Tornado, Jefferson
- When
- October 12, 2:04 PM CST
- Where
- Jefferson County, 1 mi W of Bevil Oaks
- Rating
- F0
- Path length
- 0.5 mi
- Path width
- 10 yd
- Reported by
- GENERAL PUBLIC
- Coordinates
- 30.150, -94.283
Tornado in Texas, October 12, 2001
The tornado that originated in Hardin County dissipated in rural sections of Jefferson County, and was seen by several motorists. It caused little, if any, damage.
Where it happened
Every event with a place to put it. Tap one for its entry below.
- Tornadoes
- Tropical storms and surge
- Floods
- Wind
- Hail
- Winter weather
- Heat and drought
- Cold
- Fire, smoke and dust
- Marine and coastal
- Other
The toll
- Deaths
- 0
- Injuries
- 0
- Property damage
- None recorded
- Crop damage
- None recorded
- Events
- 1
Deaths and injuries are direct and indirect together, as the offices filed them. Damage is property and crops in the dollars of the year, not adjusted for inflation, and only where an office estimated it.
What happened
The episode as NWS LCH wrote it up.
The tornado that originated in Hardin County dissipated in rural sections of Jefferson County, and was seen by several motorists. It caused little, if any, damage.
What forecasters said that day
The local office's own words before the first event, 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 the first event at Oct 12, 12:46 PM CST, 1 hour 18 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Oct 12, 12:46 PM CST, 1 hour 18 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
TRARESThe radar
The Lake Charles radar (KLCH), 103 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 20:05 UTC.
Event by event
1 tornado. Local standard time, as filed.
What these are
- Tornado
- A violently rotating column of air in contact with the ground and extending from a thunderstorm, filed with its path, width and Fujita or Enhanced Fujita rating from the damage survey.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
The same day elsewhere
- Tornado and Hail in Texas, October 12, 2001
- Tornado in Texas, October 12, 2001
- Tornadoes and Hail in Texas, October 12 to 13, 2001
- Tornado and Hail in Texas, October 12, 2001
- Damaging Winds in Texas, October 12, 2001
- Hail and Damaging Wind in Texas, October 12, 2001
- Tornado and Hail in Texas, October 12, 2001
- Hail and Damaging Winds in Texas, October 12, 2001
- Hail and Damaging Wind in Texas, October 12, 2001
- Damaging Wind in Louisiana, October 12, 2001
- High Wind in Oregon, October 12, 2001
- Hail in Texas, October 12, 2001
More
Every storm in Texas in 2001Every state in 2001This day in weather historyThe tornado archive for Texas, 2001Warnings in Texas, October 2001
Sources
NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database, compiled from the National Weather Service’s monthly Storm Data. Complete through 2026-06; NCEI adds each month about 75 days after it ends and revises past years a few times a year. Rebuilt 2026-09-24. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 5271278.