Alert archive / Texas / Tornado Warnings in 1987

Tornado Warning 11, NWS Lake Charles, LA

May 31, 1987Jefferson County, Texas

NWS Lake Charles, LA issued this tornado warning at May 31, 1987, 9:57 AM CDT for Jefferson County, Texas. It was in force for 33 min.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
May 31, 1987, 9:57 AM CDT (14:57 UTC)
Expired
May 31, 1987, 10:30 AM CDT
In force
33 min
Issued by
NWS Lake Charles, LA
Area
Whole counties

County Jefferson 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

Lake Charles Mun, LA (KLCH), launched 12:00Z, 3.0 hours before the alert went out and 96 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 1987-05-31Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 916 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 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 1987-05-31The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 22 square meters per square second.193958Sfc1 km3 km6 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
916 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-5 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
610 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
39 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
22 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
16 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.0

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KBPT 311501
TORBPT
TXC361-245-311530-

BULLETIN-EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED

TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PORT ARTHUR TX
959 AM CDT SUN MAY 31 1987

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A TORNADO WARNING FOR PERSONS
IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTIES OF

TEXAS...
         JEFFERSON AND ORANGE UNTIL 1030 AM CDT.

AT 955 AM CDT WEATHER RADAR INDICATED TORNADOS NEAR PORT ARTHUR AND     
ORANGE MOVING NORTHEAST AT 20 MPH.
5
AT 956 AM CDT, THE DPS REPORTED A TORNADO NEAR THE OLD DON DRIVE IN 
IN NORTH PORT ARTHUR.

PERSONS NEAR ORANGE, PORT ARTHUR AND MID-COUNTY TAKE COVER
IMMEDIATELY.

DCG

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, May 31, 8:41 AM CDT, 1 hour 16 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT AND RADAR SUMMARY
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES LA
845 AM CDT SUN MAY 31 1987

AT 825 AM...A ISOLATED STRONG THUNDERSTORMS WAS OVER CENTRAL BEAUREGARD
PARISH JUST SOUTH OF DE RIDDER.
MOVEMENT WAS TO THE NORTH AT 25 MILES AN HOUR.

THIS THUNDERSTORM WILL MOVE INTO VERNON PARISH AND PESONS IN THE AREA OF
THIS STORM SHOULD BE ALERT FOR THREATING WEATHER SUCH AS STRONG GUSTY
WINDS AND VERY HEAVY RAINS WHICH MAY PRODUCE FLOODING OF STREETS AND
LOW LYNING AREAS.

ELSEWHERE...SCATTERED THUNDERSHOWERS AND RAINSHOWERS WERE OCCURRING OVER
SOUTHEAST TEXAS AND SOUTHERN LOUISIANA FROM THE HOUSTON AND GALVESTON
AREA NORTHWARD TO THE TOLEDO BEND RESERVOIR.

SCATTERED RAINSHOWERS CONTINUED ALONG THE COAST AND THE COASTAL WATERS
NEAR SABINE PASS TEXAS...FROM LAFAYETTE THE VERMILION BAY AND SOUTH OF
ATCHAFALAYA BAY.
MOVEMENT OF THESE THUNDERSHOWERS AND RAINSHOWERS WAS TO THE NORTHEAST
AT 25 MILES AN HOUR.
Special weather statement, May 31, 9:36 AM CDT, 21 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT AND RADAR SUMMARY
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES LA
945 AM CDT SUN MAY 31 1987

AT 925 AM...SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS WERE OCCURRING OVER SOUTHWESTERN
BEAUREGARD PARISH. MOVEMENT WAS TO THE NORTHEAST AT 25 MILES AN HOUR.

THESE THUNDERSTORMS WILL MOVE INTO VERNON PARISH AND PERSONS IN THE
AREA OF THESE STORM SHOULD BE ALERT FOR THREATING WEATHER SUCH AS
STRONG GUSTY WINDS AND VERY HEAVY RAINS WHICH MAY PRODUCE FLOODING OF
STREETS AND LOW LYNING AREAS.

ELSEWHERE...SCATTERED THUNDERSHOWERS AND RAINSHOWERS CONTINUED OVER
SOUTHEAST TEXAS AND SOUTHERN LOUISIANA FROM GALVESTON TO
THE TOLEDO BEND RESERVOIR AND EASTWARD TO NEAR ALEXANDRIA.

SCATTERED RAINSHOWERS CONTINUED ALONG THE COAST AND THE COASTAL WATERS
NEAR SABINE PASS TEXAS AND FROM WHITE LAKE TO ATCHAFALAYA BAY.
.
MOVEMENT OF THESE THUNDERSHOWERS AND RAINSHOWERS WAS TO THE NORTHEAST
AT 25 MILES AN HOUR.

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Texas, 1987Every tornado warning in 1987Tornadoes in 1987

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.