Alert archive / Louisiana / Tornado Warnings in 1996

Tornado Warning 11, NWS Lake Charles, LA

July 26, 1996Lafayette Parish, Louisiana

NWS Lake Charles, LA issued this tornado warning at Jul 26, 1996, 11:27 AM CDT for Lafayette Parish, Louisiana. It was in force for 48 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
Jul 26, 1996, 11:27 AM CDT (16:27 UTC)
Expired
Jul 26, 1996, 12:15 PM CDT
In force
48 min
Issued by
NWS Lake Charles, LA
Area
Whole counties

County Lafayette Parish, LA

The nearest sounding before it

Lake Charles Mun, LA (KLCH), launched 12:00Z, 4.5 hours before the alert went out and 110 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 1996-07-26Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 2489 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 1996-07-26The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity -31 square meters per square second.1939Sfc1 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
2489 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-14 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
592 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
5 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
-31 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
-54 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.0

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KLCH 261628
TORLCH
LAC055-261715-
 
BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES LA
1127 AM CDT FRI JUL 26 1996
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN LAKE CHARLES HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 1215 PM CDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...
 
IN SOUTHWEST LOUISIANA
 
   ...LAFAYETTE PARISH
 
AT 1123 AM CROWLEY SHERIFFS DEPARTMENT REPORTED A TORNADO ON THE GROUND
6 MILES WEST OF LAFAYETTE NEAR DUSON. RESIDENTS OF DUSON AND SCOTT
SHOULD TAKE COVER IMMEDIATELY. THE TORNADO WAS MOVING EAST AT 10 MPH.
 
IF YOU ARE IN THE PATH OF A TORNADO...SEEK SHELTER IN AN INTERIOR
ROOM SUCH AS A CLOSET ON THE LOWEST FLOOR.  USE BLANKETS...PILLOWS
...OR CUSHIONS TdO COVER YOUR BODY FROM FLYING DEBRIS.
 
 
 
&

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 Jul 26, 9:27 AM CDT, 2 hours earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jul 26, 9:27 AM CDT, 2 hours before
SOUTHEAST TEXAS...SOUTHWEST/CENTRAL LOUISIANA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES LA...CORRECT SPELLING
910 AM CDT FRI JUL 26 1996

ETA MORNING RUN SHOWS CONTINUED SHEAR ZONE ACRS AREA THUS SUSPECT
ROUND OF CHC RW`S AND TSTMS MOSTLY ALONG THE SOUTHERN TIER ZONES OF
LA/SE TX...WITH REMAINDER OF AREA SEEING SCATTERED PCPN. TEMPERATURES
WERE A BIT TRICKY YESTERDAY IN RAIN AREAS...SUSPECT MOST AREAS WILL
SEE MID 80S TO NEAR 90 BEFORE RAIN SETS IN. PREV FCST LOOKS GOOD...WILL
BUMB POPS UP IN S TIER THOUGH DUE TO WET CONDITIONS AND GOOD SHEAR ZONE
ALOFT. VIL OF DAY FOR AREA 60 TO 65...CAPES ARND 3500-3700 J/KG...WET
BULB ZERO HIGHER THAN SEEN LATELY AT 14422 FEET...LIFTED INDEX -6
AND SWEAT INDEX RATHER HIGH ARND 216. SUSPECT HEAVY RAIN IN THE STRONGER
THUNDERSTORMS TODAY WITH PCPTL WATER AROUND 2.30 INCHES. 06

BPT 90/73/91 412
LCH 89/73/90 523  LFT 89/73/90 613   AEX 90/72/90 413

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.