Alert archive / Texas / Tornado Warnings in 1995

Tornado Warning 56, NWS Lake Charles, LA

December 18, 1995Newton County, Texas

NWS Lake Charles, LA issued this tornado warning at Dec 18, 1995, 7:51 AM CST for Newton County, Texas. It was in force for 39 min.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Dec 18, 1995, 7:51 AM CST (13:51 UTC)
Expired
Dec 18, 1995, 8:30 AM CST
In force
39 min
Issued by
NWS Lake Charles, LA
Area
Whole counties

County Newton County, TX

The radar

The Ft Polk radar (KPOE), 84 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 13:52 UTC, the scan nearest the moment this went out.

Open the radar archive at this moment

The archived warnings, watches and discussions in force at that minute are drawn over the scan, this one among them.

The nearest sounding before it

Lake Charles Mun, LA (KLCH), launched 12:00Z, 1.9 hours before the alert went out and 91 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 1995-12-18Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 454 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 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 1995-12-18The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 336 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
454 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-51 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
538 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
60 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
336 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
394 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
5.9

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KLCH 181354
TORLCH
TXC351-181430-
 
BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES LA
751 AM CST MON DEC 18 1995
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN LAKE CHARLES HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  830 AM CST
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...
 
IN SOUTHEAST TEXAS
 
   ...NEWTON COUNTY
 
AT 750 AM...DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A TORNADO 15 MILES NORTHWEST OF
NEWTON MOVING NORTHEAST AT 30 MPH AND WILL EXIT NEWTON COUNTY BY 830 AM.
THIS STORM HAS HAD A HISTORY OF DOWNING TREES IN TYLER COUNTY.
 
 
 
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...SEE<K 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

Local storm report, Dec 18, 7:36 AM CST, 15 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES LA
736 AM CST MON DEC 18 1995

TIME(CST)  .....CITY LOCATION.....STATE   ...EVENT/REMARKS...
DATE       ....COUNTY LOCATION....

0710 AM    1 S WOODVILLE           TX     WIND DAMAGE
12/18/95   TYLER                          TREE BLOWN DOWN.

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Dec 18, 5:40 AM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLCHNewton20 min
Dec 18, 6:49 AM CSTTornado WarningLCHTyler41 min
Dec 18, 7:19 AM CSTTornado WarningLCHJasper41 min
Dec 18, 10:58 AM CSTFlash Flood WarningLCHJefferson3 hr

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; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.