Alert archive / Texas / Tornado Warnings in 1996

Tornado Warning 8, NWS Lake Charles, LA

April 22, 1996Newton County, Texas

NWS Lake Charles, LA issued this tornado warning at Apr 22, 1996, 7:20 PM CDT for Newton County, Texas. It was in force for 25 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
Apr 22, 1996, 7:20 PM CDT (00:20 UTC)
Expired
Apr 22, 1996, 7:45 PM CDT
In force
25 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 00:19 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 00:00Z, 0.3 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 00:00Z on 1996-04-23Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 1104 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 00:00Z on 1996-04-23The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 161 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
1104 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-29 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
832 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
32 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
161 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
144 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.7
Supercell composite
6.8

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KLCH 230020
TORLCH
TXC351-230045-
 
BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES LA
720 PM CDT MON APR 22 1996
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN LAKE CHARLES HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  745 PM CDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...
 
IN SOUTHEAST TEXAS
 
   ...NEWTON COUNTY
 
AT 720 PM DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A DEVELOPING TORNADO...15 MILES
SOUTHWEST OF BON WIER. MOVEMENT OF THIS STORM WAS TO THE NORTHEAST
AT 30 MILES AN HOUR.  PERSONS IN THE COMMUNITY OF BON WIER ARE IN
THE PATH OF THIS STORM AND SHOULD TAKE COVER NOW.
 
 
IF YOU ARE IN THE PATH OF A TORNADO...THE SAFEST PLACE IS A
BASEMENT.  GET UNDER A WORKBENCH OR PIECE OF STURDY FU*RNITURE.
IF NO BASEMENT IS AVAILABLE...SEEK 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.

NWS Lake Charles, LA wrote its last area forecast discussion before this tornado warning went out at Apr 22, 2:55 PM CDT, 4 hours 25 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Apr 22, 2:55 PM CDT, 4 hours 25 minutes before
SOUTHEAST TEXAS..SOUTHWEST AND CENTRAL LOUISIANA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES LA
244 PM CDT MON APR 22 1996

NOT MUCH TIME TO TALK TODAY. COLD FRONT THAT CURRENTLY EXTENDS
FROM NEAR LIT-GGG-SAT WILL CONTINUE ITS TREK TO THE SOUTH
AND EAST TONIGHT AND SHOULD MOVE THROUGH THE FA BETWEEN 05Z AND
11Z. WL SEE GOOD BIT OF CONVECTION OUT AHEAD OF THE FRONT
AS CAP BREAKS ACRSS THE FA DUE TO FORCING AT THE SFC AND
ALOFT. 5H S/W WWILL WHIP ACROSS THE FA THIS EVENING.
COULD SEE SVR WX ACROSS THE FA TONIGHT PER SWODY1.
WL CLEAR OUT ON TUESDAY.
10

LCH 64/78/54/81 6200   LFT 65/78/54/81 6200
AEX 60/75/50/81 7000   BPT 63/79/55/81 6000

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Apr 22, 7:05 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLCHJasper25 min
Apr 22, 7:15 PM CDTTornado WarningLCHJasper30 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; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.