Alert archive / Louisiana / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1996

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 3, NWS Lake Charles, LA

January 23, 1996Saint Landry Parish, Louisiana

NWS Lake Charles, LA issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Jan 23, 1996, 11:55 PM CST for Saint Landry Parish, Louisiana. It was in force for 50 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
Jan 23, 1996, 11:55 PM CST (05:55 UTC)
Expired
Jan 24, 1996, 12:45 AM CST
In force
50 min
Issued by
NWS Lake Charles, LA
Area
Whole counties

County Saint Landry Parish, LA

The radar

The Ft Polk radar (KPOE), 111 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 05:55 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

TimeReportWhereRemark
Jan 23, 11:59 PM CSTThunderstorm Wind 50Leonville, 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, 5.9 hours before the alert went out and 126 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 1996-01-24Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 316 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 1996-01-24The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 280 square meters per square second.1939587897117Sfc1 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
316 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-19 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
665 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
54 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
280 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
288 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
2.3

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KLCH 240555 RRA
SVRLCH
LAC097-240645-
 
BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES LA
1155 PM CST TUE JAN 23 1996
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN LAKE CHARLES HAS ISSUED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 1245 AM CST
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...
 
IN EAST CENTRAL LOUISIANA
 
   ...ST. LANDRY PARISH
 
AT 1150 PM...NEXRAD RADAR INDICATED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM OVER SOUTHERN
ST LANDRY PARISH. THE STORM WILL PASS THROUGH GRAND COTEAU AND KROTZ
SPRINGS BETWEEN MIDNIGHT AND 1230 AM.
 
 
IF YOU ARE CAUGHT OUTSIDE...SEEK SHELTER FROM THE WEATHER IN A
STRONG BUILDING.  DAMAGING WIND...LARGE HAIL...VERY HEAVY RAIN...
AND DEADLY LIGHTNING ARE ALL POSSIBLE IN SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS.
STAY INSIDE AWAY FROM WINDOWS UNTIL THE STORM HAS PASSED.

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 Jan 23, 9:11 PM CST, 2 hours 44 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jan 23, 9:11 PM CST, 2 hours 44 minutes before
SOUTHEAST TEXAS..SOUTHWEST AND CENTRAL LOUISIANA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES LA
900 PM CST TUE JAN 23 1996

SFC COLD FRONT CURRENTLY EXTENDING FROM NR MLU TO JUST N OF
BPT. SOUTHERN FLANK OF SQUALL LINE STILL PRODUCING STRONG TRW
OVER SE TX. HWVR...IT APPRS THAT TRW PRECEDING LINE IN CNTRL
LA IS CUTTING OFF STORM INFLOW FROM MAIN LINE. A QUICK LOOK AT
00Z LCH SNDG INDICATES A CAPE OF 400 J/KG...NOT TOO IMPRESSIVE.
FNT SHUD MOV THRU LCH BY 05Z AND INTO LFT AREA BY 07Z.
5

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jan 24, 12:07 AM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLCHSaint Martin38 min

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Louisiana, 1996Every 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.