Alert archive / Texas / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1987
Severe Thunderstorm Warning 39, NWS Lake Charles, LA
NWS Lake Charles, LA issued this severe thunderstorm warning at May 15, 1987, 5:15 PM CDT for Orange County, Texas. It was in force for 60 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
- May 15, 1987, 5:15 PM CDT (22:15 UTC)
- Expired
- May 15, 1987, 6:15 PM CDT
- In force
- 60 min
- Issued by
- NWS Lake Charles, LA
- Area
- Whole counties
County Orange County, TX
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
| Time | Report | Where | Remark |
|---|---|---|---|
| May 15, 5:30 PM CDT | Hail 1 | Orange, TX |
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, 10.3 hours before the alert went out and 67 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.
- Mixed-layer CAPE
- 1142 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -66 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 823 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 14 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- -13 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 30 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 0.0
The text
The text of this product is not in the archive. The NWS text archive before 2002 is incomplete.
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, May 15, 3:00 PM CDT, 2 hours 15 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT AND RADAR SUMMARY NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES LA 250 PM CDT FRI MAY 15 1987 AT 230 PM...STRONG THUNDERSTORMS WITH HEAVY RAINS AND GUSTY WINDS WERE MOVING INTO THE LAKE CHARLES AREA FROM THE WEST. THESE STRONG THUNDERSTORMS WILL ALSO PRODUCE DANGEROUS LIGHTNING AROUND THE LAKE CHARLES AREA. OTHER STRONG THUNDERSTORMS WERE INDICATED FROM LEESVILLE TO NORTHWEST OF CROWLEY AND IN VERMILION PARISH...SOUTH CENTRAL LOUISIANA...MOVING OVER VERMILION BAY. THESE THUNDERSTORMS WERE MOVING SOUTHEAST AT 15 MPH. SHOWERS WERE INDICATED AROUND ALEXANDRIA.
Special weather statement, May 15, 3:44 PM CDT, 1 hour 31 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT AND RADAR SUMMARY NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES LA 340 PM CDT FRI MAY 15 1987 AT 325 PM...A BAND OF STRONG THUNDERSTORMS WITH HEAVY RAINS AND GUSTY WINDS WAS LOCATED IN VERMILION PARISH...SOUTH CENTRAL LOUISIANA... MOVING SOUTHEAST AT 15 MPH INTO THE COASTAL WATERS JUST SOUTH OF VERMILION BAY. STRONG THUNDERSTORMS INCREASED IN INTENSITY IN NORTH LOUISIANA BETWEEN MANSFIELD AND WINNFIELD MOVING SOUTH AT 15 MPH. THUNDERSTORMS CONTINUED AROUND LAKE CHARLES MOVING SOUTHEAST AT 15 MPH. THIS WILL BE THE LAST SPECIAL STATEMENT UNLESS THUNDERSTORMS REINTENSIFY.
Special weather statement, May 15, 5:05 PM CDT, 10 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PORT ARTHUR TX
500PM CDT FRI MAY 15 1987
...VERY HEAVY THUNDERSTORM IN NORTHWEST HARDIN COUNTY...
THE TOWNS OF VOTAW, THICKET, AND SARATOGA CAN EXPECT VERY HEAVY RAINS
FOR THE NEXT ONE TO POSSIBLY TWO HOURS. RAINFALL TOTALS COULD RANGE
FROM TWO TO FOUR INCHES.
A VERY HEAVY THUNDERSTORM IS DRIFTING SOUTH OUT OF POLK COUNTY AT
500 PM. WEATHER SERVICE RADAR INDICATES ONLY HEAVY RAIN IN THIS
THUNDERSTORM.
MOTORISTS SHOULD BE VERY CAUTIOUS AS THE HEAVY RAINS WILL GREATLY
REDUCE THE VISIBILITY...AND CAUSE SOME TEMPORARY FLOODING OF LOW
SPOTS ALONG THE ROADS, ESPECIALLY UNDERPASSES.The office that day
Everything else NWS Lake Charles, LA issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 15, 6:00 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | LCH | Hardin, Jefferson, Orange | 60 min |
| May 15, 6:00 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | LCH | Angelina, Tyler | 60 min |
Nearby
Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Texas, 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.