Alert archive / Louisiana / Flash Flood Warnings in 1989

Flash Flood Warning 39, NWS Lake Charles, LA

June 29, 1989Calcasieu Parish, Cameron Parish, Louisiana

NWS Lake Charles, LA issued this flash flood warning at Jun 29, 1989, 2:56 AM CDT for Calcasieu Parish, Cameron Parish, Louisiana. It was in force for 2 hr.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Jun 29, 1989, 2:56 AM CDT (07:56 UTC)
Expired
Jun 29, 1989, 5:00 AM CDT
In force
2 hr
Issued by
NWS Lake Charles, LA
Area
Whole counties

Counties Calcasieu Parish, LA, Cameron 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 00:00Z, 7.9 hours before the alert went out and 12 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 1989-06-29Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 420 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 1989-06-29The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 2 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
420 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-3 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
590 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
7 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
2 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
2 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 KLCH 290757
FFWLCH
LAC019-023-291000-
 
BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
FLASH FLOOD WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES LA
256 AM CDT THU JUN 29 1989
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN LAKE CHARLES HAS ISSUED A
FLASH FLOOD WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  500 AM CDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING PARISHES...
 
IN SOUTHWEST LOUISIANA
          ...CALCASIEU...CAMERON
 
A BAND OF THUNDERSTORMS WITH VERY HEAVY RAIN WAS NEARLY STATIONARY
OVER CAMERON AND CALCASIEU PARISHES FROM JUST WEST OF LAKE CHARLES TO
JUST WEST OF CAMERON. LOCALL FLOODING HAS BEEN REPORTED IN SULPHUR AND
ADDITIONAL HEAVY RAIN WILL LIKELY EFFECT THIS AREA DURING THE NEXT TWO
HOURS.
 
 
BE ESPECIALLY CAUTIOUS AT NIGHT WHEN IT IS HARDER TO RECOGNIZE
THE DANGERS OF FLOODS AND FLASH FLOODS.  IF FLASH FLOODING IS
OBSERVED...ACT QUICKLY.  MOVE UP TO ESCAPE FLOOD WATERS.  DO
NOT STAY IN AREAS SUBJECT TO FLOODING WHEN WATER BEGINS RISING.
 
DO NOT DRIVE YOUR VEHICLE INTO AREAS WHERE THE WATER COVERS THE
ROADWAY.  THE WATER DEPTH MAY BE TOO GREAT TO ALLOW YOUR CAR TO
CROSS SAFELY.  VEHICLES CAUGHT IN RISING WATER SHOULD BE
ABANDONED QUICKLY.  MOVE 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, Jun 28, 10:44 PM CDT, 4 hours 12 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT AND RADAR SUMMARY
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES LA
1040 PM CDT WED JUN 28 1989

...THUNDERSTORMS DEVELOPING OVER SOUTHWEST LOUISIANA...

AT 1030 PM...A BAND OF THUNDERSTORMS WITH VERY HEAVY RAIN HAD DEVELOPED
FROM JUST NORTHEAST OF CAMERON TO NEAR KINDER.

THESE THUNDERSTORMS WILL LIKELY CAUSE PERIODS OF HEAVY RAIN..STRONG
GUSTY WINDS AND LOCAL STREET FLOODING OVER PORTIONS OF CAMERON..EXTREME
SOUTHEAST CALCASIEU..JEFF DAVIS AND ALLEN PARISHES DURING THE NEXT HOUR
OR TWO AS THEY MOVE NORTHEAST AT 15 MPH.

OTHERWISE..WIDESPREAD RAIN AND ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS CONTINUED FROM
THE HOUSTON..GALVESTON AREAS OVER SABINE PASS..THEN NORTHEAST TO WEST
OF MONROE.  THE AREA WAS ABOUT 80 MILES WIDE.  THE NORTHERN PART OF THE
ARE WAS MOVING NORTHWEST AT 15 MPH WHILE THE SOUTHWEST PART WAS MOVING
SOUTHEAST AT 15 MPH.
<
SCATTERED SHOWERS CONTINUED OVER THE GULF 60 TO 100 MILES SOUTHWEST
OF VERMILION BAY AND WERE MOVING NORTHEAST AT 10 MPH.
Special weather statement, Jun 28, 11:35 PM CDT, 3 hours 21 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT AND RADAR SUMMARY
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES LA
1140 PM CDT WED JUN 28 1989

AT 1125 PM...A BAND OF THUNDERSTORMS WITH VERY HEAVY RAIN WAS SHOWN
FROM NEAR KINDER SOUTHWEST OVER LAKE CHARLES TO 20 MILES SOUTH OF
SABINE PASS.

THESE THUNDERSTORMS WILL LIKELY CAUSE PERIODS OF HEAVY RAIN..STRONG
GUSTY WINDS AND LOCAL STREET FLOODING OVER PORTIONS OF CAMERON..EXTREME
SOUTHEAST CALCASIEU..JEFF DAVIS AND ALLEN PARISHES DURING THE NEXT HOUR
OR TWO AS THEY MOVE NORTHEAST AT 15 MPH.

OTHERWISE..WIDESPREAD RAIN AND ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS CONTINUED IN AN
AREA 90 MILES WIDE EXTENDING FROM 40 MILES SOUTHEAST OF GALVESTON TO
JUST WEST OF MONROE.

MOVEMENT OVER THE NORTHERN PART OF THE AREA WAS NORTHWEST AT 15 MPH..
WHILE MOVEMENT OVER THE SOUTHERN PART OF THE AREA WAS EAST SOUTHEAST
AT 15 MPH.
Special weather statement, Jun 29, 12:37 AM CDT, 2 hours 19 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT AND RADAR SUMMARY
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES LA
1232 AM CDT THU JUN 29 1989

...ANOTHER TWO INCHES OF RAIN AT LAKE CHARLES PAST HOUR. STREET
FLOODING LIKELY...

AT 1225 AM...A LINE OF NUMEROUS THUNDERSTORMS WITH VERY HEAVY RAIN WAS
SHOWN FROM FORT POLK SOUTH TO LAKE CHARLES AND CAMERON INTO THE GULF
25 MILES SOUTH OF SABINE PASS.

THE THUNDERSTORMS WERE MOVING NORTH AT 20 MPH.

WIDESPREAD RAIN WITH SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS MIXED IN THE RAIN COVERED
THE WEST HALF OF LOUISIANA FROM MANSFIELD AND MONROE SOUTH ACROSS
ALEXANDRIA AND LAKE CHARLES INTO THE GULF.

HEAVY RAIN WILL CAUSE ADDITIONAL FLOODING IN ALLEN...JEFF DAVIS...
CAMERON...AND A FLASH FLOOD W%ARNING IS BEING ISSUED FOR CALCASIEU
PARISH.

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jun 29, 1:30 AM CDTFlash Flood WarningLCHBeauregard2 hr
Jun 29, 7:40 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLCHCameron65 min
Jun 29, 10:15 AM CDTFlash Flood WarningLCHRapides4 hr
Jun 29, 10:26 AM CDTTornado WarningLCHEvangeline64 min
Jun 29, 1:10 PM CDTTornado WarningLCHAcadia, Lafayette50 min
Jun 29, 2:11 PM CDTFlash Flood WarningLCHRapides3 hr
Jun 29, 2:25 PM CDTTornado WarningLCHLafayette50 min

Nearby

Flash Flood Warnings in Louisiana, 1989Every flash flood warning in 1989

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.