Alert archive / Texas / Tornado Warnings in 1997

Tornado Warning 6, NWS Lake Charles, LA

October 23, 1997Tyler County, Texas

NWS Lake Charles, LA issued this tornado warning at Oct 23, 1997, 5:30 PM CDT for Tyler County, Texas. It was in force for 45 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
Oct 23, 1997, 5:30 PM CDT (22:30 UTC)
Expired
Oct 23, 1997, 6:15 PM CDT
In force
45 min
Issued by
NWS Lake Charles, LA
Area
Whole counties

County Tyler County, TX

What was reported inside it

TimeReportWhereRemark
Oct 23, 5:45 PM CDTHail 0.75Warren, 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 watch it was issued in

The SPC watch in force over the same counties when this warning went out.

IssuedProductOfficeLasted
Oct 23, 2:15 PM CDTTornado WatchSPC6 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Lake Charles Mun, LA (KLCH), launched 12:00Z, 10.5 hours before the alert went out and 134 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 1997-10-23Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 4 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 1997-10-23The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 112 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
4 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-174 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
826 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
42 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
112 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
151 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.1

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

551 
WFUS1 KLCH 232232 RRA
TORLCH
TXC457-232315-
 
BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES LA
530 PM CDT THU OCT 23 1997
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN LAKE CHARLES HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  615 PM CDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...
 
IN SOUTHEAST TEXAS
 
   ...TYLER COUNTY
 
AT 530 PM...DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A TORNADO ONE MILE SOUTH OF WARREN.
 
THIS STORM WAS MOVING NORTHEAST AT 35 MPH...REACHING TOWN BLUFF BY 6 PM.
 
THIS IS A DANGEROUS STORM SITUATION.  ACT QUICKLY.  IF YOU ARE
IN THE PATH OF THIS STORM MOVE TO A SMALL INTERIOR ROOM ON THE
LOWEST FLOOR POSSIBLE.  AVOID WINDOWS.
 
 
ERICKSON

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Oct 23, 11:47 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLCHHardin58 min
Oct 23, 6:36 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLCHTyler54 min
Oct 23, 6:51 PM CDTTornado WarningLCHTyler54 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Texas, 1997Every tornado warning in 1997Tornadoes in 1997

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.