Alert archive / Texas / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 2001

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 126, NWS Lake Charles, LA

October 12, 2001Jasper County, Texas

NWS Lake Charles, LA issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Oct 12, 2001, 7:38 PM CDT for Jasper County, Texas. It was in force for 52 min. No storm report in the archive falls 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.

The facts

Issued: Oct 12, 2001, 7:38 PM CDT (00:38 UTC)
Expired: Oct 12, 2001, 8:30 PM CDT
In force: 52 min
Issued by: NWS Lake Charles, LA
Area: Whole counties; the outline is the Mesonet’s reconstruction

County Jasper County, TX

The nearest sounding before it

Lake Charles Mun, LA (KLCH), launched 00:00Z, 0.6 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-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: 2537 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -1 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 640 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 37 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 70 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 102 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.9
Supercell composite: 6.4

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

957 
WUUS54 KLCH 130037
SVRLCH
TXC241-130130-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES LA
738 PM CDT FRI OCT 12 2001

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN LAKE CHARLES HAS ISSUED A

* SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING FOR...
  JASPER COUNTY IN SOUTHEAST TEXAS

* UNTIL 830 PM CDT

* AT 738 PM CDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A
  SEVERE THUNDERSTORM 11 MILES NORTHWEST OF BUNA...MOVING NORTHEAST
  AT 25 MPH.

* THIS STORM WILL BE NEAR...
  MT. UNION...MAGNOLIA SPRINGS BY 800 PM CDT
  KIRBYVILLE BY 805 PM CDT

THIS THUNDERSTORM IS CAPABLE OF PRODUCING VERY LARGE HAIL UP TO 
GOLFBALL SIZE WHICH COULD CAUSE SIGNIFICANT DAMAGE TO PROPERTY.

DESTRUCTIVE WINDS UP TO 70 MPH CAN BE EXPECTED - TAKE COVER NOW 
VEHICLES AND MOBIL HOMES ARE NOT SAFE.

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

LAT...LON 3076 9411 3065 9404 3042 9409 3042 9390
          3079 9388

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before this severe thunderstorm 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 severe thunderstorm warning went out at Oct 12, 1:46 PM CDT, 5 hours 52 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Oct 12, 1:46 PM CDT, 5 hours 52 minutes before

SOUTHWEST LOUISIANA AND SOUTHEAST TEXAS FORECAST DISCUSSION...COR
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES LA
146 PM CDT FRI OCT 12 2001

...CORRECTION FOR AEX POP FROM 70 TO 40...

.TONIGHT...
GULF AIR ADVECTION STRENGTHENS. EXPECT INCREASING CLOUDINESS AS GULF
AIR OVERRIDES FILM OF DRIER AIR AT THE SURFACE. THE ATMOSPHERE IS
BEING PRE-CONDITIONED FOR UPCOMING HEAVY RAIN EVENT. INCOMING GULF
AIR SHOULD KEEP MINIMUMS ON THE WARM SIDE (ABOUT 10 TO 15 F DEGREES
ABOVE NORMAL).

.SATURDAY...
A HEAVY RAIN EVENT SEEMS LIKELY. STRONG ADIABATIC LIFT WILL BE IN
PLACE. THE NGM TRAJECTORY MODEL COMPUTES A NET VERTICAL DISPLACEMENT
OF THE 700 MB SURFACE AT +80 MB WITHIN A 12 HOUR PERIOD). OTHER
FACTORS NOTED ACROSS THE FORECAST AREA INCLUDE...700-300 MB THICKNESS
DIFLUENCE...700-300 MB QUASI-GEOSTROPHIC LIFT...AND 1000-500 MB MEAN
RH NEAR 90 PERCENT.

MARGINAL INSTABILITY SEEMS TO BE THE ONLY LIMITING FACTOR. THE 700-
300 MB LAPSE RATES ARE RUNNING NEAR 6.5 C DEG PER KM...WHICH IS
MARGINALLY UNSTABLE (FOR A CLOUDY AIR PARCEL UNDERGOING AVERAGE
ENTRAINMENT IN A MOIST ENVIRONMENT).

AFTER TALKING WITH THE SURROUNDING OFFICES...I HAVE DECIDED TO ISSUE
A FLASH FLOOD WATCH FOR SOUTHEAST TEXAS...AND FOR WEST CENTRAL AND
SOUTHWEST LOUISIANA. ALSO I WILL ISSUE A SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
(HEAVY RAIN OUTLOOK) TO COVER THE REMAINDER (EAST CENTRAL AND SOUTH
CENTRAL LOUISIANA).

SPECIAL THANKS TO HOUSTON, NEW ORLEANS, SHREVEPORT OFFICES AND TO
THE HYDRO-METEOROLOGICAL PREDICTION CENTER.

.LCH...FFA (FLOOD WATCH) TXZ180>182-201-215-216
    ...                  LAZ027-030-031-041-042-051

.PRELIMINARY NUMBERS...
AEX 70/78/55/76/49/73/50 4830000
BPT 73/80/56/77/55/75/58 4800000
LCH 72/80/56/77/53/75/57 4800000
LFT 70/83/58/76/52/73/54 4830000

TRARES

In the hours before

Local storm report, Oct 12, 3:46 PM CDT, 3 hours 52 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES, LA
346 PM CDT FRI OCT 12 2001

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

0300 PM    5 E SOUR LAKE             TX   TORNADO
10/12/01   HARDIN                         A TORNADO WAS SEEN BY
                                          SEVERAL PEOPLE NEAR HWY
                                          105...NO DAMAGED SINCE IT
                                          WAS OVER UNPOPULATED ZONE.

0304 PM    2 W BEVIL OAKS            TX   TORNADO
10/12/01   JEFFERSON                      TORNADO TOUCHED DOWN NEAR
                                          HWY 105. SEVERAL REPORTS
                                          FROM MOTORISTS.

FN

Local storm report, Oct 12, 3:54 PM CDT, 3 hours 44 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES, LA
354 PM CDT FRI OCT 12 2001

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

0340 PM    LUMBERTON                 TX   TORNADO
10/12/01   HARDIN                         TREES KNOCKED DOWN...NO
                                          INJURIES REPORTED.

FN

Special weather statement, Oct 12, 3:54 PM CDT, 3 hours 44 minutes before

LAZ028-029-032-033-043>045-052>055-130900-

HEAVY RAIN OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES LA
354 PM CDT FRI OCT 12 2001

...HEAVY RAINS FOR SATURDAY...

AN APPROACHING TEXAS COLD FRONT WILL LIFT A DEEP GULF AIR MASS...
THUS GENERATING TROPICAL DOWNPOURS. ALSO SOME OF THESE THUNDERSTORMS
COULD BECOME SEVERE. AVERAGE RAINFALL TOTALS WILL RANGE BETWEEN ONE
AND TWO INCHES...WITH LOCAL AMOUNTS NEAR THREE INCHES. THE RAINS
SHOULD BE TAPERING OFF BY LATE AFTERNOON.

TRARES

Local storm report, Oct 12, 4:23 PM CDT, 3 hours 15 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES, LA
423 PM CDT FRI OCT 12 2001

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

0405 PM    2 S EVADALE               TX   TORNADO
10/12/01   JASPER                         CONFIRMED TORNADO
                                          TOUCHDOWN BY THE EVADALE
                                          FIRE DEPARTMENT TRAVELING
                                          SOUTH ON HWY 105

FN

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Oct 13, 3:23 AM CDT	Tornado Warning	LCH	Tyler	22 min
Oct 13, 4:37 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	LCH	Hardin, Jasper, Newton	53 min
Oct 13, 4:50 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	LCH	Jefferson, Orange	55 min
Oct 13, 4:55 AM CDT	Tornado Warning	LCH	Jasper	35 min

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Texas, 2001 Every severe thunderstorm warning in 2001

Sources

The product and its follow-ups from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service and Storm Prediction Center text; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive.