Alert archive / Texas / Tornado Warnings in 1996

Tornado Warning 12, NWS Lake Charles, LA

August 12, 1996Jefferson County, Texas

NWS Lake Charles, LA issued this tornado warning at Aug 12, 1996, 9:23 PM CDT for Jefferson County, Texas. It was in force for 67 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
Aug 12, 1996, 9:23 PM CDT (02:23 UTC)
Expired
Aug 12, 1996, 10:30 PM CDT
In force
67 min
Issued by
NWS Lake Charles, LA
Area
Whole counties

County Jefferson County, TX

What was reported inside it

TimeReportWhereRemark
Aug 12, 9:40 PM CDTThunderstorm WindBeaumont, 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 00:00Z, 2.4 hours before the alert went out and 96 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 00:00Z on 1996-08-13Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 1330 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 00:00Z on 1996-08-13The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 62 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
1330 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-113 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1665 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
18 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
62 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
73 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 130224
TORLCH
TXC245-130330-
 
BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES LA
923 PM CDT MON AUG 12 1996
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN LAKE CHARLES HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 1030 PM CDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...
 
IN SOUTHEAST TEXAS
 
   ...JEFFERSON COUNTY
 
AT 922 PM...DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A TORNADO BETWEEN SOUR LAKE AND
BEAUMONT ON HIGHWAY 105. THE STORM WAS MOVING SOUTHEAST AT 10 MPH.
PEOPLE BETWEEN SOUR LAKE...CHINA...AND BEAUMONT SHOULD TAKE COVER NOW.
 
 
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 TO 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 Aug 12, 8:17 PM CDT, 1 hour 6 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Aug 12, 8:17 PM CDT, 1 hour 6 minutes before
SOUTHEAST TEXAS..SOUTHWEST AND CENTRAL LOUISIANA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES LA
816 PM CDT MON AUG 12 1996

RIGHT REAR QUAD OF H25 JETSTREAK CAUSING PROBLEMS WITH SVR TSTMS
TNITE. ETA SHOWS TROF MOVG THRU WITH AREA TRANSITIONING TO LEFT REAR
QUAD LATER TNITE. PREV FCST LKS GOOD XCPT BLV WE NEED TO KEEP SCT
POPS IN FOR TUES AFTERNOON AS MDT INSTABILITIES REMAIN DESPITE H7
DRIER AIR.
11

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.