Alert archive / Louisiana / Flash Flood Warnings in 1987

Flash Flood Warning 1, NWS Lake Charles, LA

July 1, 1987Calcasieu Parish, Louisiana

NWS Lake Charles, LA issued this flash flood warning at Jul 1, 1987, 8:15 AM CDT for Calcasieu Parish, Louisiana. It was in force for 2 hr.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Jul 1, 1987, 8:15 AM CDT (13:15 UTC)
Expired
Jul 1, 1987, 10:15 AM CDT
In force
2 hr
Issued by
NWS Lake Charles, LA
Area
Whole counties

County Calcasieu Parish, LA

The radar

The WSR-88D network and its archive begin in 1991, so there is no radar volume for this alert.

The nearest sounding before it

Lake Charles Mun, LA (KLCH), launched 12:00Z, 1.3 hours before the alert went out and 19 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 1987-07-01Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 2255 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 1987-07-01The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 54 square meters per square second.193958Sfc1 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
2255 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-9 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
583 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
22 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
54 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
102 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.0

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KLCH 011315
FFWLCH
LAC019-011515-
 
BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
FLASH FLOOD WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES LA
815 AM CDT WED JUL 1 1987
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A FLASH FLOOD WARNING
EFFECTIVE UNTIL 1015 AM CDT FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING PARISH...
 
IN SOUTHWEST LOUISIANA
          ...EASTERN CALCASIEU
 
THUNDERSTORMS WITH VERY HEAVY RAINS CONTINUE TO DEVELOP JUST WEST AND
SOUTHWEST OF LAKE CHARLES AND MOVING EAST-NORTHEAST OVER THE CITY AND
THE EASTERN HALF OF CALCASIEU PARISH. SINCE 600 AM THE NATIONAL
WEATHER SERVICE IN LAKE CHARLES HAS RECEIVED OVER FOUR INCHES OF
RAIN.
 
THE WATERS HAVE RISEN INTO A HOME SOUTH OF LAKE CHARLES NEAR TANK
FARM ROAD. REPORTS OF SERIOUS STREET FLOODING ARE NUMEROUS...WITH
LAKE STREET...12TH STREET...AND UNIVERSITY AVENUE DESCRIBED AS
IMPASSABLE.
 
FLASH FLOOD WARNING MEANS THAT FLOODING IS OCCURRING OR IS
IMMINENT.  MOST FLASH FLOOD DEATHS OCCUR IN AUTOMOBILES.  DO NOT
ATTEMPT TO CROSS BRIDGES...DIPS...OR LOW SPOTS IF WATER COVERS
THE ROADWAY.  NEVER TRY TO CROSS A FLOWING STREAM...EVEN A SMALL
ONE...ON FOOT.  TO ESCAPE RISING WATER MOVE UP TO HIGHER GROUND.

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before this flash flood warning went out, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.

In the hours before

Special weather statement, Jul 1, 6:40 AM CDT, 1 hour 35 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT AND RADAR SUMMARY
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES LA
635 AM CDT WED JUL 1 1987

...THUNDERSTORMS WITH HEAVY RAINS OVER LAKE CHARLES AND EXTREME
SOUTHWEST LOUISIANA. STREET FLOODING AGAIN LIKELY AROUND THE CITY...

AT 625 AM...A LARGE THUNDERSTORM WITH HEAVY RAINS AND DANGEROUS
LIGHTNING WAS SHOWN OVER LAKE CHARLES MOVING NORTHEAST AT 15 MPH.

ELSEWHERE...CLUSTERS OF SCATTERED THUNDERSHOWERS AND SHOWERS WERE
LOCATED JUST EAST AND NORTH OF BEAUMONT...DERIDDER TO LEESVILLE...
CAMERON AND SABINE PASS OUT 40 MILES INTO THE GULF...AROUND
ALEXANDRIA AND EAST OF MANSFIELD LOUISIANA.

OTHER THUNDERSHOWERS AND SHOWERS WERE WELL IN THE GULF 100 MILES SOUTH
OF THE ATCHAFALAYA BAY AND 100 TO BEYOND 125 MILES SOUTHEAST AND SOUTH
OF GALVESTON.

NO THUNDERSHOWER ACTIVITY WAS NOTED AROUND LAFAYETTE OR BATON ROUGE.
Special weather statement, Jul 1, 7:43 AM CDT, 32 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT AND RADAR SUMMARY
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES LA
735 AM CDT WED JUL 1 1987

...THUNDERSTORMS WITH HEAVY RAINS CONTINUE OVER LAKE CHARLES AND
EXTREME SOUTHWEST LOUISIANA...STREET FLOODING REPORTED IN THE CITY...

AT 725 AM...OVER TWO AND THREE QUARTER INCHES OF RAIN HAD BEEN
RECORDED AT THE LAKE CHARLES NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SINCE 6 AM.

THUNDERSTORMS WITH VERY HEAVY RAINS AND DANGEROUS LIGHTNING COVERED
MOST OF EXTREME SOUTHWEST LOUISIANA MOVING SLOWLY NORTHEAST. THE
HEAVY RAINS WILL CONTINUE THIS MORNING. PEOPLE IN CALCASIEU...ALLEN
AND JEFF DAVIS PARISHES SHOULD CURTAIL ANY UNNECESSARY AUTOMOBILE
TRAVEL AND DRIVE EXTREMELY CAREFUL DUE TO FLOODING ON STREETS AND
HIGHWAYS.

ELSEWHERE CLUSTERS OF THUNDERSHOWERS AND SHOWERS WERE SHOWN EAST OF
ALEXANDRIA...OVER TOLEDO BEND RESERVOIR...AND NEAR BEAUMONT INTO THE
COASTAL WATERS  SOUTH AND SOUTHEAST OF SABINE PASS.

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jul 1, 6:15 PM CDTFlash Flood WarningLCHCalcasieu60 min

Nearby

Flash Flood Warnings in Louisiana, 1987Every flash flood warning in 1987

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.