Alert archive / Texas / Tornado Warnings in 1999

Tornado Warning 2, NWS Lake Charles, LA

January 1, 1999Jefferson County, Texas

NWS Lake Charles, LA issued this tornado warning at Jan 1, 1999, 11:44 PM CST for Jefferson County, Texas. It was in force for 61 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
Jan 1, 1999, 11:44 PM CST (05:44 UTC)
Expired
Jan 2, 1999, 12:45 AM CST
In force
61 min
Issued by
NWS Lake Charles, LA
Area
Whole counties

County Jefferson County, TX

The radar

The Lake Charles radar (KLCH), 95 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 05:46 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

TimeReportWhereRemark
Jan 1, 11:45 PM CSTTornado F3Nome, 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
Jan 1, 11:00 PM CSTTornado WatchSPC6 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Lake Charles Mun, LA (KLCH), launched 00:00Z, 5.7 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 1999-01-02Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 437 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 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 1999-01-02The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 202 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
437 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-7 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
704 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
34 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
202 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
238 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.4
Supercell composite
2.9

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KLCH 020546 RRA
TORLCH
TXC245-020645-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES LA
1144 PM CST FRI JAN 1 1999

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN LAKE CHARLES HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
  JEFFERSON COUNTY IN SOUTHEASTERN TEXAS

* UNTIL 1245 AM CST

* AT 1143 PM CST... NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR
  INDICATED A DEVELOPING TORNADO 29 MILES SOUTHWEST OF BEAUMONT OR
  11 MILES SOUTHWEST OF NOME MOVING NORTHEAST AT 40 MPH.

* TORNADO WILL BE NEAR
  NOME  BY 1157 PM CST
  CHINA BY MIDNIGHT CST
  FANNET BY MIDNIGHT CST
  NORTHERN BEAUMONT BY 1220 AM CST

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 HOMES FOR A STURDIER BUILDING
OR GET INTO A DITCH OR CULVERT.

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jan 1, 11:08 PM CSTTornado WarningLCHHardin62 min
Jan 2, 12:26 AM CSTTornado WarningLCHJasper64 min
Jan 2, 12:35 AM CSTTornado WarningLCHNewton65 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Texas, 1999Every tornado warning in 1999Tornadoes in 1999

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.