Alert archive / Texas / Tornado Warnings in 1999

Tornado Warning 62, NWS Lake Charles, LA

December 4, 1999Jasper County, Newton County, Texas

NWS Lake Charles, LA issued this tornado warning at Dec 4, 1999, 6:05 PM CST for Jasper County, Newton County, Texas. It was in force for 65 min. 2 reports 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
Dec 4, 1999, 6:05 PM CST (00:05 UTC)
Expired
Dec 4, 1999, 7:10 PM CST
In force
65 min
Issued by
NWS Lake Charles, LA
Area
Whole counties

Counties Jasper County, TX, Newton County, TX

The radar

The Lake Charles radar (KLCH), 96 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 00:07 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
Dec 4, 6:10 PM CSTThunderstorm WindJasper, TX
Dec 4, 7:00 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 nearest sounding before it

Lake Charles Mun, LA (KLCH), launched 00:00Z, 0.1 hours before the alert went out and 97 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 1999-12-05Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 50 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 1999-12-05The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 148 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
50 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-59 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1026 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
37 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
148 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
166 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.3

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KLCH 050008 RRA
TORLCH
TXC241-351-050110-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES LA
605 PM CST SAT DEC 4 1999

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN LAKE CHARLES HAS ISSUED A

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

* UNTIL 710 PM CST

* AT 603 PM CST... NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED
  A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM CAPABLE OF PRODUCING A TORNADO 5 MILES
  SOUTH OF JASPER MOVING NORTHEAST AT 30 MPH.

* THE TORNADIC THUNDERSTORM WILL BE NEAR
  JASPER BY 610 PM CST
  FARRSVILLE BY 630 PM CST

TAKE COVER NOW!

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 Dec 4, 1:45 PM CST, 4 hours 20 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Dec 4, 1:45 PM CST, 4 hours 20 minutes before
SOUTHEAST TEXAS...SOUTHWEST/CENTRAL LOUISIANA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES LA
145 PM CST SAT DEC 4 1999

WILL BE BRIEF FOR OBVIOUS REASONS. EXPECT TS TO CONTINUE TO DEVELOP
TO THE WEST AND MOVE NORTHEAST AT 25 MPH WHILE PRE/FRONT TROUGH MOVES
EAST AT AROUND 12 MPH. ATMS PRIMED FOR A FEW STRONG TO SEVERE
STORMS WITH ALL INGREDIENTS IN PLACE. FRONT TO BE LOCATED FROM ELD
TO SABINE LAKE BY 6Z AND GLH TO LFT BY 11Z. POPS WILL CONTINUE ON
THE HIGH SIDE FOR TONIGHT UNTIL FROPA. DO EXPECT LOW CLOUDS TO
OVERSPREAD THE AREA AROUND OR JUST AFTER DAYBREAK SUNDAY AFTER
CLEARING BRIEFLY BEHIND THE FRONT. WINDS GO CALM AS FRONT PASSES
OVER AND THEN WINDS PICK UP FROM THE WEST 10 TO 15 TURNING NW
THROUGH THE DAY 15 TO 20 MPH AND 10 TO 15 BY SUNSET. CLEARING TREND
TO BEGIN BY LATE SUNDAY NIGHT. GOING TO KILL PRECIP QUICKLY DUE TO
DRY AIR ENTRAINING OVERNIGHT AND VERY LOW TOP CEILINGS ACROSS AREA BY
SUNDAY.

T.ERICKSON/17

PRELIMINARY NUMBERS...
LCH 52/58/42/57 8000
LFT 62/62/43/54 8200
AEX 49/53/35/54 9000
BPT 51/56/43/57 8000

.LCH...SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY LOWER ATCHAFALAYA RIVER LA TO
HIGH ISLAND TX OUT 60NM.
 TX...NONE
 LA...NONE

In the hours before

Special weather statement, Dec 4, 1:08 PM CST, 4 hours 57 minutes before
LAZ027>033-041>045-051>055-TXZ180>182-201-215-216-050000-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES LA
108 PM CST SAT DEC 4 1999

...SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS POSSIBLE TODAY...

THUNDERSTORMS WILL MOVE INTO SOUTHWEST LOUISIANA AND SOUTHEAST
TEXAS THIS AFTERNOON. A FEW OF THESE STORMS MAY BECOME SEVERE
WITH DAMAGING WINDS AND LARGE HAIL. AN ISOLATED TORNADO IS ALSO
POSSIBLE.

THESE THUNDERSTORMS ARE ALONG AND IN ADVANCE OF A STRONG COLD FRONT
THAT WILL MOVE ACROSS THE REGION OVERNIGHT.

STAY TUNED TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO FOR THE LATEST INFORMATION ON THIS
DEVELOPING WEATHER SITUATION.

MARCOTTE
Special weather statement, Dec 4, 1:08 PM CST, 4 hours 57 minutes before
LAZ027>033-041>045-051>055-TXZ180>182-201-215-216-050000-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES LA
108 PM CST SAT DEC 4 1999

...SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS POSSIBLE TODAY...

THUNDERSTORMS WILL MOVE INTO SOUTHWEST LOUISIANA AND SOUTHEAST
TEXAS THIS AFTERNOON. A FEW OF THESE STORMS MAY BECOME SEVERE
WITH DAMAGING WINDS AND LARGE HAIL. AN ISOLATED TORNADO IS ALSO
POSSIBLE.

THESE THUNDERSTORMS ARE ALONG AND IN ADVANCE OF A STRONG COLD FRONT
THAT WILL MOVE ACROSS THE REGION OVERNIGHT.

STAY TUNED TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO FOR THE LATEST INFORMATION ON THIS
DEVELOPING WEATHER SITUATION.

MARCOTTE

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.