Alert archive / Louisiana / Tornado Watches in 2013

Tornado Watch 580

December 21, 20135 counties in Arkansas; 39 parishes in Louisiana; 39 counties in Texas

The Storm Prediction Center issued this tornado watch at Dec 21, 2013, 9:46 AM CST for 5 counties in Arkansas; 39 parishes in Louisiana; 39 counties in Texas. It was in force for 8 hr.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued
Dec 21, 2013, 9:46 AM CST (15:46 UTC)
Expired
Dec 21, 2013, 6:00 PM CST
In force
8 hr
Issued by
the Storm Prediction Center
Largest hail expected
1 in
Strongest gust expected
60 kt
All 83 counties

Ashley County, AR, Chicot County, AR, Columbia County, AR, Lafayette County, AR, Union County, AR, Acadia Parish, LA, Allen Parish, LA, Avoyelles Parish, LA, Beauregard Parish, LA, Bienville Parish, LA, Bossier Parish, LA, Caddo Parish, LA, Calcasieu Parish, LA, Caldwell Parish, LA, Cameron Parish, LA, Catahoula Parish, LA, Claiborne Parish, LA, Concordia Parish, LA, De Soto Parish, LA, East Carroll Parish, LA, Evangeline Parish, LA, Franklin Parish, LA, Grant Parish, LA, Jackson Parish, LA, Jefferson Davis Parish, LA, Lafayette Parish, LA, LaSalle Parish, LA, Lincoln Parish, LA, Madison Parish, LA, Morehouse Parish, LA, Natchitoches Parish, LA, Ouachita Parish, LA, Rapides Parish, LA, Red River Parish, LA, Richland Parish, LA, Sabine Parish, LA, Saint Landry Parish, LA, Tensas Parish, LA, Union Parish, LA, Vermilion Parish, LA, Vernon Parish, LA, Webster Parish, LA, West Carroll Parish, LA, Winn Parish, LA, Angelina County, TX, Austin County, TX, Brazoria County, TX, Brazos County, TX, Burleson County, TX, Chambers County, TX, Cherokee County, TX, Colorado County, TX, Fort Bend County, TX, Galveston County, TX, Grimes County, TX, Hardin County, TX, Harris County, TX, Harrison County, TX, Houston County, TX, Jackson County, TX, Jasper County, TX, Jefferson County, TX, Liberty County, TX, Madison County, TX, Marion County, TX, Matagorda County, TX, Montgomery County, TX, Nacogdoches County, TX, Newton County, TX, Orange County, TX, Panola County, TX, Polk County, TX, Rusk County, TX, Sabine County, TX, San Augustine County, TX, San Jacinto County, TX, Shelby County, TX, Trinity County, TX, Tyler County, TX, Walker County, TX, Waller County, TX, Washington County, TX, Wharton County, TX

The radar

The Lake Charles radar (KLCH), 139 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 15:46 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.

What SPC expected

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

Two or more tornadoes
50%
One or more EF2 to EF5 tornadoes
40%
Ten or more severe wind reports
40%
One or more gusts of 65 knots or more
20%
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

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Dec 21, 12:37 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningSHVBienville, De Soto, Natchitoches, Red River, Sabine, Winn53 min
Dec 21, 1:08 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningSHVBienville, Claiborne, Jackson, Lincoln, Natchitoches, Webster67 min
Dec 21, 1:36 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningSHVAngelina, Nacogdoches, Panola, Rusk, San Augustine, Shelby54 min
Dec 21, 1:39 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningSHVUnion66 min
Dec 21, 2:11 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningSHVDe Soto, Natchitoches, Sabine64 min
Dec 21, 2:49 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLCHBeauregard, Vernon56 min
Dec 21, 2:52 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningSHVBienville, Claiborne, De Soto, Natchitoches, Red River, Webster53 min
Dec 21, 3:14 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningSHVUnion61 min
Dec 21, 3:17 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningSHVGrant, Jackson, Natchitoches, Red River, Sabine, Winn58 min
Dec 21, 3:26 PM CSTTornado WarningSHVJackson, Lincoln, Ouachita, Union49 min
Dec 21, 3:44 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningSHVUnion61 min
Dec 21, 3:52 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningSHVGrant, Jackson, Natchitoches, Winn53 min
Dec 21, 3:55 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningJANAshley80 min
Dec 21, 4:09 PM CSTTornado WarningJANAshley36 min
Dec 21, 4:11 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningJANFranklin, Richland49 min
Dec 21, 4:13 PM CSTTornado WarningJANAshley32 min
Dec 21, 4:14 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningSHVCaldwell, Grant, Jackson, LaSalle, Ouachita, Winn61 min
Dec 21, 4:33 PM CSTTornado WarningLCHRapides, Vernon27 min
Dec 21, 4:38 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningJANChicot52 min
Dec 21, 4:42 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningJANEast Carroll, West Carroll63 min
Dec 21, 4:48 PM CSTTornado WarningJANChicot27 min
Dec 21, 4:58 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningJANFranklin, Madison, Richland62 min
Dec 21, 4:58 PM CSTTornado WarningLCHRapides32 min
Dec 21, 5:06 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningJANChicot39 min
Dec 21, 5:14 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningJANCatahoula, Franklin61 min
Dec 21, 5:17 PM CSTTornado WarningJANEast Carroll43 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, 3.8 hours before the alert went out and 140 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 2013-12-21Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 509 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 2013-12-21The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 54 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
509 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-112 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
558 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
58 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
54 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
165 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.2
Supercell composite
0.7

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

SPC that day

Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Dec 20, 6:44 PM CSTMesoscale DiscussionSPCClark, Dallas, Garland, Grant, Hempstead, Hot Spring and 11 more91 min
Dec 20, 8:18 PM CSTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBenton6 hr
Dec 20, 10:42 PM CSTMesoscale DiscussionSPCMiller2 hr
Dec 21, 2:31 AM CSTMesoscale DiscussionSPCClark, Clay, Cleburne, Columbia, Conway, Craighead and 30 more2 hr
Dec 21, 7:57 AM CSTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAshley, Bradley, Calhoun, Cleveland, Columbia, Drew and 3 more63 min
Dec 21, 10:45 AM CSTMesoscale DiscussionSPCArkansas, Bradley, Calhoun, Cleveland, Crittenden, Desha and 8 more60 min
Dec 21, 12:01 PM CSTTornado WatchSPCArkansas, Bradley, Calhoun, Cleveland, Crittenden, Dallas and 10 more8 hr
Dec 21, 12:30 PM CSTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAshley, Chicot, Columbia, Lafayette, Union60 min
Dec 21, 2:50 PM CSTMesoscale DiscussionSPCArkansas, Bradley, Crittenden, Cross, Desha, Drew and 6 more55 min
Dec 21, 5:06 PM CSTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAscension, Concordia, East Baton Rouge, East Carroll, East Feliciana, Iberville and 9 more84 min
Dec 21, 5:22 PM CSTTornado WatchSPCAcadia, Allen, Ascension, Avoyelles, Catahoula, Concordia and 21 more7 hr
Dec 21, 5:46 PM CSTTornado WatchSPCAlcorn, Benton, Calhoun, Chickasaw, Coahoma, DeSoto and 16 more6 hr
Dec 21, 6:20 AM CSTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBell, Blanco, Bosque, Brown, Burnet, Coleman and 31 more115 min
Dec 21, 9:53 AM CSTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAtascosa, Bastrop, Bee, Bexar, Caldwell, DeWitt and 11 more67 min
Dec 21, 10:29 AM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WatchSPCAransas, Atascosa, Bastrop, Bee, Caldwell, Calhoun and 14 more3 hr

Nearby

Tornado Watches in Louisiana, 2013Tornado Watches in Texas, 2013Tornado Watches in Arkansas, 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; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.