Alert archive / Louisiana / Flash Flood Warnings in 1997

Flash Flood Warning 14, NWS Lake Charles, LA

June 18, 1997Saint Martin Parish, St. Mary Parish, Louisiana

NWS Lake Charles, LA issued this flash flood warning at Jun 18, 1997, 7:37 AM CDT for Saint Martin Parish, St. Mary Parish, Louisiana. It was in force for 4 hr. No storm report in the archive falls inside the area while it was in force.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Jun 18, 1997, 7:37 AM CDT (12:37 UTC)
Expired
Jun 18, 1997, 11:45 AM CDT
In force
4 hr
Issued by
NWS Lake Charles, LA
Area
Whole counties

Counties Saint Martin Parish, LA, St. Mary Parish, LA

The nearest sounding before it

Lake Charles Mun, LA (KLCH), launched 12:00Z, 0.6 hours before the alert went out and 162 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 1997-06-18Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 544 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 1997-06-18The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity -66 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
544 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-59 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
817 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
33 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
-66 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
16 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
-0.1
Supercell composite
-2.0

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KLCH 181238
FFWLCH
LAC099-101-181645-
 
BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
FLASH FLOOD WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES LA
737 AM CDT WED JUN 18 1997
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN LAKE CHARLES HAS ISSUED A
FLASH FLOOD WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 1145 AM CDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONS...
 
IN SOUTH CENTRAL LOUISIANA
 
...LOWER ST. MARTIN PARISH...ST. MARY PARISH
 
AT 735 AM...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A LINE OF
STRONG THUNDERSTORMS CONTINUING TO REDEVELOP...MOVING EAST AT 10 MPH
OVER LOWER ST MARTIN AND ST MARY PARISHES. THREE TO FOUR INCHES OF
PRECIPITATION HAS OCCURRED OVER THE LAST THREE HOURS IN THE COMMUNITIES
OF BALDWIN...FRANKLIN...PATTERSON AND MORGAN CITY IN ST MARY PARISH.
WITH THIS ACTIVITY EXPECTED TO CONTINUE FOR THE NEXT SEVERAL HOURS...
FLASH FLOODING WILL BE POSSIBLE.
 
A FLASH FLOOD WARNING MEANS THAT FLOODING IS IMMINENT.  IT'S
IMPORTANT TO KNOW WHERE YOU ARE RELATIVE TO STREAMS...RIVERS...OR
CREEKS WHICH CAN BECOME KILLERS IN HEAVY RAINS.  CAMPERS SHOULD
AVOID CAMPING ALONG STREAMS OR CREEKS DURING THREATENING RAINS.

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.

NWS Lake Charles, LA wrote its last area forecast discussion before this flash flood warning went out at Jun 18, 2:52 AM CDT, 4 hours 45 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jun 18, 2:52 AM CDT, 4 hours 45 minutes before
SOUTHEAST TEXAS..SOUTHWEST AND CENTRAL LOUISIANA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES LA
252 AM CDT WED JUN 18 1997

ACTVTY FIRED UP TONITE OVR S CNTRL LA...HAS DROPPED SEVERAL
INCHES OF RAIN IN MORGAN CITY AREA. THETA-E RDG XTNDS THRU
SE TX ACROSS SRN LA THRU 36 HRS. FFA TO BE REINSTATED IN
PARISHES EAST OF LFT. H5 TROF CONTINUES SLOW TREK EWRD W/
VORT MAX SHEARING OUT ALONG EAST COAST INTO SE TX 24-36 HRS.
CHC POPS LOOK GOOD OVR AREA THRU 36 HRS WHEN AREA COMES UNDER
NVA. TEMPS TDA SHUD BE HELD DOWN ABT LIKE YDA IN CLDS AND RAIN.
8

BPT 88/74/90 424
LCH 88/74/89 424  LFT 87/74/89 635  AEX 87/71/89 323

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jun 18, 5:38 AM CDTFlash Flood WarningLCHSaint Martin, St. Mary2 hr
Jun 18, 11:32 AM CDTFlash Flood WarningLCHSaint Martin3 hr

Nearby

Flash Flood Warnings in Louisiana, 1997Every flash flood warning in 1997

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.