Alert archive / Louisiana / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1996

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 21, NWS Lake Charles, LA

March 17, 1996Beauregard Parish, Vernon Parish, Louisiana

NWS Lake Charles, LA issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Mar 17, 1996, 7:58 PM CST for Beauregard Parish, Vernon Parish, Louisiana. It was in force for 62 min. 1 report came from inside the area while it was in force.

The area

The counties it named, with what was reported inside it.

The facts

Issued: Mar 17, 1996, 7:58 PM CST (01:58 UTC)
Expired: Mar 17, 1996, 9:00 PM CST
In force: 62 min
Issued by: NWS Lake Charles, LA
Area: Whole counties

Counties Beauregard Parish, LA, Vernon Parish, LA

The radar

The Ft Polk radar (KPOE), 41 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 01:57 UTC, the scan nearest the moment this went out.

Open the radar archive at this moment

The archived warnings, watches and discussions in force at that minute are drawn over the scan, this one among them.

What was reported inside it

Time	Report	Where	Remark
Mar 17, 8:20 PM CST	Hail 0.75	Sugartown, LA

NCEI Storm Data entries that began inside the alert's area while it was in force. Before 2003 the local storm report archive is thin, so this is the record of what happened rather than what was phoned in.

The nearest sounding before it

Lake Charles Mun, LA (KLCH), launched 00:00Z, 2.0 hours before the alert went out and 85 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-p

Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.

Hodograph

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: 811 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -52 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 1320 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 45 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: -58 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: -13 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: -0.1
Supercell composite: -1.3

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
WUUS1 KLCH 180158 RRA
SVRLCH
LAC011-115-180300-
 
BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES LA
758 PM CST SUN MAR 17 1996
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN LAKE CHARLES HAS ISSUED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  900 PM CST
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONS...
 
IN SOUTHWEST LOUISIANA
 
   ...BEAUREGARD PARISH...VERNON PARISH
 
AT 755 PM...DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM BETWEEN
CRAVENS AND SUGARTOWN. MOVEMENT WAS TO THE EAST AT 20 MPH. PERSONS IN
THE COMMUNITY OF PITKIN ARE IN THE PATH OF THIS STORM.
 
THIS IS A DANGEROUS STORM.  IF YOU ARE IN ITS PATH YOU SHOULD
PREPARE FOR DAMAGING WIND IN EXCESS OF 55 MPH...LARGE HAIL...AND
DEADLY LIGHTNING.  PEOPLE OUTSIDE SHOULD MOVE TO A SHELTER...
PREFERABLY INSIDE A STRONG BUILDING BUT STAY AWAY FROM WINDOWS.

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.

NWS Lake Charles, LA wrote its last area forecast discussion before this severe thunderstorm warning went out at Mar 17, 3:55 PM CST, 4 hours 3 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Mar 17, 3:55 PM CST, 4 hours 3 minutes before

SOUTHEAST TEXAS..SOUTHWEST AND CENTRAL LOUISIANA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES LA
355 PM CST SUN MAR 17 1996

DISC: DUE TO SVR WX IN FA ONLY LOOKED AT GRIDDED DATA BRIEFLY. SVR TRW
VERIFIED OVR RAPIDES PARISH WITH PENNY/DIME SIZE HAIL. AS FOR FCST...WITH
WK FNTL BNDRY RMNG IN FCST AREA AND STEEP LAPSE RATES AS 50H TEMPS
ARE NR 18C SVR WX WL BE A PRBLM THE RMDR OF AFT. LOSS OF SFC HEATING
THIS EVE THO WL END THREAT (CURRENT WW-95 THRU 00Z). A SERIES OF SHORT
WAVES WL AFFECT THE REGION TNITE WITH DIFFLUENT FLOW ALOFT AND AN
UNSTABLE AIR MASS IN PLACE. SECOND SHORT WAVE OVR TX PNHDL RESPONSIBLE
FOR  CYCLOGENESIS OVER WEST TX THIS AFT WL SWING ASSOC CLD FNT THRU
IN THE MRNG. MDLS INDICATE DRY SLOT AHD OF LOW BUT BLV SUFF MSTR AVBL
IN BNDRY LYR TO INITIATE CNVCTN...WITH PSSBL SVR.
5

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Mar 17, 6:25 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	LCH	Rapides	65 min
Mar 17, 6:51 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	LCH	Vernon	69 min
Mar 17, 7:35 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	LCH	Avoyelles	55 min
Mar 17, 8:42 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	LCH	Allen	63 min
Mar 17, 9:28 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	LCH	Vernon	47 min
Mar 17, 9:35 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	LCH	Evangeline	40 min
Mar 17, 10:10 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	LCH	Saint Landry	50 min
Mar 17, 10:34 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	LCH	Rapides	56 min
Mar 17, 10:37 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	LCH	Vernon	38 min
Mar 17, 11:37 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	LCH	Rapides	53 min

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Louisiana, 1996 Every severe thunderstorm warning in 1996

Sources

The product and its follow-ups from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service and Storm Prediction Center text; verification from NCEI's Storm Data; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.