Alert archive / Texas / Flash Flood Warnings in 1997

Flash Flood Warning 18, NWS Lake Charles, LA

July 30, 1997Jefferson County, Texas

NWS Lake Charles, LA issued this flash flood warning at Jul 30, 1997, 9:33 AM CDT for Jefferson County, Texas. It was in force for 117 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 30, 1997, 9:33 AM CDT (14:33 UTC)
Expired
Jul 30, 1997, 11:30 AM CDT
In force
117 min
Issued by
NWS Lake Charles, LA
Area
Whole counties

County Jefferson County, TX

The radar

The Lake Charles radar (KLCH), 95 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 14:32 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, 2.6 hours before the alert went out and 96 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 1997-07-30Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 313 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 1997-07-30The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 8 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
313 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-104 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1129 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
4 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
8 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
37 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 301434
FFWLCH
TXC245-301630-
 
BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
FLASH FLOOD WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES LA
933 AM CDT WED JUL 30 1997
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN LAKE CHARLES HAS ISSUED A
FLASH FLOOD WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 1130 AM CDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...
 
IN SOUTHEAST TEXAS
 
   ...JEFFERSON COUNTY
 
AT 927 AM THIS MORNING...THE LAKE CHARLES DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED AS
MUCH AS 3 INCHES OF RAIN HAS FALLEN IN THE CITY OF JASPER OVER THE LAST
HOUR. ADDITIONAL TRAINING OF SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WILL CONTINUE
TO DUMP ADDITIONAL 1 TO 2 INCHES OF RAIN OVER THE NEXT 1 TO 2 HOURS.
THE SHERIFF'S DEPARTMENT IN JASPER REPORTED WATER COVERING PART OF
190E 3 MILES EAST OF JASPER AND 96N WHICH WAS JUST WEST OF JASPER.
A REPORT OF DUCKS SWIMMING ACROSS ONE OF THESE HIGHWAYS INDICATED THE
SERIOUSNESS OF THE SITUATION.
 
DO NOT DRIVE YOUR VEHICLE INTO AREAS WHERE THE WATER COVERS THE
ROADWAY.  THE WATER DEPTH pMAY BE TOO GREAT TO ALLOW 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 30, 1:50 AM CDT, 7 hours 43 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jul 30, 1:50 AM CDT, 7 hours 43 minutes before
SOUTHEAST TEXAS..SOUTHWEST AND CENTRAL LOUISIANA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES LA
145 AM CDT WED JUL 30 1997

KLCH 88D SHOWS CONVECTION DISSIPATING ACROSS SE TX/SW AND CEN LA...
WITH GULF TSTMS NOW DEVELOPING ALONG OUTFLOW FROM TUE EVENING TSTMS.
EXPECT CONVECTION TO INCREASE OVER GULF THIS AM.

EXPECT CI SHIELD FROM GULF TSTMS TO KEEP SKIES MC TODAY FROM BPT TO
LCH AND LFT...WHILE ANOTHER TSTM COMPLEX IN N MS WILL BRING CI SHIELD
FROM AEX/ESF THIS AM TO POE BY AFTN. THIS SHOULD KEEP MAX TEMPS A
FEW DEGREES BELOW MAX POTENTIAL.

00Z MODELS TRY TO KEEP THINGS INTERESTING ALONG NW GULF THROUGH 48 HRS
WITH WEAK SFC LOWS AND UPPER LEVEL IMPULSES ROTATING AROUND HIGH
CENTERED IN N TX/OK AREA. POPS HAVE INCREASED WITH 00Z RUN...THROUGH
ENTIRE 48 HRS. DONT HAVE ANY PROBLEM WITH INCREASING POPS WITH
PLENTY OF CAPE/LI/PW...ETC. COULD BE HEAVY RAINFALL EVENT WITH MCC
DEVELOPMENT...STAY TUNED...
15

BPT 93/77/93/7J6 5663
LCH 92/76/92/76 5663    LFT 91/75/91/75 5663     AEX 92/75/90/75 5663

In the hours before

Special weather statement, Jul 30, 3:45 AM CDT, 5 hours 48 minutes before
LAZ027>033-041>045-051>055-TXZ180>182-201-215-216-302030-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES LA
345 AM CDT WED JUL 30 1997

...HEAVY RAINS LIKELY LATE THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT...

WEATHER PATTERNS ARE LINING UP TODAY TO PRODUCE HEAVY RAIN...BEGINNING
LATE THIS AFTERNOON...AND CONTINUING THROUGH TONIGHT. EARLY
INDICATIONS ARE BETWEEN TWO AND FOUR INCHES OF RAIN CAN BE EXPECTED
ACROSS MANY PLACES IN SOUTHEAST TEXAS...EXTENDING INTO SOUTHERN
AND CENTRAL SECTIONS OF LOUISIANA.

SINCE THIS IS STILL A DEVELOPING WEATHER SITUATION...KEEP ABREAST OF
CHANGING WEATHER CONDITIONS TODAY BY LISTENING TO THE OFFICIAL VOICE
OF THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE...NOAA WEATHER RADIO.
Special weather statement, Jul 30, 3:49 AM CDT, 5 hours 44 minutes before
LAZ027>033-041>045-051>055-TXZ180>182-201-215-216-302030-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES LA
345 AM CDT WED JUL 30 1997

...HEAVY RAINS LIKELY LATE THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT...

WEATHER PATTERNS ARE LINING UP TODAY TO PRODUCE HEAVY RAIN...BEGINNING
LATE THIS AFTERNOON...AND CONTINUING THROUGH TONIGHT. EARLY
INDICATIONS ARE BETWEEN TWO AND FOUR INCHES OF RAIN CAN BE EXPECTED
ACROSS MANY PLACES IN SOUTHEAST TEXAS...EXTENDING INTO SOUTHERN
AND CENTRAL SECTIONS OF LOUISIANA.

SINCE THIS IS STILL A DEVELOPING WEATHER SITUATION...KEEP ABREAST OF
CHANGING WEATHER CONDITIONS TODAY BY LISTENING TO THE OFFICIAL VOICE
OF THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE...NOAA WEATHER RADIO.

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jul 30, 9:33 AM CDTFlash Flood WarningLCHJasper117 min

Nearby

Flash Flood Warnings in Texas, 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.