Alert archive / Texas / Tornado Warnings in 1986

Tornado Warning 12, NWS Lake Charles, LA

July 25, 1986Orange County, Texas

NWS Lake Charles, LA issued this tornado warning at Jul 25, 1986, 7:07 PM CDT for Orange County, Texas. It was in force for 38 min.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Jul 25, 1986, 7:07 PM CDT (00:07 UTC)
Expired
Jul 25, 1986, 7:45 PM CDT
In force
38 min
Issued by
NWS Lake Charles, LA
Area
Whole counties

County Orange County, TX

The radar

The WSR-88D network and its archive begin in 1991, so there is no radar volume for this alert.

The nearest sounding before it

Longview/Gregg, TX (KGGG), launched 00:00Z, 0.1 hours before the alert went out and 257 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, Longview/Gregg, TX at 00:00Z on 1986-07-26Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 1950 joules per kilogram.LCLEL10008507005003002001001 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, Longview/Gregg, TX at 00:00Z on 1986-07-26The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 3 square meters per square second.1939Sfc1 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
1950 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-4 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1726 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
15 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
3 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
51 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.0

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

The text of this product is not in the archive. The NWS text archive before 2002 is incomplete.

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before this tornado warning went out, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.

In the hours before

Special weather statement, Jul 25, 2:42 PM CDT, 4 hours 25 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT AND RADAR SUMMARY
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES LA
240 PM CDT FRI JUL 25 1986

...STRONG THUNDERSTORMS DEVELOPING OVER SOUTHWEST LOUISIANA THIS
AFTERNOON...

AT 225 PM...A BAND OF STRONG THUNDERSTORMS WAS SHOWN FROM NEAR
DE QUINCY TO NEAR KINDER.  OTHER STRONG THUNDERSTORMS WERE SHOWN JUST
SOUTH OF JENNINGS..SOUTH OF FT POLK AND SOUTHEAST OF DERIDDER.

THESE THUNDERSTORMS WILL LIKELY PRODUCE PERIODS OF HEAVY RAIN..GUSTY
WINDS..LOCAL STREET FLOODING AND POSSIBLY SOME SMALL HAIL OVER SOUTHERN
BEAUREGARD AND ALLEN PARISHES AND CALCASIEU AND CAMERON PARISHES AS
THEY MOVE SLOWLY SOUTHWEST.

OTHERWISE..SCATTERED PATCHES OF RAIN ALONG WITH A FEW STRONG
THUNDERSTORMS WERE SHOWN FROM WELL SOUTHEAST OF GALVESTON TO PORT
ARTHUR TO NORTH OF JENA AND TO WELL SOUTHEAST OF MORGAN CITY AND TO
BEYOND 100 MILES SOUTH OF ATCHAFALAYA BAY.
Special weather statement, Jul 25, 3:42 PM CDT, 3 hours 25 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT AND RADAR SUMMARY
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES LA
345 PM CDT FRI JUL 25 1986

...STRONG THUNDERSTORMS CONTINUE OVER SOUTHWEST LOUISIANA THIS
AFTERNOON...

AT 325 PM...A BAND OF STRONG THUNDERSTORMS WAS SHOWN FROM NEAR OAKDALE
TO JUST NORTH OF WHITE LAKE.  OTHER STRONG THUNDERSTORMS WERE SHOWN
BETWEEN DERIDDER AND DE QUINCY AND JUST WEST OF ALEXANDRIA.

THESE THUNDERSTORMS WILL LIKELY PRODUCE PERIODS OF HEAVY RAIN..GUSTY
WINDS..LOCAL STREET FLOODING AND POSSIBLY SOME SMALL HAIL OVER ALLEN..
JEFF DAVIS..AND BEAUREGARD PARISHES DURING THE NEXT HOUR OR TWO AS THEY
MOVE SLOWLY SOUTHWEST.

OTHERWISE..SCATTERED PATCHES OF RAIN AND THUNDERSTORMS WERE SHOWN FROM5
NORTH OF JENA TO EAST AND SOUTH OF BATON ROUGE TO WELL OFFSHORE SOUTH
OF ATCHAFALAYA BAY AND TO THE BEAUMONT AREA AND TO JUST WEST OF
LEESVILLE.
Special weather statement, Jul 25, 4:38 PM CDT, 2 hours 29 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT AND RADAR SUMMARY
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES LA
440 PM CDT FRI JUL 25 1986

...THUNDERSTORMS...WITH VERY HEAVY RAIN...IN THE LAKE CHARLES AREA OF
SOUTHWEST LOUISIAMA...

AT 430 PM THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RADAR SHOWED THUNDERSTORMS WITH
VERY HEAVY RAIN EXTENDING FROM SULPHUR ACROSS LAKE CHARLES TO NEAR THE
COASTLINE JUST EAST OF CAMERON.

THESE THUNDERSTORMS WERE MOVING WEST AT ABOUT 10 MILES AN HOUR. WITH

THIS SLOW MOVEMENT STREET FLOODING WILL LIKELY OCCUR IN AND AROUND
LAKE CHARLES FROM THE PRESENT TIME UNTIL 530PM.

OTHER THUNDERSTORMS WITH VERY HEAVY RAIN WERE OCCURRING ALONG THE
SABINE RIVER JUST WEST OF DEQUINCY AND DERIDDER.

SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS WITH VERY HEAVY RAIN WERE OCCURRING IN CENTRAL
BETWEEN LAFAYETTE AND BATON ROUGE.

A LARGE AREA OF RAIN MIXED WITH ISOLATED HEAVY THUNDERSTORMS WERE
OCCURRING OVER THE GULF OF MEXICO JUST SOUTH OF CAMERON AND WHITE
LAKE OUT TO BEYONDY 90 MILES OFF SHORE.

THE RAIN AND THUNDERSTORMS WERE MOVING WEST AT 10 MILES AN HOUR.
Special weather statement, Jul 25, 5:38 PM CDT, 1 hour 29 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT AND RADAR SUMMARY
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES LA
540 PM CDT FRI JUL 25 1986

...THUNDERSTORMS...WITH VERY HEAVY RAIN...SLOWLY DECREASING AROUND LAKE
CHARLES...

AT 530 PM THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RADAR SHOWED THUNDERSTORMS WITH
VERY HEAVY RAIN OCCURRING FROM JUST WEST OF LAKE CHARLES EXTENDING TO
THE SABINE RIVER WEST OF DERIDDER. THE THUNDERSTORMS AROUND LAKE CHARLES
AND EXTENDING TO THE COAST TO NEAR CAMERON WERE SLOWLY DECREASING AND
IS EXPECTED TO CONTINUE TO DECREASE.

RADAR SHOWED THUNDERSTORMS INCREASING IN CENTRAL LOUISIANA FROM NEAR
BUNKIE EXTENDING SOUTHEAST TO OPELOUSAS.

OTHER THUNDERSTORMS WERE OCCURRING IN CENTRAL LOUISIANA FROM NEAR
NATCHITOCHES TO ABOUR 25 MILES NORTHEAST OF LEESVILLE.

PATCHES OF RAIN AND ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS WERE DECREASING IN THE GULF

OF MEXICO FROM JUST SOUTH OF CAMERON EXTENDING OUT TO BEYOND 90 MILES
OFF SHORE SOUTH OF CAMERON AND VERMILION BAY.

THE RAIN AND THUNDERSTORMS WERE MOVING WEST AT 10 MILES AN HOUR.

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Texas, 1986Every tornado warning in 1986Tornadoes in 1986

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.