Alert archive / Texas / Tornado Warnings in 1999

Tornado Warning 40, NWS Lake Charles, LA

March 12, 1999Newton County, Texas

NWS Lake Charles, LA issued this tornado warning at Mar 12, 1999, 11:43 PM CST for Newton County, Texas. It was in force for 62 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
Mar 12, 1999, 11:43 PM CST (05:43 UTC)
Expired
Mar 13, 1999, 12:45 AM CST
In force
62 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 05:44 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
Mar 12, 11:55 PM CSTThunderstorm WindBurkeville, 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
Mar 12, 10:30 PM CSTTornado WatchSPC7 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Lake Charles Mun, LA (KLCH), launched 00:00Z, 5.7 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 1999-03-13Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 892 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 1999-03-13The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 213 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
892 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-9 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
549 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
44 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
213 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
327 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
1.4
Supercell composite
9.8

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

999 
WFUS1 KLCH 130545 RRA
TORLCH
TXC351-130645-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES LA
1143 PM CST FRI MAR 12 1999

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN LAKE CHARLES HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
  NORTHERN NEWTON COUNTY IN SOUTHEASTERN TEXAS

* UNTIL 1245 AM CST

* AT 1141 PM CST... NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR
  INDICATED A TORNADO 10 MILES NORTHWEST OF NEWTON MOVING EAST AT
  15 MPH.

* THE TORNADIC THUNDERSTORM WILL BE NEAR
  LIBERTY BY 1215 AM CST
  INDIAN HILLS BY 1220 AM CST
  WIERGATE BY 1225 AM CST
  BURKEVILLE BY 1235 AM CST

  PERSONS IN NORTHERN NEWTON COUNTY ALONG AND NORTH OF HIGHWAY 63
  SHOULD TAKE COVER NOW.  THIS STORM HAS A HISTORY OF PRODUCING
  LARGE HAIL AND DAMAGING WINDS.

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.

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 Mar 12, 8:04 PM CST, 3 hours 39 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Mar 12, 8:04 PM CST, 3 hours 39 minutes before
SOUTHWEST...CENTRAL LOUISIANA AND SOUTHEAST TEXAS FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES LA
804 PM CST FRI MAR 12 1999

850 MB UPPER LEVEL CHART INDICATES JET WITH 35 TO 50 KNOT ALONG
SABINE RIVER THIS EVENING. MOISTURE CONTINUING TO POOL JUST WEST
OF SE TX COUNTY WARNING AREA WITH DEWPOINTS IN THE MID TO UPPER
60S. APPEARS TO BE DECENT LOW LEVEL CONVERGENCE WITH OPPOSING
WINDS MEETING NORTHWEST OF LUFKIN TO NEAR COLLEGE STATION TO
NEAR HONDO TX. SATELLITE AND RADAR INDICATING SUPERCELL DEVELOPMENT
ALONG SOUTHWEST FLANK OF THE CONVERGENCE LINE NEAR A 970 MB SFC
LOW NEAR KCOT. HOUSTON RADAR INDICATED A FEW CELLS DEVELOPING BUT
AT THIS MOMENT JUST IN BEGINNING STAGE. THEIR IS DEFINITELY A CAP
TONIGHT IN OUR CWA AREA BETWEEN 710 MB TO 640 MB. IT MAY TAKE SOME
TIME FOR DEVELOPMENT...BUT ALL THE INGREDIENTS ARE PRESENT FOR
SCATTERED SUPERCELL DEVELOPMENT TO OCCUR IN TORNADO WATCH AREA OVER SE
TX IN THE NEXT FEW HOURS. HEAVY RAIN A THREAT WITH PWS RUNNING
1.50 INCHES. COASTAL FLOOD WATCH LOOKS OK AS SE TO EAST FLOW
CONTINUES AT 15 KNOTS ALONG COASTAL AREA. WILL CONTINUE WITH
CURRENT PACKAGE. 06

BPT TA 067/075 045/060 040 6800
LCH TA 065/075 047/062 040 6800
LFT TA 063/072 050/057 040 3840
AEX TA 057/068 045/055 036 6820

AFTERNOON DISCUSSION 230 PM

BOTH THE MAPS GUIDANCE AND THE LAGRANGIAN TRAJECTORY GUIDANCE
MAXIMIZE THE UPDRAFT POTENTIAL (CAPE) AND THE ROTATIONAL POTENTIAL
(HELICITY) ACROSS THE EASTERN TEXAS COUNTIES BY EARLY TOMORROW
MORNING. THE MAIN DYNAMIC PLAYERS APPEAR TO BE THE BRANCHING CIRRUS-
LEVEL WESTERLIES AND THE EKMAN-LAYER INERTIAL JET (LOW LEVEL JET).
DEEPENING ISALLOBARS ACROSS LOUISIANA TOMORROW MORNING SUGGEST
THAT THIS CONVECTIVE EVENT WILL MARCH EASTWARD UNIMPEDED TROUGH THE
FCST AREA.

FROM A SATELLITE PERSPECTIVE...MY EYES FOCUS-IN ON THE CUT-OFF LOW
CURRENTLY OVER NEW MEXICO. THE MAPS GUIDANCE FORECASTS THIS CUT-OFF TO
TREK EAST-SOUTHEAST AND DEEPEN. A VIGOROUS BAROCLINIC ENERGY
CONVERSION IS ANTICIPATED AS THIS DEEP COLD POOL OF AIR OVER TEXAS
JUXTAPOSES THE DEEP WARM POOL OF AIR ACROSS THE REMAINING SOUTHEAST
UNITED STATES.

WHEN THE FIREWORKS END...THE TROPOPAUSE LEVEL WILL SINK TO THE
500 MB LEVEL...QUITE A TROPOPAUSE FOLD.

AFTER TALKING WITH SLIDELL...WE AGREE THAT A COASTAL FLOOD WATCH WILL
BE IN-EFFECT FOR TONIGHT. EASTERLY WINDS ACROSS THE COASTAL WATERS
ARE AROUND 20 KT. WITH TIDES RUNNING ABOVE NORMAL...SOME PILING-UP
OF THE WATER IS EXPECTED ALONG THE COAST. THE FLASH FLOOD WATCH
REMAINS IN-EFFECT.

21

BPT TA 067/075 045/060 040 6800
LCH TA 065/075 047/062 040 6800
LFT TA 063/072 050/057 040 3840
AEX TA 057/068 045/055 036 6820

In the hours before

Local storm report, Mar 12, 9:55 PM CST, 1 hour 48 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES LA
955 PM CST FRI MAR 12 1999

TIME(CST)  .....CITY LOCATION.....STATE   ...EVENT/REMARKS...
           ....COUNTY LOCATION....

0940 PM    CHESTER                   TX   1.00 INCH HAIL
03/12/99   TYLER
Local storm report, Mar 12, 11:07 PM CST, 36 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES LA
1107 PM CST FRI MAR 12 1999

TIME(CST)  .....CITY LOCATION.....STATE   ...EVENT/REMARKS...
           ....COUNTY LOCATION....

1035 PM                              TX   0.75 INCH HAIL
03/12/99   TYLER
Local storm report, Mar 12, 11:26 PM CST, 17 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES LA
1126 PM CST FRI MAR 12 1999

TIME(CST)  .....CITY LOCATION.....STATE   ...EVENT/REMARKS...
           ....COUNTY LOCATION....

1035 PM    WOODVILLE                 TX   WIND DAMAGE
03/12/99   TYLER                          POWERLINES DOWN

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Mar 12, 9:28 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLCHTyler62 min
Mar 12, 10:04 PM CSTTornado WarningLCHTyler66 min
Mar 12, 10:54 PM CSTTornado WarningLCHJasper61 min
Mar 13, 12:25 AM CSTFlash Flood WarningLCHJasper, Newton2 hr
Mar 13, 12:25 AM CSTFlash Flood WarningLCHTyler2 hr
Mar 13, 2:15 AM CSTFlash Flood WarningLCHJasper, Newton3 hr
Mar 13, 2:15 AM CSTFlash Flood WarningLCHTyler3 hr
Mar 13, 2:26 AM CSTTornado WarningLCHTyler64 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.