Alert archive / Texas / Tornado Warnings in 1995

Tornado Warning 37, NWS Lake Charles, LA

May 18, 1995Hardin County, Texas

NWS Lake Charles, LA issued this tornado warning at May 18, 1995, 8:35 AM CDT for Hardin County, Texas. It was in force for 55 min.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
May 18, 1995, 8:35 AM CDT (13:35 UTC)
Expired
May 18, 1995, 9:30 AM CDT
In force
55 min
Issued by
NWS Lake Charles, LA
Area
Whole counties

County Hardin County, TX

The nearest sounding before it

Lake Charles Mun, LA (KLCH), launched 12:00Z, 1.6 hours before the alert went out and 117 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 1995-05-18Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 1596 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 1995-05-18The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 185 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
1596 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-57 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
660 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
51 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
185 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
189 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
1.3
Supercell composite
9.5

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KLCH 181337
TORLCH
TXC199-181430-
 
BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES LA
835 AM CDT THU MAY 18 1995
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN LAKE CHARLES HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  930 AM CDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...
 
IN SOUTHEAST TEXAS
 
   ...HARDIN COUNTY
 
AT 835 AM CDT DOPPLER RADAR AND SPOTTERS REPORTED A TORNADO NORTHEAST OF
LIBERTY IN SOUTHEAST TEXAS MOVING EAST AT 35 MPH. BATSON AND SARATOGA IN
HARDIN COUNTY ARE IN THE PATH OF THIS STORM.
 
 
 
 
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.

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 18, 4:34 AM CDT, 4 hours 1 minute before
TXZ180>182-201-215-216-181030-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES LA
430 AM CDT THU MAY 18 1995

...A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH IS IN EFFECT UNTIL 11 AM FOR TYLER...
JASPER...NEWTON...HARDIN...ORANGE...AND JEFFERSON COUNTIES...

AT 430 AM...SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WERE MOVING ACROSS TRINITY AND
NORTHERN SAN JACINTO COUNTIES. THE THUNDERSTORMS WERE MOVING EAST
AT 35 MILES AN HOUR.

RESIDENTS IN THE WATCH AREA SHOULD MONIFTOR THESE DEVELOPING
THUNDERSTORMS AND BE PREPARED TO TAKE ACTION SHOULD THREATENING
WEATHER APPROACH OR A WARNING IS ISSUED.
Special weather statement, May 18, 6:27 AM CDT, 2 hours 8 minutes before
LAZ020-022-027>032-041-181230-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES LA
625 AM CDT THU MAY 18 1995

...A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH IS IN EFFECT UNTIL 11 AM FOR RAPIDES...
AVOYELLES...EVANGELINE...GRANT...LA SALLE...ALLEN...BEUREGARD...
CALCASIEU...AND VERNON PARISHES...

AT 615 AM...NUMEROUS SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WERE SHOWN FROM
AROUND LAKE LIVINGSTON TEXAS TO NER NATCHITOCHES INTO NORTHWEST
LOUISIANA. THESE SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED TO MOVE
INTO PORTIONS OF SOUHWEST AND CENTRAL LOUISIANA.  SOME OF THE
THUNDERSTORMS MAY BE SEVERE.

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 18, 1:39 PM CDTTornado WarningLCHNewton66 min
May 18, 3:04 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLCHHardin, Jefferson56 min
May 18, 4:14 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLCHNewton61 min
May 18, 4:27 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLCHHardin, Jefferson63 min
May 18, 5:18 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLCHNewton57 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.