Alert archive / Texas / Tornado Warnings in 1996

Tornado Warning 10, NWS Lake Charles, LA

May 29, 1996Jasper County, Texas

NWS Lake Charles, LA issued this tornado warning at May 29, 1996, 5:24 PM CDT for Jasper County, Texas. It was in force for 66 min. 1 report came from inside the area while it was in force.

The area

The counties it named, with what was reported inside it.

The facts

Issued
May 29, 1996, 5:24 PM CDT (22:24 UTC)
Expired
May 29, 1996, 6:30 PM CDT
In force
66 min
Issued by
NWS Lake Charles, LA
Area
Whole counties

County Jasper County, TX

What was reported inside it

TimeReportWhereRemark
May 29, 6:00 PM CDTHail 1.75Kirbyville, TX

NCEI Storm Data entries that began inside the alert's area while it was in force. Before 2003 the local storm report archive is thin, so this is the record of what happened rather than what was phoned in.

The nearest sounding before it

Lake Charles Mun, LA (KLCH), launched 12:00Z, 10.4 hours before the alert went out and 105 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 1996-05-29Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 3062 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 1996-05-29The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 57 square meters per square second.193958Sfc1 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
3062 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-11 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
618 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
29 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
57 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
132 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
1.2
Supercell composite
8.0

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KLCH 292224
TORLCH
TXC241-292330-
 
BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES LA
524 PM CDT WED MAY 29 1996
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN LAKE CHARLES HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  630 PM CDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...
 
IN SOUTHEAST TEXAS
 
   ...JASPER COUNTY
 
AT 523 PM...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A TORNADO
5 MILES SOUTHEAST OF JASPER MOVING SOUTHEAST AT 20 MILES AN HOUR. THE
TOWN OF KIRBYVILLE IS IN THE PATH OF THIS STORM.
 
 
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 SMALL 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.

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 May 29, 9:55 AM CDT, 7 hours 29 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, May 29, 9:55 AM CDT, 7 hours 29 minutes before
SOUTHEAST TEXAS..SOUTHWEST AND CENTRAL LOUISIANA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES LA
945 AM CDT WED MAY 29 1996

VERY UNSTABLE AIR MASS IN REGION WITH LCH 12Z SNDG PRODUCING A
MODIFIED CAPE OF 5800 J/KG...LI -12...K-INDEX OF 42 AND PW OF
2.06 IN. SFC TRIGGER IS QSTNRY FNT FROM ACT-SHV-TUP LINE WITH
SWRD PROPAGATING OUTFLOW BNDRYS. KSHV 88D AND SFC ANALYSIS
SHOWING THESE BNDRYS PROPAGATING SW WITH CNVTN DVLPG NR
NACHITOCHES. WHETHER OR NOT THESE BNDRYS MAKE INTO THE SRN ZNS
IS OF SOME QUESTION AS UPPR LVL RDG BUILDS TDY. HWVR...A GOOD
BET FOR CNVTN ACROSS CNTRL ZNS. A QUICK PEAK AT THE NEW ETA
CONTINUES TO SHOW ITS PERSISTENCE WITH KEEPING THE FNT WELL NORTH
OF FA AS OPPOSED TO AVN/NGM SLNS.
5

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 29, 5:56 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLCHTyler64 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Texas, 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; verification from NCEI's Storm Data; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive.