Alert archive / Texas / Tornado Warnings in 1999
Tornado Warning 56, NWS Shreveport, LA
NWS Shreveport, LA issued this tornado warning at May 4, 1999, 3:01 PM CDT for Gregg County, Rusk County, Texas. It was in force for 39 min. 4 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
- May 4, 1999, 3:01 PM CDT (20:01 UTC)
- Expired
- May 4, 1999, 3:40 PM CDT
- In force
- 39 min
- Issued by
- NWS Shreveport, LA
- Area
- Whole counties
Counties Gregg County, TX, Rusk County, TX
The radar
The Shreveport radar (KSHV), 91 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 20:05 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| May 4, 3:03 PM CDT | Tornado F2 | Kilgore, TX | Numerous homes and businesses damages. This tornado continued into Rusk County, TX then reentered Gregg County, TX. |
| May 4, 3:06 PM CDT | Tornado F2 | Kilgore, TX | Major damage to homes and businesses. Stoneridge Apartment complex lost portions of its roof and walls collapsed. The complex was condemned. This tornado is separate from the Gree County to Rusk County to Gregg County tornado event which occurred at the sam |
| May 4, 3:06 PM CDT | Tornado F2 | Kilgore, TX | Open field with no structures. |
| May 4, 3:07 PM CDT | Tornado F2 | Kilgore, TX | Minor damage to homes and a school lost a few shingles. This tornado is continued from the Gregg County to Rusk County, TX tornado event. |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| May 4, 3:00 PM CDT | Tornado Watch | SPC | 6 hr |
The nearest sounding before it
Shreveport, LA (KSHV), launched 12:00Z, 8.0 hours before the alert went out and 100 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
- 1116 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -31 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 498 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 38 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 275 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 392 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 2.0
- Supercell composite
- 12.5
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
999 WFUS1 KSHV 042002 RRA TORSHV TXC183-401-042040- BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED TORNADO WARNING NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SHREVEPORT LA 301 PM CDT TUE MAY 4 1999 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN SHREVEPORT HAS ISSUED A * TORNADO WARNING FOR... GREGG COUNTY IN NORTHEASTERN TEXAS NORTHERN RUSK COUNTY IN NORTHEASTERN TEXAS * UNTIL 340 PM CDT * AT 300 PM CDT... THE SHREVEPORT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A TORNADO 5 MILES SOUTHEAST OF NEW SUMMERFIELD TEXAS OR NEAR REKLAW TEXAS. THE THUNDERSTORM CONTAINING THIS TORNADO WAS MOVING NORTHEAST NEAR 35 MILES AN HOUR. * THE TORNADO IS EXPECTED TO BE NEAR... LONGVIEW BY 325 PM CDT THIS THUNDERSTORM CAN PRODUCE A TORNADO THAT IS OBSCURED BY RAIN AND DIFFICULT TO SEE. GO TO AN INTERIOR ROOM ON THE LOWEST FLOOR OF YOUR HOME OR BUSINESS.
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 Shreveport, LA wrote its last area forecast discussion before this tornado warning went out at May 4, 3:00 PM CDT, 1 minute earlier.
Area forecast discussion, May 4, 3:00 PM CDT, 1 minute before
FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SHREVEPORT LA 300 PM CDT TUE MAY 4 1999 CONVECTION CURRENTLY MOVING ACROSS CWA WELL AHEAD OF DRYLINE. MOST STORMS SHOWING SIGNS OF ROTATION WITH A COUPLE OF TOUCHDOWNS ALREADY REPORTED. FEEL THIS IS ONLY FIRST SURGE...WITH ANOTHER BEHIND THIS WHICH WILL KEEP SCATTERED TSTMS GOING INTO THE EARLY EVENING HOURS ACROSS TEXAS AND OKLAHOMA COUNTIES...WITH MODELS A LITTLE A LITTLE FAST. STORMS MAY CONTINUE UNTIL AFTER MIDNIGHT EASTERN MOST LOUISIANA PARISHES. FEEL DRY SURGE BEHIND ALL THIS ACTIVITY WILL END PRECIP CHANCES..SO WORK ZONES WILL HAVE DRY FORECAST WEDNESDAY THROUGH THURSDAY. MOS TEMPS LOOK OK..BUT LOWS LOOK TOO COOL TONIGHT WITH SOUTH WIND CONTAINING THROUGH MOST OF PERIOD. SHV 64/82/54/77 6110 MLU 67/86/59/80 7110 TXK 62/80/51/74/ 6111 TYR 61/80/51/75 5110 LFK 65/85/54/79 6110 14
In the hours before
Special weather statement, May 4, 10:10 AM CDT, 4 hours 51 minutes before
ARZ050-051-059>061-070>073-LAZ001>006-010>014-017>022-OKZ077-TXZ096- 097-108>112-124>126-136>138-149>153-165>167-041630- THUNDERSTORM OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SHREVEPORT LA 1010 AM CDT TUE MAY 4 1999 ...AN OUTBREAK OF SEVERE WEATHER COULD AFFECT MOST OF THE THE FOUR STATE REGION TODAY AND TONIGHT... THERE IS HIGH RISK OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS TODAY AND TONIGHT FOR ALL OF NORTHEAST TEXAS...NORTH LOUISIANA...SOUTHERN ARKANSAS AND MC CURTAIN COUNTY IN SOUTHEAST OKLAHOMA. THE AIRMASS ACROSS THE AREA IS MOIST AND UNSTABLE. A STRONG UPPER LEVEL STORM SYSTEM WILL MOVE ACROSS THE CENTRAL PLAINS TODAY AND TONIGHT. THUNDERSTORMS WILL LIKELY DEVELOP ACROSS NORTHEAST TEXAS AND SOUTHERN OKLAHOMA BY EARLY THIS AFTERNOON AND CONTINUE THROUGH THE EVENING HOURS. WINDS IN THE LOWER LEVELS OF THE ATMOSPHERE REMAIN FAVORABLE FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF ROTATING STORMS. THEREFORE THE THREAT WILL EXIST FOR A FEW TORNADOES IN ADDITION TO LARGE HAIL AND DAMAGING STRAIGHT LINE WIND. THIS IS A POTENTIALLY DANGEROUS WEATHER SITUATION. RESIDENTS IN THE FOUR STATE REGION ARE URGED TO REVIEW SEVERE WEATHER SAFETY RULES AND TO LISTEN TO RADIO...TELEVISION AND NOAA WEATHER RADIO FOR POSSIBLE WATCHES...WARNINGS AND STATEMENTS LATER TODAY. ACTIVATION OF STORM SPOTTERS...EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT OFFICIALS AND HAM RADIO OPERATORS WILL LIKELY BE REQUIRED THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT. 14
The office that day
Everything else NWS Shreveport, LA issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 4, 2:35 AM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | SHV | Red River | 45 min |
| May 4, 1:32 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | SHV | Franklin, Red River | 48 min |
| May 4, 1:38 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | SHV | Smith | 47 min |
| May 4, 2:05 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | SHV | Wood | 40 min |
| May 4, 2:05 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | SHV | Titus | 45 min |
| May 4, 2:20 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | SHV | Upshur | 40 min |
| May 4, 2:33 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | SHV | Red River | 47 min |
| May 4, 2:45 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | SHV | Bowie | 45 min |
| May 4, 3:29 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | SHV | Harrison | 61 min |
| May 4, 4:03 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | SHV | Cass | 47 min |
| May 4, 4:48 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | SHV | Wood | 62 min |
| May 4, 5:06 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | SHV | Wood | 49 min |
| May 4, 5:46 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | SHV | Smith | 64 min |
| May 4, 6:26 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | SHV | Smith | 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.