Alert archive / Louisiana / Flash Flood Warnings in 1989

Flash Flood Warning 53, NWS Lake Charles, LA

July 14, 1989Vermilion Parish, Louisiana

NWS Lake Charles, LA issued this flash flood warning at Jul 14, 1989, 8:07 AM CDT for Vermilion Parish, Louisiana. It was in force for 3 hr.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Jul 14, 1989, 8:07 AM CDT (13:07 UTC)
Expired
Jul 14, 1989, 11:15 AM CDT
In force
3 hr
Issued by
NWS Lake Charles, LA
Area
Whole counties

County Vermilion 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, 1.1 hours before the alert went out and 93 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 1989-07-14Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 2233 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 1989-07-14The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 10 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
2233 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-10 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
691 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
11 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
10 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
34 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 141315
FFWLCH
LAC113-141615-
 
BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
FLASH FLOOD WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES LA
807 AM CDT FRI JUL 14 1989
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN LAKE CHARLES HAS ISSUED A
FLASH FLOOD WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 1115 AM CDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING PARISH...
 
IN SOUTHWEST LOUISIANA
          ...VERMILION
 
THE VERMILION PARISH SHERIFFS OFFICE REPORTS THAT SERIOUS STREET
FLOODING IS OCCURRING IN THE ABBEVILLE AND ERATH AREAS. RADAR
INDICATED THAT HEAVY RAIN WAS OCCURRING OVER THE WHOLE PARISH.
PEOPLE SHOULD BE ON THE LOOKOUT FOR RAPIDLY RISING WATER ESPECIALLY
IN LOW LYING AREAS AND NEAR BAYOUS AND RIVERS.
 
DO NOT DRIVE YOUR VEHICLE INTO AREAS WHERE THE yWATER 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, Jul 14, 2:40 AM CDT, 5 hours 27 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT AND RADAR SUMMARY
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES LA
240 AM CDT FRI JUL 14 1989

...THUNDERSTORMS WITH VERY HEAVY RAIN IN LAFAYETTE PARISH...

AT 225 AM...THUNDERSTORMS WITH VERY HEAVY RAIN WERE SHOWN ACROSS THE
EASTERN HALF OF LAFAYETTE PARISH. THESE THUNDERSTORMS WILL LIKELY
PRODUCE VERY HEAVY RAIN CAUSING STREET FLOODING ALONG WITH FREQUENT
DANEROUS LIGHTNING. MOTORISTS...ESPECIALLY ON INTERSTATE 10...SHOULD
USE EXTREME CAUTION AS VISIBILITIES MAY BE NEAR ZERO AT TIMES. MOVEMENT
WAS SOUTHEAST AT 15 MPH.

THESE THUNDERSTORMS WERE PART OF A BAND OF THUNDERSTORMS THAT EXTENDED
FROM JUST SOUTH OF VILLE PLATTE TO JUST NORTHWEST AND NORTH OF MORGAN
CITY.

RAIPN AND THUNDERSTORMS WERE SHOWN EAST OF A CAMERON...JENNINGS...BUNKIE
LINE AND EXTENDED TO NEAR BATON ROUGE AND WELL EAST OF MORGAN CITY.

SMALL PATCHES OF RAIN WERE INDICATED IN THE COASTAL WATERS SOUTH OF
WHITE LAKE.
Special weather statement, Jul 14, 5:39 AM CDT, 2 hours 28 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PORT ARTHUR TX
540 AM CDT FRI JUL 14 1989

...THUNDERSTORMS FORMING IN SOUTHEAST TEXAS THIS MORNING...

AT 535 AM CDT THUNDERSTORMS WITH HEAVY RAIN WERE FROM BEAUMONT TO
BUNA TO VIDOR TO ORANGE TEXAS. THE HEAVIEST RAIN WITH THESE
THUNDERSTORMS WAS NEAR BEAUMONT..VIDOR..ORANGE AND MAURICEVILLE
TEXAS.

THESE THUNDERSTORMS WERE MOVING SOUTH AT 10 MPH AND WILL PRODUCE
GUSTY WIGNDS WITH DANGEROUS LIGHTNING AND BRIEF HEAVY RAIN.

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.