Alert archive / Texas / Tornado Warnings in 1999
Tornado Warning 40, NWS Lake Charles, LA
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
| Time | Report | Where | Remark |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mar 12, 11:55 PM CST | Thunderstorm Wind | Burkeville, 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.
| Issued | Product | Office | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mar 12, 10:30 PM CST | Tornado Watch | SPC | 7 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.
- 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
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 TYLERLocal 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 TYLERLocal 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 DOWNThe office that day
Everything else NWS Lake Charles, LA issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mar 12, 9:28 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | LCH | Tyler | 62 min |
| Mar 12, 10:04 PM CST | Tornado Warning | LCH | Tyler | 66 min |
| Mar 12, 10:54 PM CST | Tornado Warning | LCH | Jasper | 61 min |
| Mar 13, 12:25 AM CST | Flash Flood Warning | LCH | Jasper, Newton | 2 hr |
| Mar 13, 12:25 AM CST | Flash Flood Warning | LCH | Tyler | 2 hr |
| Mar 13, 2:15 AM CST | Flash Flood Warning | LCH | Jasper, Newton | 3 hr |
| Mar 13, 2:15 AM CST | Flash Flood Warning | LCH | Tyler | 3 hr |
| Mar 13, 2:26 AM CST | Tornado Warning | LCH | Tyler | 64 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.