Alert archive / Louisiana / Flash Flood Warnings in 1997

Flash Flood Warning 19, NWS Lake Charles, LA

October 26, 1997Calcasieu Parish, Louisiana

NWS Lake Charles, LA issued this flash flood warning at Oct 26, 1997, 12:05 AM CDT for Calcasieu 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
Oct 26, 1997, 12:05 AM CDT (05:05 UTC)
Expired
Oct 26, 1997, 1:00 AM CST
In force
115 min
Issued by
NWS Lake Charles, LA
Area
Whole counties

County Calcasieu Parish, LA

The radar

The Lake Charles radar (KLCH), 18 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 05:07 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 00:00Z, 5.1 hours before the alert went out and 19 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 1997-10-26Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 4126 joules per kilogram.LCLEL10008507005003002001001 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 1997-10-26The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 84 square meters per square second.1939587897Sfc1 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
4126 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-1 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
524 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
34 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
84 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
74 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
1.8
Supercell composite
8.0

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KLCH 260507
FFWLCH
LAC019-260700-
 
BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
FLOOD/FLASH FLOOD WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES LA
1205 AM CDT SUN OCT 26 1997
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN LAKE CHARLES HAS ISSUED A
FLOOD/FLASH FLOOD WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  200 AM CDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...
 
IN SOUTHWEST LOUISIANA
 
   ...CALCASIEU PARISH
 
AT 1200 AM...DOPPLER RADAR INDICTATED A LINE OF STRONG THUNDERSTORMS
CONTINUALLY MOVING ACROSS THE LAKE CHARLES AREA.
 
THERE HAVE BEEN SEVERAL REPORTS OF ROADS BEING COVERED WITH A FOOT OF
WATER ON THEM...MAINLY ACROSS SOUTHERN LAKE CHARLES.
 
AS MUCH AS THREE TO FIVE INCHES OF RAIN WILL OCCUR AROUND LAKE CHARLES
BEFORE THE RAIN TAPERS OFF BY 2 AM.
 
BE ESPECIALLY CAUTIOUS AT NIGHT WHEN IT IS HARDER TO RECOGNIZE
THE DANGERS OF FLOODS AND FLASH FLOODS.  IF FLASH FLOODING IS
OBSERVED...ACT QUICKLY.  DO NOT STAY IN AREAS SUBJECT TO FLOODING WHEN
WATER BEGINS RISING.
 
 
ERICKSONN
&

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 Oct 25, 10:30 PM CDT, 1 hour 35 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Oct 25, 10:30 PM CDT, 1 hour 35 minutes before
SOUTHWEST...CENTRAL LOUISIANA AND SOUTHEAST TEXAS FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES LA
145 AM CST SUN OCT 26 1997

TEST TEST

06

BPT             LCH
LFT             AEX

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.