Alert archive / Louisiana / Flash Flood Warnings in 1997

Flash Flood Warning 2, NWS Lake Charles, LA

April 25, 1997Calcasieu Parish, Louisiana

NWS Lake Charles, LA issued this flash flood warning at Apr 25, 1997, 6:24 PM CDT for Calcasieu Parish, Louisiana. It was in force for 3 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
Apr 25, 1997, 6:24 PM CDT (23:24 UTC)
Expired
Apr 25, 1997, 9:30 PM CDT
In force
3 hr
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 23:28 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, 11.4 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 12:00Z on 1997-04-25Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 0 joules per kilogram.LCL10008507005003002001001 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 1997-04-25The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 131 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
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
No buoyant parcel
Mixed-layer LCL
1388 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
57 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
131 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
472 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
4.4

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KLCH 252325
FFWLCH
LAC019-260230-
 
BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
FLASH FLOOD WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES LA
624 PM CDT FRI APR 25 1997
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN LAKE CHARLES HAS ISSUED A
FLASH FLOOD WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  930 PM CDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...
 
IN SOUTHWEST LOUISIANA
 
   ...CALCASIEU PARISH
 
AT 620 PM...DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED STRONG THUNDERSTORMS PRODUCING
RAINFALL RATES OF TWO TO THREE INCHES IN ONE HOUR. EXPECT SERIOUS
STREET FLOODING IN THE LAKE CHARLES AREA THIS EVENING...AS
THUNDERSTORMS CONTINUE TO REGENERATE ACROSS CALCASIEU PARISH.
 
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.  MOVE UP TO ESCAPE FLOOD WATERS.  DO
NOT STAY IN AREAS SUBJECT TO FLOODING WHEN WATER BEGINS RISING.

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Apr 25, 8:48 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLCHVernon42 min
Apr 25, 4:21 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLCHCalcasieu, Cameron69 min
Apr 25, 5:32 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLCHBeauregard58 min
Apr 25, 5:48 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLCHCalcasieu57 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.