Alert archive / Texas / Tornado Warnings in 1989

Tornado Warning 10, NWS Lake Charles, LA

May 17, 1989Nacogdoches County, Texas

NWS Lake Charles, LA issued this tornado warning at May 17, 1989, 5:46 PM CDT for Nacogdoches County, Texas. It was in force for 44 min.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
May 17, 1989, 5:46 PM CDT (22:46 UTC)
Expired
May 17, 1989, 6:30 PM CDT
In force
44 min
Issued by
NWS Lake Charles, LA
Area
Whole counties

County Nacogdoches 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 12:00Z, 10.8 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, Longview/Gregg, TX at 12:00Z on 1989-05-17Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 207 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, Longview/Gregg, TX at 12:00Z on 1989-05-17The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 272 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
207 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-153 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
560 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
46 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
272 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
217 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
2.2

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KBPT 172245
TORBPT
TXC347-172330-
 
BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PORT ARTHUR TX
546 PM CDT WED MAY 17 1989
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN PORT ARTHUR HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  630 PM CDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTY...
 
IN NORTHEAST TEXAS
          ...NACOGDOCHES
 
LUFKIN DEPARTMENT OF SAFETY REPORTED A TORNADO NEAR CENTRAL IN
NORTHWEST ANGELINA COUNTY MOVING NORTHEAST 30 MPH.
 
THIS TORNADO WILL MOVE NEAR THE CITY OF NACOGDOCHES...AND THE
COMMUNITIES OF  CENTRAL HEIGHTS...APPLEBY...AND GARRISON.
 
 
IF YOU ARE IN THE PATH OF A TORNADO...THE SAFEST PLACE IS A
BASEMENT.  GET UNDER A WORKBENCH OR PIECE OF STURDY FURNITURE.
IF NO BASEMENT IS AVAILABLE...SEEK SHELTER IN AN INTERIOR ROOM
SUCH AS A CLOSET ON THE LOWEST FLOOR.  USE BLANKETS...PILLOWS...
OR CUSHIONS TO COVER YOUR BODY.  AVOID WINDOWS.
 
NNNN

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 17, 2:07 PM CDT, 3 hours 39 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PORT ARTHUR TX
205 PM CDT WED MAY 17 1989

...TORNADO WATCH CONTINUES UNTIL 4 PM CDT FOR THE EAST TEXAS LAKES
AREA INCLUDING THE LUFKIN VICINITY...

...A FLASH FLOOD WATCH CONTINUES FOR THE EAST TEXAS LAKES AREA
THROUGH TODAY..

AT 2 PM CDT RADAR SHOWED THUNDERSTORMS DEVELOPING IN THE EAST TEXAS
LAKES AREA. THE STRONGEST THUNDERSTORM WAS NOTED IN THE SOUTHERN END
OF SAM RAYBURN RESERVOIR. THE THUNDERSTORMS WERE MOVING TO THE NORTH
NEAR 30 MPH.

RESIDENTS IN THE EAST TEXAS LAKES AREA SHOULD CONTINUE TO LISTEN TO
YOUR NOAA WEATHER RADIO..TV OR OTHER RADIO FOR LATER STATEMENTS AND
POSSIBLE WARNINGS.

JAC
Special weather statement, May 17, 4:34 PM CDT, 1 hour 12 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT AND RADAR SUMMARY
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES LA
435 PM CDT WED MAY 17 1989

...A FLASH FLOOD WATCH REMAINS IN EFFECT TONIGHT FOR VERNON PARISH
IN SOUTHWEST LOUISIANA...

AT 425 PM CDT...A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WAS SHOWN EAST OF FLORIEN
LOUISIANA MOVING NORTHEAST AT 35 MPH.

ELSEWHERE ISOLATED STRONG THUNDERSTORMS CONTINUE FROM SOUTHWEST OF
LUFKIN TEXAS NORTHEAST TO OVER THE LAKES OF SAM RAYBURN AND TOLEDO
BEND TO WEST OF NATCHITOCHES LOUISIANA.

OTHERWISE RAIN AND ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS WERE NOTED OVER MUCH OF
SOUTHEAST TEXAS SPILLING INTO LOUISIANA NORTH OF A DEQUINCY AND KINDER
LINE.

ALL MOVEMENT WAS NORTHEAST AT 35 MPH.
Special weather statement, May 17, 5:37 PM CDT, 9 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT AND RADAR SUMMARY
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES LA
535 PM CDT WED MAY 17 1989

...A TORNADO WATCH IS IN EFFECT UNTIL 11 PM CDT THIS WEDNESDAY FOR
CENTRAL LOUISIANA...AND PARTS OF SOUTHWEST LOUISIANA EXCEPT FOR
CAMERON AND VERMILLION PARISHES...
...A FLASH FLOOD WATCH REMAINS IN EFFECT TONIGHT FOR VERNON PARISH
IN SOUTHWEST LOUISIANA...

AT 525 PM CDT...A STRONG THUNDERSTORMS WERE MOVING EXTREME NORTHWEST
GRANT PARISH AND SOUTH OF NATCHITOCHES..MOVEMENT WAS NORTHEAST AT 25 MPH.

ELSEWHERE ISOLATED STRONG THUNDERSTORMS CONTINUE FROM NORTHEAST OF CONROE
TEXAS TO NORTH OF LUFKIN AND TO THE NORTH OF A LINE FROM JASPER...LEESVILLE
...AND ALEXANDRIA.

OTHERWISE RAIN AND ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS WERE NOTED OVER MUCH OF
SOUTHEAST TEXAS MAINLY IN VERNON PARISH IN SOUTHWEST LOUISIANA.
Special weather statement, May 17, 5:45 PM CDT, 1 minute before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT AND RADAR SUMMARY
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES LA
535 PM CDT WED MAY 17 1989

...A TORNADO WATCH IS IN EFFECT UNTIL 11 PM CDT THIS WEDNESDAY FOR
CENTRAL LOUISIANA...AND PARTS OF SOUTHWEST LOUISIANA EXCEPT FOR
CAMERON AND VERMILLION PARISHES...
...A FLASH FLOOD WATCH REMAINS IN EFFECT TONIGHT FOR VERNON PARISH
IN SOUTHWEST LOUISIANA...

AT 525 PM CDT... STRONG THUNDERSTORMS WERE MOVING THRU EXTREME NORTHWEST
GRANT PARISH AND SOUTH OF NATCHITOCHES..MOVEMENT WAS NORTHEAST AT 25 MPH.

ELSEWHERE ISOLATED STRONG THUNDERSTORMS CONTINUE FROM NORTHEAST OF CONROE
TEXAS TO NORTH OF LUFKIN AND TO THE NORTH OF A LINE FROM JASPER...LEESVILLE
...AND ALEXANDRIA.

OTHERWISE RAIN AND ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS WERE NOTED OVER MUCH OF
SOUTHEAST TEXAS AND MAINLY IN VERNON PARISH IN SOUTHWEST LOUISIANA.

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 17, 6:16 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLCHAngelina59 min
May 17, 6:39 PM CDTTornado WarningLCHAngelina66 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Texas, 1989Every tornado warning in 1989Tornadoes in 1989

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.