Alert archive / Texas / Tornado Warnings in 2003

Tornado Warning 1, NWS Lake Charles, LA

March 18, 2003Hardin County, Texas

NWS Lake Charles, LA issued this tornado warning at Mar 18, 2003, 12:34 PM CST for Hardin County, Texas. It was in force for 26 min. No storm report in the archive falls inside the area while it was in force.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued
Mar 18, 2003, 12:34 PM CST (18:34 UTC)
Expired
Mar 18, 2003, 1:00 PM CST
In force
26 min
Issued by
NWS Lake Charles, LA
Area
Counties, with a storm outline in the text

County Hardin County, TX

The radar

The Houston radar (KHGX), 117 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 18:36 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.

The watch it was issued in

The SPC watch in force over the same counties when this warning went out.

IssuedProductOfficeLasted
Mar 18, 11:40 AM CSTTornado WatchSPC5 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Lake Charles Mun, LA (KLCH), launched 12:00Z, 6.6 hours before the alert went out and 142 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 12:00Z on 2003-03-18Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 0 joules per kilogram.LCL10008507005003002001001 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 12:00Z on 2003-03-18The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 129 square meters per square second.1939587897117Sfc1 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
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
No buoyant parcel
Mixed-layer LCL
787 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
52 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
129 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
147 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.2

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

962 
WFUS54 KLCH 181834
TORLCH
TXC199-181900-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES LA
1233 PM CST TUE MAR 18 2003

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN LAKE CHARLES HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
  HARDIN COUNTY IN SOUTHEAST TEXAS

* UNTIL 100 PM CST

* AT 1230 PM CST...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A
  A DEVELOPING TORNADO 6 MILES WEST OF THICKET...MOVING NORTHEAST AT
  20 MPH.

* THIS TORNADIC STORM WILL BE NEAR...
  
  THICKET BY 1240 PM CST

A TORNADO MAY FORM AT ANY TIME - TAKE COVER NOW. ABANDON MOBILE HOMES
AND VEHICLES FOR MORE SUBSTANTIAL SHELTER. AVOID WINDOWS.

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

LAT...LON 3047 9471 3034 9465 3050 9444 3048 9462

$$

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Mar 18, 12:39 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLCHJasper, Tyler66 min
Mar 18, 1:27 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLCHNewton63 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Texas, 2003Every tornado warning in 2003Tornadoes in 2003

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; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.