Alert archive / Texas / Tornado Warnings in 2003

Tornado Warning 4, NWS Lake Charles, LA

November 17, 2003Hardin County, Texas

NWS Lake Charles, LA issued this tornado warning at Nov 17, 2003, 5:59 PM CST for Hardin County, Texas. It was in force for 46 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
Nov 17, 2003, 5:59 PM CST (23:59 UTC)
Expired
Nov 17, 2003, 6:45 PM CST
In force
46 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), 95 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 00:00 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
Nov 17, 12:45 PM CSTTornado WatchSPC5 hr
Nov 17, 5:35 PM CSTTornado WatchSPC6 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Lake Charles Mun, LA (KLCH), launched 12:00Z, 12.0 hours before the alert went out and 132 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 2003-11-17Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 413 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 12:00Z on 2003-11-17The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 101 square meters per square second.1939587897Sfc1 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
413 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-43 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
895 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
34 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
101 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
95 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.1
Supercell composite
2.1

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
WFUS54 KLCH 172359
TORLCH
TXC199-180045-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES LA
559 PM CST MON NOV 17 2003

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN LAKE CHARLES HAS ISSUED A

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

* UNTIL 645 PM CST

* AT 553 PM CST...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A
  A DEVELOPING TORNADO 16 MILES SOUTHWEST OF SARATOGA...MOVING
  NORTHEAST AT 30 MPH.

* THIS TORNADIC STORM WILL BE NEAR...
  BATSON BY 615 PM CST
  SARATOGA BY 620 PM CST
  HONEY ISLAND BY 640 PM CST
  VILLAGE MILLS...KOUNTZE BY 645 PM CST

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

TORNADOES AT NIGHT ARE ESPECIALLY DANGEROUS. DO NOT WAIT UNTIL YOU
SEE OR HEAR A TORNADO - IT MAY BE TOO LATE. TAKE COVER NOW

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

LAT...LON 3005 9476 2997 9458 3043 9424 3053 9450

$$

LGE

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.