Alert archive / Louisiana / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1987

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 21, NWS Lake Charles, LA

March 17, 1987Lafayette Parish, Vermilion Parish, Louisiana

NWS Lake Charles, LA issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Mar 17, 1987, 3:30 PM CST for Lafayette Parish, Vermilion Parish, Louisiana. It was in force for 45 min. 1 report came from inside the area while it was in force.

The area

The counties it named, with what was reported inside it.

The facts

Issued
Mar 17, 1987, 3:30 PM CST (21:30 UTC)
Expired
Mar 17, 1987, 4:15 PM CST
In force
45 min
Issued by
NWS Lake Charles, LA
Area
Whole counties

Counties Lafayette Parish, LA, Vermilion Parish, LA

The radar

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

What was reported inside it

TimeReportWhereRemark
Mar 17, 4:10 PM CSTThunderstorm Wind 0Vermilion, LA

NCEI Storm Data entries that began inside the alert's area while it was in force. Before 2003 the local storm report archive is thin, so this is the record of what happened rather than what was phoned in. Storm Data before 1996 records only tornadoes, thunderstorm wind and hail.

The nearest sounding before it

Lake Charles Mun, LA (KLCH), launched 12:00Z, 9.5 hours before the alert went out and 99 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 1987-03-17Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 133 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km-30°-20°-10°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 1987-03-17The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 544 square meters per square second.19395878Sfc1 km3 km6 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
133 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-270 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
658 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
52 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
544 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
810 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
1.3

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KLCH 172130
SVRLCH
LAC055-113-172215-
 
BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES LA
330 PM CST TUE MAR 17 1987
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
EFFECTIVE UNTIL  415 PM CST FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING PARISHES...
 
IN SOUTHWEST LOUISIANA
          ...EASTERN LAFAYETTE...EASTERN VERMILION
 
AT 325 PM CST RADAR SHOWED A LINE OF STRONG...POSSIBLY
SEVERE...THUNDNDERSTORMS CAN AND OCCASIONALLY DO PRODUCE TORNADOES
WITH LITTLE OR NO ADVANCE WARNING.  REMAIN CALM BUT BE ALERT TO
RAPIDLY CHANGING WEATHER CONDITIONS.

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before this severe thunderstorm 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, Mar 17, 9:59 AM CST, 5 hours 31 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PORT ARTHUR TX
1000AM CST TUE MAR 17 1987

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS CANCELLED THE TORNADO WATCH FOR
SOUTHhEAST TEXAS.  THE WATCH CONTINUES IN LOUISIANA.
DJK
Special weather statement, Mar 17, 10:06 AM CST, 5 hours 24 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT AND RADAR SUMMARY
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES LA
1000 AM CST TUE MAR 17 1987

...A TORNADO WATCH IS IN EFFECT UNTIL 100 PM THIS AFTERNOON FOR
SOUTHWEST AND CENTRAL LOUISIANA...

...STRONG AND GUSTY WINDS CONTINUE OVER SOUTHWEST LOUISIANA...

AT 935 AM...A LINE OF STRONG THUNDERSTORMS WAS LOCATED FROM NEAR
OAKDALE TO LAKE CHARLES TO CAMERON...AND EXTENDED INTO THE GULF TO
70 MILES SOUTH OF SABINE PASS. MOVEMENT WAS EAST AT 35 MPH.

ANOTHER LINE OF STRONG THUNDERSTORMS WITH VERY HEAVY RAIN HAD DEVELOPED
FROM JUST NORTH OF LEESVILLE TO NEAR DEQUINCY TO BEAUMONT TEXAS...
AND EXTENDED INTO THE TEXAS COASTAL WATERS SOUTH OF HIGH ISLAND.

STRONG SOUTHERLY WINDS AHEAD OF THESE THUNDERSTORMS HAD PRODUCED WIND
GUSTS OF 60 MPH IN LAFAYETTE. THUNDERSTORM WINDS HAD ALSO PRODUCED
GUSTS OF 45 MPH IN LAKE CHARLES. AS THESE LINES OF STRONG STORMS
CONTINUE TO MOVE EASTWARD...VERY HEAVY RAIN ALONG WITH FREQUENT
WIND GUSTS OF 50 MPH OR GREATER CAN BE EXPECTED IN SECTIONS OF
SOUTHWEST AND CENTRAL LOUISIANA.

ELSEWHERE...RAIN COVERED MOST OF CENTRAL AND EXTREME SOUTHWEST
LOUISIANA...EXTREME EAST TEXAS...AND THE UPPER TEXAS COASTAL WATERS.
LIGHT RAIN WAS SHOWN FROM MORGAN CITY TO BATON ROUGE TO ALEXANDRIA.
Local storm report, Mar 17, 2:23 PM CST, 1 hour 7 minutes before
SEVERE STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES LA
  1425   CST MON MAR 17 1987

 1400 PM CST      VILLE PLATTE, LOUISIANA
                  WIND DAMAGE...TREES AND LIMBS.

 1404 PM CST      CROWLEY, LOUISISNA
                  WIND DAMAGE...TREES DAOWN...POWERS LINE DOWN OVER
                  HOME.

 1415 PM CST      VILLE PLATTE, LOUISIANA

                  BARN AND BUS SHED DESTROYED.

                  REPORTS RECEIVED BY WSO ^LAKE CHARLES

NNNN

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Mar 17, 8:42 AM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLCHVernon63 min
Mar 17, 10:22 AM CSTTornado WarningLCHCameron38 min
Mar 17, 1:14 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLCHAcadia, Evangeline, Vermilion76 min
Mar 17, 2:25 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLCHLafayette, Vermilion65 min
Mar 17, 2:49 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLCHAcadia41 min
Mar 17, 4:07 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLCHLafayette, Vermilion53 min

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Louisiana, 1987Every severe thunderstorm 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; verification from NCEI's Storm Data; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive.