Alert archive / Texas / Tornado Warnings in 2000

Tornado Warning 6, NWS Lake Charles, LA

April 3, 2000Jefferson County, Texas

NWS Lake Charles, LA issued this tornado warning at Apr 3, 2000, 4:08 AM CDT for Jefferson County, Texas. It was in force for 67 min. 3 reports came from inside the area while it was in force.

The area

The outline the Iowa Environmental Mesonet reconstructed for it; the warning itself named whole counties, with what was reported inside it.

The facts

Issued: Apr 3, 2000, 4:08 AM CDT (09:08 UTC)
Expired: Apr 3, 2000, 5:15 AM CDT
In force: 67 min
Issued by: NWS Lake Charles, LA
Area: Whole counties; the outline is the Mesonet’s reconstruction

County Jefferson County, TX

The radar

The Lake Charles radar (KLCH), 95 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 09:14 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
Apr 3, 4:15 AM CDT	Thunderstorm Wind 56 M	Port Arthur, TX
Apr 3, 4:20 AM CDT	Tornado F1	Groves, TX
Apr 3, 4:30 AM CDT	Thunderstorm Wind 52 E	Port Acres, 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, 9.1 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-p

Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.

Hodograph

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: 656 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -45 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 541 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 51 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 95 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 251 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 1.0
Supercell composite: 9.2

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
WFUS54 KLCH 030913
TORLCH
TXC245-361-031015-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES LA
408 AM CDT MON APR 3 2000

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN LAKE CHARLES HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
  JEFFERSON COUNTY IN SOUTHEAST TEXAS
  
* UNTIL 515 AM 

* AT 359 AM CDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A
  A DEVELOPING TORNADO 16 MILES SOUTHWEST OF BEAUMONT...MOVING
  NORTHEAST AT 35 MPH.

* THIS TORNADIC STORM WILL BE NEAR...
  NEDERLAND...ROSE CITY BY 415 AM   
  BEAUMONT...BY 425 AM

THIS IS A VERY DANGEROUS STORM. IF YOU ARE NEAR ITS PATH...BE READY
FOR DESTRUCTIVE HAIL...VIOLENT WIND...AND POSSIBLY A TORNADO.

CALL 337-477-5285 TO REPORT SEVERE WEATHER TO THE WEATHER SERVICE.

LAT...LON 2994 9442 2981 9427 2989 9382 3020 9396

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Apr 2, 10:59 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	LCH	Newton	61 min
Apr 2, 11:03 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	LCH	Jasper	42 min
Apr 3, 2:30 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	LCH	Hardin	60 min
Apr 3, 3:00 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	LCH	Jasper	60 min
Apr 3, 3:13 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	LCH	Newton	47 min
Apr 3, 3:51 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	LCH	Jefferson	54 min
Apr 3, 4:08 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	LCH	Jefferson, Orange	67 min
Apr 3, 4:20 AM CDT	Tornado Warning	LCH	Orange	55 min
Apr 3, 9:00 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	LCH	Jefferson, Orange	60 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Texas, 2000 Every tornado warning in 2000 Tornadoes in 2000

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.