Alert archive / Texas / Flash Flood Warnings in 1988

Flash Flood Warning 2, NWS Lake Charles, LA

August 11, 1988Jefferson County, Texas

NWS Lake Charles, LA issued this flash flood warning at Aug 11, 1988, 12:25 AM CDT for Jefferson County, Texas. It was in force for 3 hr.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Aug 11, 1988, 12:25 AM CDT (05:25 UTC)
Expired
Aug 11, 1988, 3:30 AM CDT
In force
3 hr
Issued by
NWS Lake Charles, LA
Area
Whole counties

County Jefferson 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 00:00Z, 5.4 hours before the alert went out and 96 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 00:00Z on 1988-08-11Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 1567 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 00:00Z on 1988-08-11The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity -36 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
1567 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-3 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
688 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
3 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
-36 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
-31 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 KBPT 110525
FFWBPT
TXC245-110830-

BULLETIN-IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED

FLASH FLOOD WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PORT ARTHUR TX
1225 AM CDT THU AUG 11 1988

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A FLASH FLOOD WARNING UNTIL
330 AM CDT THIS THURSDAY MORNING FOR SOUTH JEFFERSON COUNTY AND THE
DOWNTOWN AREA OF PORT ARTHUR.

VERY HEAVY RAINFALL HAS OCCURRED ACROSS SOUTH JEFFERSON COUNTY AND
PARTS OF DOWNTOWN PORT ARTHUR HAVE FLOODED STREETS AND A FEW STALLED
CARS.  THE PORT ARTHUR POLICE DEPARTMENT HAS BEGUN BARRICADING
STREETS IN THE DOWNTOWN DISTRICT.

AT 1215 AM CDT...WEATHER RADAR SHOWED A LINE OF VERY HEAVY
THUNDERSTORMS EXTENDED FROM ORANGE THROUGH BRIDGE CITY AND PORT
ARTHUR TO HIGH ISLAND.  THE LINE WAS STATIONARY.  HEAVY RAINFALL
WILL CONTINUE ACROSS THE WARNED AREA.

STREET FLOODING MAY OCCURR IN BRIDGE CITY AND ORANGE LATER TONIGHT
AND THE FLOOD WARNING MAY NEED TO BE EXTENDED INTO ORANGE COUNTY.

STRONG GUSTY WIND AND EXTREMELY BRITLLIANT LIGHTENING HAS BEEN
OBSERVED WITH THESE THUNDERSTORMS.

IF YOU DO NOT NEED TO BE ON THE STREETS IN SOUTH JEFFERSON COUNTY
AND ORANGE COUNTY...PLEASE STAY IN.  LISTEN TO THE PORT ARTHUR
WEATHER RADIO FOR LATER DEVELOPEMENTS.

DCG

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, Aug 10, 11:26 PM CDT, 59 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT AND RADAR SUMMARY
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES LA
1125 PM CDT WED AUG 10 1988

...THUNDERSTORMS WITH VERY HEAVY RAIN MOVING ACROSS SOME PORTIONS OF
SOUTHWEST LOUISIANA AND SOUTHEAST TEXAS...

AT 1125 PM RADAR SHOWED THUNDERSTORMS WITH VERY HEAVY RAIN EXTENDING IN
A NORTHEAST SOUTHWEST MANNER FROM NEAR GALVESTON TO JUST WEST OF LAKE
CHARLES AND WEST OF ALEXANDRIA.

THESE THUNDERSTORMS WERE MOVING TOWARD THE NORTHEAST AT 20 MPH.

PERIODS OF VERY HEAVY RAINS...STRONG GUSTY WINDS...VIVID LIGHTNING...
AND POSSIBLY SOME SMALL HAIL CAN BE EXPECTED WITH THE HEAVIER
THUNDERSTORMS. SOME STREET FLOODING COULD ALSO OCCURR.

PERSONS MAINLY IN CALCASIEU...BEAUREGARD...VERNON PARISHES SHOULD
CONTINUE TO MONITOR THE LATEST WEATHER RELEASES IN THE EVENT IT
BECOMES NECESSARY FOR THE ISSUANCE OF A WARNING.
-
ELSEWHERE...PATCHES OF RAIN CONTINUED IN THE VICINITY OF WHITE LAKE
AND ALSO NBETWEEN TOLEDO BEND RESERVOIR A
ND THE SHREVEPORT AREA.

Nearby

Flash Flood Warnings in Texas, 1988Every flash flood warning in 1988

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.