Alert archive / Louisiana / Tornado Warnings in 1996

Tornado Warning 1, NWS Lake Charles, LA

January 26, 1996Allen Parish, Louisiana

NWS Lake Charles, LA issued this tornado warning at Jan 26, 1996, 10:31 AM CST for Allen Parish, Louisiana. It was in force for 44 min. No storm report in the archive falls inside the area while it was in force.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Jan 26, 1996, 10:31 AM CST (16:31 UTC)
Expired
Jan 26, 1996, 11:15 AM CST
In force
44 min
Issued by
NWS Lake Charles, LA
Area
Whole counties

County Allen Parish, LA

The nearest sounding before it

Lake Charles Mun, LA (KLCH), launched 12:00Z, 4.5 hours before the alert went out and 69 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 1996-01-26Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 732 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, Lake Charles Mun, LA at 12:00Z on 1996-01-26The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 239 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
732 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-16 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
509 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
48 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
239 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
289 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
5.0

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KLCH 261631
TORLCH
LAC003-261715-
 
BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES LA
1031 AM CST FRI JAN 26 1996
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN LAKE CHARLES HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 1115 AM CST
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...
 
IN SOUTHWEST LOUISIANA
 
   ...ALLEN PARISH
 
AT 1029 AM...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED
A TORNADO 9 MILES NORTHWEST OF KINDER NEAR LEBLANC. MOVEMENT
WAS NORTHEAST AT 30 MPH. OBERLIN IS 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 IBNTERIOR 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.

NWS Lake Charles, LA wrote its last area forecast discussion before this tornado warning went out at Jan 26, 4:16 AM CST, 6 hours 15 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jan 26, 4:16 AM CST, 6 hours 15 minutes before
SOUTHEAST TEXAS..SOUTHWEST AND CENTRAL LOUISIANA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES LA
414 AM CST FRI JAN 26 1996

COLD FRONT PUSHING THROUGH SE OK INTO NE TX SHULD PASS THRU OUR AREA
THIS EVG. UPPER LVL DYNAMICS STILL LOOK TO BE NORTH OF AREA BUT MSTR
RETURN HAS BEEN BETTER THAN EXPECTED. KLCH/KPOE VWP'S SHOW PRETTY
GOOD LOW LVL JET AND DIRECTIONAL SHEAR. MAY SEE A FEW SVR BEFORE THE
SHOW IS OVER. 8

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jan 26, 8:23 AM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLCHCalcasieu37 min
Jan 26, 8:39 AM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLCHAcadia, Jefferson Davis36 min
Jan 26, 9:22 AM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLCHAllen, Evangeline, Jefferson Davis53 min
Jan 26, 3:41 PM CSTTornado WarningLCHVermilion64 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Louisiana, 1996Every tornado warning in 1996Tornadoes in 1996

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.