitoches24 min
Feb 21, 3:28 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLCHRapides, Vernon62 min
Feb 21, 4:20 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningSHVLaSalle25 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, 7.6 hours before the alert went out and 82 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 2013-02-21Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 13 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, Lake Charles Mun, LA at 12:00Z on 2013-02-21The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 509 square meters per square second.1939587897117136Sfc1 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
13 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-343 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
461 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
49 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
509 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
644 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
7.8

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

092 
WWUS20 KWNS 211939
SEL7  
SPC WW 211939
LAZ000-TXZ000-220100-

URGENT - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
TORNADO WATCH NUMBER 37
NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK
140 PM CST THU FEB 21 2013

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

       CENTRAL AND SOUTHWEST LOUISIANA
       PORTIONS OF SOUTHEAST TEXAS

EFFECTIVE THIS THURSDAY AFTERNOON AND EVENING FROM 140 PM UNTIL
700 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 EAST AND WEST OF A LINE FROM 5 MILES EAST SOUTHEAST OF LAKE
CHARLES LOUISIANA TO 25 MILES NORTHEAST OF NATCHITOCHES
LOUISIANA.  FOR A COMPLETE DEPICTION OF THE WATCH SEE THE
ASSOCIATED WATCH OUTLINE UPDATE (WOUS64 KWNS WOU7).

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 CONTINUE TO INTENSIFY ALONG AND IN
ADVANCE OF A COLD FRONT AND NORTHWARD-MOVING WARM FRONT. MOISTENING
BOUNDARY LAYER AND SUFFICIENT DEEP-LAYER SHEAR EXISTS FOR SUPERCELLS
AS WELL AS BOWING SEGMENTS. TORNADO POTENTIAL WILL BE RELATIVELY
HIGHEST FOR STORMS IN THE VICINITY OF THE WARM FRONT AND POSSIBLY
WITH MESOVORTICES ASSOCIATED WITH STRONGER BOWING SEGMENTS.

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
400. MEAN STORM MOTION VECTOR 25035.


...HART

SPC that day

Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Feb 21, 1:22 PM CSTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAscension, Assumption, Avoyelles, Concordia, East Baton Rouge, East Feliciana and 14 more113 min
Feb 21, 3:15 PM CSTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAllen, Avoyelles, Beauregard, Catahoula, Evangeline, Grant and 4 more90 min
Feb 21, 3:48 PM CSTMesoscale DiscussionSPCConcordia, Franklin, Saint Helena, Tensas, Washington57 min
Feb 20, 10:52 PM CSTMesoscale DiscussionSPCArcher, Baylor, Brown, Callahan, Childress, Clay and 30 more113 min
Feb 20, 11:49 PM CSTMesoscale DiscussionSPCGray, Hemphill, Lipscomb, Ochiltree, Roberts, Wheeler6 hr
Feb 21, 3:19 AM CSTMesoscale DiscussionSPCConcho, Gillespie, Kimble, Llano, McCulloch, Mason and 3 more86 min
Feb 21, 5:08 AM CSTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBosque, Brown, Callahan, Clay, Comanche, Cooke and 16 more97 min
Feb 21, 7:22 AM CSTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBell, Brazos, Burleson, Falls, Freestone, Grimes and 13 more83 min
Feb 21, 10:53 AM CSTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAngelina, Chambers, Hardin, Harris, Jasper, Jefferson and 6 more97 min

Nearby

Tornado Watches in Louisiana, 2013Tornado Watches in Texas, 2013Every tornado watch in 2013

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.