Alert archive / Texas / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1987

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 41, NWS Lake Charles, LA

May 15, 1987Angelina County, Tyler County, Texas

NWS Lake Charles, LA issued this severe thunderstorm warning at May 15, 1987, 6:00 PM CDT for Angelina County, Tyler County, Texas. It was in force for 60 min.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
May 15, 1987, 6:00 PM CDT (23:00 UTC)
Expired
May 15, 1987, 7:00 PM CDT
In force
60 min
Issued by
NWS Lake Charles, LA
Area
Whole counties

Counties Angelina County, TX, Tyler County, TX

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, 11.0 hours before the alert went out and 159 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 1987-05-15Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 1142 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 1987-05-15The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity -13 square meters per square second.1939Sfc1 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
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

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

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, 3 hours 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, 2 hours 16 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, 55 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.
Special weather statement, May 15, 5:40 PM CDT, 20 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT AND RADAR SUMMARY
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES LA
525 PM CDT FRI MAY 15 1987

AT 525 PM...A COUPLE OF THUNDERSTORMS WITH HEAVY RAIN HAD DEVELOPED
OVER THE NORTHERN PART OF VERNON PARISH DURING THE PAST HOUR.  OTHER
THUNDERSTORMS WERE SHOWN IN SOUTHWEST LOUISIANA 10 MILES EAST OF PORT
ARTHUR AND ALONG THE COAST SOUTHEAST AND SOUTHWEST OF WHITE LAKE.

OTHERWISE OVER LOUISIANA PATCHES OF RAIN WITH A FEW THUNDERSTORMS WERE
SHOWN FROM NEAR MANY TO EAST OF ALEXANDRIA TO SOUTH OF ATCHAFALAYA BAY
TO NEAR SABINE.

OVER EAST TEXAS..STRONG THUNDERSTORMS AND PATCHES OF RAIN WERE SHOWN
FROM PORT ARTHUR TO TOLEDO BEND RESERVOIR AND WESTWARD TO WEST OF
LUFKIN AND CONROEJ.

LITTLE MOVEMENT WAS SHOWN.

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 15, 5:15 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLCHOrange60 min
May 15, 6:00 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLCHHardin, Jefferson, Orange60 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; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive.