Alert archive / Texas / Tornado Warnings in 1998
Tornado Warning 31, NWS Lake Charles, LA
NWS Lake Charles, LA issued this tornado warning at Oct 18, 1998, 11:30 AM CDT for Jasper County, Newton County, Orange County, Texas. It was in force for 65 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 18, 1998, 11:30 AM CDT (16:30 UTC)
- Expired
- Oct 18, 1998, 12:35 PM CDT
- In force
- 65 min
- Issued by
- NWS Lake Charles, LA
- Area
- Whole counties
Counties Jasper County, TX, Newton County, TX, Orange County, TX
The radar
The Lake Charles radar (KLCH), 80 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 16:30 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.
What was reported inside it
| Time | Report | Where | Remark |
|---|---|---|---|
| Oct 18, 11:30 AM CDT | Tornado F0 | Mauriceville, 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, 4.5 hours before the alert went out and 82 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.
- Mixed-layer CAPE
- 447 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -6 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 647 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 35 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 149 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 172 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.2
- Supercell composite
- 1.5
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
000 TTAA00 KLCH 181630 RRA TORLCH TXC241-351-361-181735- BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED TORNADO WARNING NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES LA 1130 AM CDT SUN OCT 18 1998 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN LAKE CHARLES HAS ISSUED A * TORNADO WARNING FOR... SOUTHERN JASPER COUNTY IN SOUTHEASTERN TEXAS SOUTHERN NEWTON COUNTY IN SOUTHEASTERN TEXAS ORANGE COUNTY IN SOUTHEASTERN TEXAS * UNTIL 1235 PM CDT * AT 1128 AM CDT... NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A TORNADO 44 MILES SOUTH OF NEWTON OR NEAR MAURICEVILLE MOVING NORTH AT 20 MPH. T THIS IS A DANGEROUS STORM SITUATION. ACT QUICKLY. GO TO A SMALL INTERIOR ROOM ON THE LOWEST FLOOR. AVOID WINDOWS AND DOORS. ABANDON CARS AND MOBILE HO MES FOR A STURDIER 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 Oct 18, 9:13 AM CDT, 2 hours 17 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Oct 18, 9:13 AM CDT, 2 hours 17 minutes before
SOUTHEAST TEXAS..SOUTHWEST AND CENTRAL LOUISIANA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES LA 913 AM CDT SUN OCT 18 1998 HEAVY RAIN TRAINING OVER SOUTHEAST TEXAS HAS BEGUN TO AFFECT EXTREME WESTERN PORTIONS OF FORECAST AREA. SATELLITE TRENDS SHOW FOCUS OF DEVELOPMENT SHIFTING DOWN THE TEXAS COAST NEAR CORPUS AREA. STILL FEEL COMFORTABLE LEAVING OUR SOUTHEAST TEXAS AREA OUT OF FFA UNTIL MAYBE TONIGHT...CAN HANDLE SITUATION TODAY WITH NOWCASTS. CAN BOOST UPPER SOUTHEAST TEXAS POPS...HARDIN...JASPER...NEWTON...TYLER TO CATEGORICAL AND ADD MENTION OF HEAVY RAINFALL IN ALL OF SOUTHEAST TEXAS. ALL ELSE LOOKS WELL. 8
The office that day
Everything else NWS Lake Charles, LA issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oct 18, 10:23 AM CDT | Tornado Warning | LCH | Jasper, Orange | 62 min |
| Oct 18, 11:43 AM CDT | Flash Flood Warning | LCH | Hardin, Jasper | 2 hr |
| Oct 18, 4:42 PM CDT | Flash Flood Warning | LCH | Orange | 2 hr |
Nearby
Tornado Warnings in Texas, 1998Every tornado warning in 1998Tornadoes in 1998
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; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.