Alert archive / Louisiana / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1996

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 9, NWS Lake Charles, LA

March 5, 1996Vermilion Parish, Louisiana

NWS Lake Charles, LA issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Mar 5, 1996, 6:54 PM CST for Vermilion Parish, Louisiana. It was in force for 51 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 5, 1996, 6:54 PM CST (00:54 UTC)
Expired
Mar 5, 1996, 7:45 PM CST
In force
51 min
Issued by
NWS Lake Charles, LA
Area
Whole counties

County Vermilion Parish, LA

What was reported inside it

TimeReportWhereRemark
Mar 5, 7:15 PM CSTThunderstorm WindAbbeville, 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, 0.9 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 00:00Z on 1996-03-06Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 979 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 1996-03-06The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 106 square meters per square second.19395878Sfc1 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
979 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-5 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
518 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
43 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
106 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
151 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.8
Supercell composite
4.7

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KLCH 060053
SVRLCH
LAC113-060145-
 
BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES LA
654 PM CST TUE MAR 5 1996
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN LAKE CHARLES HAS ISSUED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  745 PM CST
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...
 
IN SOUTHWEST LOUISIANA
 
   ...VERMILION PARISH
 
 
AT 652 PM...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED
A SEVERE THUNDERSTRORM 5 MILES NORTH OF PECAN ISLAND. MOVEMENT
WAS NORTHEAST AT 35 MPH. ABBEVILLE IS IN THE PATH OF THIS
STORM.
 
WHEN THUNDERSTORMS ARE OCCURRING...PEOPLE SHOULD MOVE INSIDE A
STRONG BUILDING.  DO NOT STAND BY WINDOWS.  DON'T USE TELEPHONES
OR ELECTRICAL APPLIANCES UNLESS IN AN EMERGENCY UNTIL THE STORM
HAS PASSED.  MOTORISTS SHOULD NOT DRIVE INTO LOW WATER CROSSINGS.

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 5, 3:00 PM CST, 3 hours 54 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Mar 5, 3:00 PM CST, 3 hours 54 minutes before
SOUTHEAST TEXAS..SOUTHWEST AND CENTRAL LOUISIANA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES LA
300 PM CST TUE MAR 5 1996

UNABLE TO ACCESS PC-GRIDDS DUE TO MODEM NOT AVAIL SO WENT WITH MOS
POPS. 48H ETA H8 TEMP NOT AVAIL DUE TO ABOVE...NGM 48H INDICATES
P5C AT H8...BLV MOS TEMPS TOO HIGH FOR THURS MORNING. OTHERWISE...
MOS TEMPS LOOK REASONABLE USING THKNS TRENDS AND ETA TEMP AT 24H.
11

BPT 66/77/46/48 5560
LCH 65/77/47/45 5570  LFT 65/79/50/47 5671  AEX 66/77/44/47 6471

In the hours before

Local storm report, Mar 5, 6:50 PM CST, 4 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES LA
650 PM CST TUE MAR 05 1996

TIME(CST)  .....CITY LOCATION.....STATE   ...EVENT/REMARKS...
DATE       ....PARISH LOCATION....

550 PM     LEESVILLE               LA     .25 INCH HAIL RPTD BY
03/05/96   VERNON                         S.O...M AND M SIZE.
                                          (PLAIN)

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Mar 5, 8:06 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLCHVermilion54 min
Mar 5, 9:08 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLCHSaint Martin52 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.