Alert archive / Texas / Tornado Warnings in 1995

Tornado Warning 29, NWS Lake Charles, LA

April 20, 1995Jefferson County, Texas

NWS Lake Charles, LA issued this tornado warning at Apr 20, 1995, 3:55 PM CDT for Jefferson County, Texas. It was in force for 65 min.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Apr 20, 1995, 3:55 PM CDT (20:55 UTC)
Expired
Apr 20, 1995, 5:00 PM CDT
In force
65 min
Issued by
NWS Lake Charles, LA
Area
Whole counties

County Jefferson County, TX

The nearest sounding before it

Lake Charles Mun, LA (KLCH), launched 12:00Z, 8.9 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 1995-04-20Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 1413 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°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 1995-04-20The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 170 square meters per square second.1939587897Sfc1 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
1413 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-1 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
589 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
43 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
170 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
198 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
1.4
Supercell composite
9.3

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KBPT 202055
TORBPT
TXC245-202200-
 
BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PORT ARTHUR TX
355 PM CDT THU APR 20 1995
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN PORT ARTHUR HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  500 PM CDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONS......
 
IN SOUTHEAST TEXAS
 
   ...NORTHERN JEFFERSON COUNTY
 
 
AT 355 PM THIS AFTERNOON...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR
INDICATED A TORNADIC THUNDERSTORM ENTERING JEFFERSON COUNTY 12 MILES
WEST SOUTHWEST OF CHINA. THIS STORM HAS A HISTORY OF PRODUCING
TORNADO... GOLFBALL TO GRAPEFRUIT SIZED HAIL...DEADLY LIGHTNING...AND
VERY HEAVY RAINFALL. THIS STORM WILL MOVE THROUGH NORTHERN JEFFERSON
COUNTY BETWEEN 400 AND 430 THIS AFTERNOON. THIS IS A VERY DANGEROUS
STORM....TAKE COVER IMMEDIATELY.
 
THIS IS A DANGEROUS STORM SITUATION.  ACT QUICKLY.  IF YOU ARE
IN THE PATH OF THIS TORNADO MOVE TO A SHELTER BELOW GROUND IF
AVAILABLE.  OTHERWISE...GO TO A SMZALL INTERIOR ROOM ON THE LOWEST
FLOOR POSSIBLE.  AVOID WINDOWS.  ABANDON CARS AND MOBILE HOMES
FOR A REINFORCED BUILDING OR GET INTO A DITCH OR CULVERT.
 
LINHARES
 
&
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, Apr 20, 1:08 PM CDT, 2 hours 47 minutes before
TXZ165-152-167-166-202015-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PORT ARTHUR TX
108 PM CDT THU APR 20 1995

...A TORNADO WATCH REMAINS IN EFFECT FOR ALL OF EAST TEXAS AND A PORTION
OF SOUTHEAST TEXAS UNTIL 400 PM...

AT 105 PM THIS AFTERNOON...A LINE OF STRONG THUNDERSTORMS WAS LOCATED
FROM NEAR MONROE LOUISIANA TO NATCHITOCHES LOUISIANA TO NEAR LUFKIN TO
HUNTSVILLE TO COLUMBUS. THIS THUNDERSTORM ACTIVITY WAS MOVING TO THE
NORTHEAST AT 25 TO 30 MILES AN HOUR.

A STRONG THUNDERSTORM WAS LOCATED NEAR LUFKIN IN ANGELINA COUNTY. THIS
STORM WILL BE CAPABLE OF PRODUCING SMALL HAIL AND GUSTY WINDS.

STAY TUNED TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO OR YOUR LOCAL MEDIA SOURCES FOR FURTHER
WEATHER INFORMATION.

LINHARES

NNNN
Special weather statement, Apr 20, 3:15 PM CDT, 40 minutes before
TXZ165-201-181-511-215-182-152-216-167-166-180-202115-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PORT ARTHUR TX
315 PM CDT THU APR 20 1995

...A TORNADO WATCH REMAINS IN EFFECT FOR ALL OF EAST AND SOUTHEAST TEXAS
UNTIL 8 PM TONIGHT...

AT 315 PM CDT...DOPPLER WEATHER RADAR INDICATED A POSSIBLE TORNADIC
THUNDERSTORM LOCATED 5 MILES NORTHWEST OF DEER PARK AT I-10.

A POSSIBLE SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WAS LOCATED NEAR CORRIGAN IN POLK
COUNTY.

ANOTHER AREA OF POSSIBLE SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WERE LOCATED 10 MILES AND
15 MILES SOUTHWEST OF PALESTINE.

ALL OF THESE STORMS WERE MOVING NORTHEAST AT 40 MILES AN HOUR.
THESE STORMS ARE CAPABLE OF PRODUCING DAMAGING WINDS...LARGE
HAIL...DEADLY LIGHTNING...AND POSSIBLE TORNADOS.

STAY TUNED TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO FOR FURTHER UPDATES OR STATEMENTS
ISSUED BY THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE.

MW

NNNN

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Apr 20, 10:47 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLCHAngelina58 min
Apr 20, 11:16 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLCHNacogdoches, San Augustine59 min
Apr 20, 1:40 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLCHSan Augustine50 min
Apr 20, 3:38 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLCHAngelina67 min
Apr 20, 4:31 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLCHSabine44 min
Apr 20, 4:34 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLCHJasper, Newton41 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Texas, 1995Every tornado warning in 1995Tornadoes in 1995

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.