Alert archive / Louisiana / Flash Flood Warnings in 1997

Flash Flood Warning 16, NWS Lake Charles, LA

July 13, 1997Iberia Parish, Louisiana

NWS Lake Charles, LA issued this flash flood warning at Jul 13, 1997, 6:35 PM CDT for Iberia Parish, Louisiana. It was in force for 115 min. No storm report in the archive falls inside the area while it was in force.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Jul 13, 1997, 6:35 PM CDT (23:35 UTC)
Expired
Jul 13, 1997, 8:30 PM CDT
In force
115 min
Issued by
NWS Lake Charles, LA
Area
Whole counties

County Iberia Parish, LA

The radar

The Lake Charles radar (KLCH), 149 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 23:35 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.

The nearest sounding before it

Lake Charles Mun, LA (KLCH), launched 12:00Z, 11.6 hours before the alert went out and 147 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 1997-07-13Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 2622 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°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 1997-07-13The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity -21 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
2622 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-14 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
766 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
21 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
-21 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
1 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 132337 RRA
FFWLCH
LAC045-140130-
 
BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
FLASH FLOOD WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES LA
635 PM CDT SUN JUL 13 1997
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN LAKE CHARLES HAS ISSUED A
FLASH FLOOD WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  830 PM CDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...
 
IN SOUTH CENTRAL LOUISIANA
 
   ...IBERIA PARISH
 
AT 635 PM...WEATHER SERVICE RADAR INDICATED OVER 3 INCHES OF RAIN IN
THE PAST HOUR HAS FALLEN IN THE VICINITY OF NEW IBERIA. ADDITIONAL
STORMS TO THE NORTHEAST WILL FURTHER AGGRAVATE FLOODING IN THE AREA
BY ADDING TWO MORE INCHES OF RAIN.
 
DO NOT DRIVE YOUR VEHICLE INTO AREAS WHERE THE WATER COVERS THE
ROADWAY.  THE WATER DEPTH MAY BE TOO GREAT TO AFLLOW 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.

NWS Lake Charles, LA wrote its last area forecast discussion before this flash flood warning went out at Jul 13, 1:39 PM CDT, 4 hours 56 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jul 13, 1:39 PM CDT, 4 hours 56 minutes before
SOUTHEAST TEXAS..SOUTHWEST AND CENTRAL LOUISIANA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES LA
138 PM CDT SUN JUL 13 1997

ATM CONTINUES THE DESTABILIZING TREND WITH LOSS OF UPR RDGG DUE TO
APPCHNG UPR LOW FM THE EAST. WK VORT ADV FM THE NE HELPING TO FIRE
OFF TSTMS OVR COASTAL WATERS AND AT THE COAST NEAR THE SEABREEZE.
MADE ONLY MINOR ADJ TO MOS. MAY SEE SOME LGT FOG LATE TNITE WITH
LTL WIND AND CLOSE SPREADS AS SEEN ON ETA X-SECS. WL HEAT UP AGAIN
MON AND TUES AS OFFSHORE FLO TREND CONTINUES.
11

BPT 75/95/74/96 1224
LCH 75/95/74/94 1224  LFT 75/95/74/95 3313  AEX 73/94/73/93 1223

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jul 13, 6:17 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLCHVermilion58 min

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; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.