Alert archive / Louisiana / Flash Flood Warnings in 1987

Flash Flood Warning 2, NWS Lake Charles, LA

July 1, 1987Calcasieu Parish, Louisiana

NWS Lake Charles, LA issued this flash flood warning at Jul 1, 1987, 6:15 PM CDT for Calcasieu Parish, Louisiana. It was in force for 60 min.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Jul 1, 1987, 6:15 PM CDT (23:15 UTC)
Expired
Jul 1, 1987, 7:15 PM CDT
In force
60 min
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, 11.3 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 012312
FFWLCH
LAC019-011515-

BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
FLASH FLOOD WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES LA
615 PM CDT WED JUL 1 1987

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A FLASH FLOOD WARNING
EFFECTIVE UNTIL 7.15 PM CDT FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING PARISH...

IN SOUTHWEST LOUISIANA
          ...CALCASIEU

THUNDERSTORMS WITH VERY HEAVY RAINS ARE MOVING THROUGH CALCASIEU
PARISH. SINCE 6 AM THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN LAKE CHARLES HAS
RECEIVED NEAR FIVE INCHES OF RAIN. STREETS CONTINUE TO BE FLOODED
IN PORTIONS OF SOUTH LAKE CHARLES AND THIS ADDITIONAL AMOUNTS COULD
SEND WATER INTO SOME HOMES.
.
FLASH FLOOD WARNING MEANS THAT FLOODING IS OCCURRING OR IS
IMMINENT.  MOST FLASH FbLOOD 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, 12:46 PM CDT, 5 hours 29 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT AND RADAR SUMMARY
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES LA
1245 PM CDT WED JUL 1 1987

...STRONG THUNDERSTORMS AGAIN REFORMIMG WEST THROUGH SOUTH OF LAKE
CHARLES...KEEP ABREST OF WEATHER CONDITIONS AS FUTURE WARNINGS MAY
BE ISSUED...

AT 1228 PM CDT...STRONG THUNDERSTORMS WERE SHOWN FROM WEST OF LAKE
CHARLES OVER VINTON TO OVER CAMERON...AND FROM 10 MILES SOUTHEAST OF
BATON ROUGE SOUTHWEST TO EAST OF VERMILION BAY.

MOVEMENT WAS EAST AT 15 MPH.

OTHERWISE RAIN AND STRONG THUNDERSTORMS WITH HEAVY RAIN CONTINUED SOUTH
OF A HOUSTON...EUNICE...BATON ROUGE LINEAND THEY EXTEND INTO THE GULF
TO OVER 125 MILES SOUTHEAST OF LAKE CHARLES.

OTHER ISOLATED SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS CONTINUED NORTH OF A KOUNTZE
TEXAS...LEESVILLE...ALEXANDRIA LINE.
Special weather statement, Jul 1, 4:32 PM CDT, 1 hour 43 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PORT ARTHUR TX
430PM CDT WED JUL 01 1987

  ...STRONG THUNDERSTORMS APPROACHING THE GOLDEN TRIANGLE...

A NARROW BAND OF HEAVY THUNDERSTORMS IS MOVING SOUTH INTO THE GOLDEN
TRIANGLE LATE THIS AFTERNOON.

JEFFERSON COUNTY CIVIL DEFENSE REPORTED HAIL APPROACHING ONE HALF
INCH FALLING ON HIGHWAY 96 NORTH OF BEAUMONT.

THE LINE OF THUNDERSTORMS DROPPING THE HAIL AND HEAVY RAIN IS MOVING
TO THE SOUTH AT ABOUT 15 MPH.  AT 430 PM CDT THE LINE RANGES FROM
SOUTHWEST OF LAKE LIVINGSTON ACROSS KOUNTZE AND SILSBEE TO NORTH OF
DEWEYVILLE AND ON INTO LOUSIANA.

THERE WILL BE BRIEF PERIOD OF HEAVY RAINS WITH STRONG GUSTY WINDS
AND POSSIBLY HAIL OVE%R THE GOLDEN TRIANGLE AS THIS LINE OF
THUNDERSTORMS MOVES SOUTH THROUGH THE AREA THIS EVENING.
Special weather statement, Jul 1, 4:43 PM CDT, 1 hour 32 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT AND RADAR SUMMARY
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES LA
440 PM CDT WED JUL 1 1987

AT 430 PM... A NARROW LINE OF STRONG THUNDERSTORMS WITH VERY HEAVY RAIN
WAS SHOWN FROM JUST NORTHEAST OF KOUNTZE TEXAS TO THE DE RIDDER AREA.
THESE THUNDERSTORMS WILL LIKE PRODUCE STRONG GUSTY WINDS...DANGEROUS
LIGHTNING AND VERY HEAVY RAIN AS THEY MOVE EAST AT 10 MPH. FLOODING OF
STREETS...UNDERPASSES AND LOW LYING COULD OCCUR IN BEAUREGARD PARISH
WITH THESE STORMS.

OTHER ISOLATED STRONG THUNDERSTORMS WITH VERY HEAVY RAIN WERE SHOWN
BETWEEN BEAUMONT AND SILSBEE...AND NORTHEAST OF CONROE...IN SOUTHEAST
TEXAS.

SCATTERED SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WERE BETWEEN KINDER AND ALEXANDRIA.
THERE WERE ALSO SCATTERED SHOWERS NEAR MANY AND NORTH OF ALEXANDRIA.

MOVEMENT WAS EAST AT 10 MPH.
Special weather statement, Jul 1, 4:51 PM CDT, 1 hour 24 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT AND RADAR SUMMARY CORRECTION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES LA
440 PM CDT WED JUL 1 1987

AT 430 PM... A NARROW LINE OF STRONG THUNDERSTORMS WITH VERY HEAVY RAIN
WAS SHOWN FROM JUST NORTHEAST OF KOUNTZE TEXAS TO THE DE RIDDER AREA.
THESE THUNDERSTORMS WILL LIKELY PRODUCE STRONG GUSTY WINDS...DANGEROUS
LIGHTNING AND VERY HEAVY RAIN AS THEY MOVE EAST AT 10 MPH. FLOODING OF
STREETS...UNDERPASSES AND LOW LYING AREAS COULD OCCUR IN BEAUREGARD
PARISH WITH THESE STORMS.

OTHER ISOLATED STRONG THUNDERSTORMS WITH VERY HEAVY RAIN WERE SHOWN
BETWEEN BEAUMONT AND SILSBEE...AND NORTHEAST OF CONROE...IN SOUTHEAST
TEXAS.

SCATTERED SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WERE BETWEEN KINDER AND ALEXANDRIA.
THERE WERE ALSO SCATTERED SHOWERS NEAR MANY AND NORTH OF ALEXANDRIA.

MOVEMENT WAS EAST AT 10 MPH.
Special weather statement, Jul 1, 5:45 PM CDT, 30 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT AND RADAR SUMMARY CORRECTION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES LA
546 PM CDT WED JUL 1 1987

...A FLASH FLOOD WATCH IS IN EFFECT FOR SOUTHWEST LOUISIANA UNTIL
   12 MIDNIGHT TONIGHT...

AT 530 PM...A LINE OF STRONG THUNDERSTORMS WITH VERY HEAVY RAIN
WAS SHOWN FROM NEAR LIBERTY TEXAS THROUGH SILSBEE AND DE QUINCY
TO JUST NORTHWEST OF KINDER. THE LOUISIANA DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
REPORTED A FUNNEL CLOUD EAST OF DE QUINCY AT 520 PM. THESE
STORMS WILL PRODUCE STRONG GUSTY WINDS...POSSIBLY SOME SMALL HAIL...
DANGEROUS LIGHTNING AND VERY HEAVY RAIN AS THEY MOVE EAST AT 20 MPH.

PERSONS IN SOUTHERN BEAUREGARD AND NORTHERN CALCASIEU PARISHES NEED
TO REMAIN ALERT JTO THE POSSIBITY OF FLOODING OF STREETS AND LOW LYING
AREAS...AS THE GROUND IN THESE AREAS IS ALREADY SATURATED.
Special weather statement, Jul 1, 6:14 PM CDT, 1 minute before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PORT ARTHUR TX
610PM CDT WED JUL 01 1987

HEAVY THUNDERSTORMS ARE MOVING SOUTH ACROSS THE GOLDEN TRIANGLE THIS
EVENING.  THE LINE OF THUNDERSTORMS COVERS FROM NORTHWEST OF HOUSTON
EASTWARD THROUGH THE GOLDEN TRIANGLE ON INTO SOUTHWEST LOUISIANA.

THIS LINE IS MOVING TO THE SOUTH AT ABOUT 15 MPH.

THERE WILL BE BRIEF HEAVY RAINS WITH STRONG GUSTY WINDS AND POSSIBLY
SOME HAIL AS THIS LINE MOVES SOUTH ACROSS THE TRIANGLE THIS
EVENING.   HAIL NEAR ONE HALF INCH WAS REPORTED ABOUT 430 PM CDT ON
HIGHWAY 96 NORTH OF BEAUMONT.

THE THUNDERSTORMS WILL BEGIN DIMINISHING AFTER SUNSET.

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jul 1, 8:15 AM CDTFlash Flood WarningLCHCalcasieu2 hr

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.