Alert archive / Louisiana / Flash Flood Warnings in 1987

Flash Flood Warning 2, NWS New Orleans, LA

May 25, 1987Saint Martin Parish, Louisiana

NWS New Orleans, LA issued this flash flood warning at May 25, 1987, 5:08 PM CDT for Saint Martin Parish, Louisiana. It was in force for 4 hr.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
May 25, 1987, 5:08 PM CDT (22:08 UTC)
Expired
May 25, 1987, 9:00 PM CDT
In force
4 hr
Issued by
NWS New Orleans, LA
Area
Whole counties

County Saint Martin 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, 10.1 hours before the alert went out and 153 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 1987-05-25Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 1962 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 1987-05-25The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity -57 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
1962 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-23 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
842 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
10 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
-57 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

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

000 
TTAA00 KNEW 252210
FFWNEW
LAC099-007-101-109-260200-

BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
FLASH FLOOD WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NEW ORLEANS LA
508 PM CST MON MAY 25 1987

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A FLASH FLOOD WARNING
EFFECTIVE UNTIL 900 PM CST FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING PARISHES...

IN SOUTHEAST LOUISIANA
      ...LOWER ST. MARTIN...ST. MARY...ASSUMPTION...TERREBONE...

A LINE OF VERY HEAVY THUNDERSTORMS FORMED OVER SOUTH LOUISIANA.
INDIVIDUAL THUNDERSTORMS..WITHIN THIS LINE..ARE MOVING NORTHWARD
ONE BEHIND THE OTHER LIKE A TRAIN.  SIX INCHES OF RAINFALL HAS BEEN
REPORTED AT NAPOLEONVILLE IN ASSUMPTION PARISH WITHIN A 90 MINUTE
PERIOD. RADAR INDICATES THAT THESE THUNDERSTORMS ARE REFORMING OVER THE
SAME AREA.  ADDITIONAL HEAVY RAINFALL WILL OCCUR AND COULD CAUSE
FLOODING IN LOW LYING AREAS AND ROADS.
<
A 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, May 25, 2:59 PM CDT, 2 hours 9 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BATON ROUGE LA
255 PM CDT MON MAY 25 1987

...STRONG THUNDERSTORMS WITH VERY HEAVY RAIN MOVING THROUGH BATON
ROUGE...

RADAR SHOWED STRONG THUNDERSTORMS WITH VERY HEAVY RAIN MOVING THROUGH
THE BATON ROUGE METROPOLITAN AREA.  THESE THUNDERSTORMS WERE MOVING
NORTH ABOUT 15 MPH.

PEOPLE THROUGHOUT THE BATON ROUGE METROPOLITAN AREA CAN EXPECT FLOODING
OF STREETS AND LOW LYING AREAS...STRONG GUSTY WINND AND POSSIBLY HAIL AS
THESE THUNDERSTORMS PASS THROUGH DURING THE NEXT 1 TO 2 HOURS.

PEOPLE SHOULD USE CAUTION WHEN TRAVELING THROUGH FLOODED AREAS.
Special weather statement, May 25, 3:45 PM CDT, 1 hour 23 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT AND RADAR SUMMARY
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NEW ORLEANS LA
335 PM CDT MON MAY 25 1987

A LINE OF STRONG THUNDERSTORMS WITH HEAVY RAINS HAD DEVELOPED OVER
SOUTHWEST MISSISSIPPI FROM CRYSTAL SPRINGS SOUTHWEST OF MCCOMB INTO
LOUISIANA. THE LINE EXTENDED SOUTH BETWEEN BATON ROUGE AND THIBODAUX
TO THE COAST NEAR MORGAN CITY.  STRONG GUSTY WINDS...FREQUENT LIGHTNING
AND SMALL HAIL MAY ACCOMPANY THIS LINE AS THE THUNDERSTORMS MOVE
NORTH AT 15 MILES AN HOUR.  PEOPLE SHOULD BE ESPECIALLY ALERT TO LOCAL
STREET FLOODING IN THE HEAVY RAINS.

ELSEWHERE...WIDELY SCATTERED SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS CONTINUED OVER
SOUTHEAST LOUISIANA AND SOUTHWEST MISSISSIPPI.  THE HEAVIEST AmCTIVITY
HAD MOVED WEST OF THE NEW ORLEANS AREA.
Special weather statement, May 25, 4:46 PM CDT, 22 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BATON ROUGE LA
445 PM CDT MON MAY 25 1987

...STRONG THUNDERSTORMS WITH VERY HEAVY RAIN WERE MOVING ACROSS
ST. LANDRY PARISH IN EAST CENTRAL LOUISIANA...

RADAR SHOWED A CLUSTER OF STRONG THUNDERSTORMS WITH VERY HEAVY RAIN
FROM NEAR LAFAYETTE TO EUNICE LOUISIANA.  MOVEMENT WAS NORTH ABOUT
15 MPH.

PEOPLE IN ST. LANDRY PARISH CAN EXPECT STRONG GUSTY WIND AND POSSIBLE
HAIL...AND SOME STREET FLOODING FROM THE VERY HEAVY RAIN AS THESE
STRONG THUNDERSTORMS PASS THROUGH DURING THE NEXT 1 TO 2 HOURS.
Special weather statement, May 25, 4:54 PM CDT, 14 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT AND RADAR SUMMARY
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NEW ORLEANS LA
450 PM CDT MON MAY 25 1987

A LINE OF STRONG THUNDERSTORMS WITH VERY HEAVY RAIN CONTINUED OVER
SOUTHEAST LOUISIANA FROM DONALDSONVILLE SOUTH ACROSS THE MORGAN CITY
AND HOUMA AREAS TO THE COAST.

THIS LINE SHOWED LITTLE MOVEMENT DURING THE LAST HOUR AND FLOODING OF
STREETS AND LOW LYING AREAS IS LIKELY.

ELSEWHERE...THIS LINE OF THUNDERSTORMS EXTENDED NORTH ACROSS ACROSS
BATON ROUGE INTO SOUTHWEST MISSISSIPPI BETWEEN NATCHEZ AND MCCOMB AND
CONTINUE NORTH TO WEST OF JACKSON.

OTHER THUNDERSTORMS WERE WIDELY SCATTERED ACROSS SOUTH LOUISIANA...
SOUTH MISSISSIPPI...AND SOUTHWEST ALABAMA.

The office that day

Everything else NWS New Orleans, LA issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 25, 5:08 PM CDTFlash Flood WarningLIXAssumption, St. Mary, Terrebonne4 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.