Alert archive / Louisiana / Flash Flood Warnings in 1997
Flash Flood Warning 5, NWS Lake Charles, LA
NWS Lake Charles, LA issued this flash flood warning at May 25, 1997, 1:03 PM CDT for Iberia Parish, Louisiana. It was in force for 57 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
- May 25, 1997, 1:03 PM CDT (18:03 UTC)
- Expired
- May 25, 1997, 2:00 PM CDT
- In force
- 57 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 18:03 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, 6.1 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.
- Mixed-layer CAPE
- 1685 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -40 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 578 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 28 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 219 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 258 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 8.4
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
000 TTAA00 KLCH 251801 FFWLCH LAC045-251900- BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED FLASH FLOOD WARNING NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES LA 103 PM CDT SUN MAY 25 1997 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN LAKE CHARLES HAS ISSUED A FLASH FLOOD WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 200 PM CDT FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION... IN SOUTH CENTRAL LOUISIANA ...IBERIA PARISH AT 1257 PM...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED STRONG THUNDERSTORMS CONTINUING OVER NORTHERN PORTIONS OF IBERIA PARISH. RADAR ESTIMATES OF UP TO 4 INCHES OF PRECIPITATION HAVE OCCURRED OVER THE LAST THREE HOURS IN CENTRAL IBERIA PARISH. THERE HAVE BEEN SEVERAL REPORTS OF HOMES FLOODED IN THE CITY OF NEW IBERIA. SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WILL CONTINUE OVER NORTHERN PORTIONS OF IBERIA PARISH FOR THE NEXT HOUR OR TWO. PERSONS SHOULD NOT VENTURE OUT OF THEIR HOMES UNTIL THE WATERS HAVE RECEDED. DO NOT DRIVE YOUR VEHICLE INTO AREAS WHERE THE WATER COVERS THE ROADWAY. THE WATER DEPdTH MAY BE TOO GREAT TO ALLOW YOUR CAR TO CROSS SAFELY. VEHICLES CAUGHT IN RISING WATER SHOULD BE ABANDONED QUICKLY. &
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 May 25, 9:54 AM CDT, 3 hours 9 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, May 25, 9:54 AM CDT, 3 hours 9 minutes before
SOUTHEAST TEXAS..SOUTHWEST AND CENTRAL LOUISIANA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES LA 953 AM CDT SUN MAY 25 1997 SUGGEST RAISING POPS S CEN LA TO 40%...SW LA TO 30%...CEN LA TO 30%. 12Z LCH SNDG DID NOT HAVE THE ANTICIPATED CAP AND CONTINUED UNSTABLE WITH LI OF -6...K-INDEX 29. ALSO MOIST WITH A PW OF 1.6 IN. ETA NVA THRU MID-DAY SHUD HOLD TSTMS OFF TIL MID AFTERNOON WHEN INLAND AREAS MAY APPCH CONVECTIVE TEMP OF 86F. LOW LVXL MSTR INCRSG WITH DEW PTS NR 75F...HIR THN MOS. TSTMS SE OF LFT SHOWING SOME BACK-BUILDING INTO VERMILION PARISH. TEMPS STILL IN THE BALLPARK. 11
In the hours before
Special weather statement, May 25, 12:32 PM CDT, 31 minutes before
LAZ053-251930- URBAN AND SMALL STREAM ADVISORY NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES LA 1233 PM CDT SUN MAY 25 1997 AT 1230 PM...DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED STRONG THUNDERSTORMS CONTINUING OVER NORTHERN PORTIONS OF IBERIA PARISH...MOVING NORTH AT 5 MPH. DOPPLER RADAR ESTIMATES OF UP TO 3 INCHES OF RAINFALL HAVE FALLEN OVER CENTRAL IBERIA PARISH...BETWEEN NEW IBERIA AND JEANERETTE. DUE TO THE SLOW MOVEMENT OF THESE STORMS AND THE VERY HEAVY RAINFALL RATES...LOCALIZED STREET FLOODING WILL CONTINUE FOR THE NEXT HOUR OR TWO. MOTORISTS SHOULD USE CAUTION WHILE TRAVELING...REDUCE SPEED ACCORDINGLY AND DO NOT DRIVE INTO AREAS WHERE WATER COVERS THE ROAD.
Special weather statement, May 25, 12:33 PM CDT, 30 minutes before
LAZ053-251930- URBAN AND SMALL STREAM ADVISORY NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES LA 1233 PM CDT SUN MAY 25 1997 AT 1230 PM...DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED STRONG THUNDERSTORMS CONTINUING OVER NORTHERN PORTIONS OF IBERIA PARISH...MOVING NORTH AT 5 MPH. DOPPLER RADAR ESTIMATES OF UP TO 3 INCHES OF RAINFALL HAVE FALLEN OVER CENTRAL IBERIA PARISH...BETWEEN NEW IBERIA AND JEANERETTE. DUE TO THE SLOW MOVEMENT OF THESE STORMS AND THE VERY HEAVY RAINFALL RATES...LOCALIZED STREET FLOODING WILL CONTINUE FOR THE NEXT HOUR OR TWO. MOTORISTS SHOULD USE CAUTION WHILE TRAVELING...REDUCE SPEED ACCORDINGLY AND DO NOT DRIVE INTO AREAS WHERE WATER COVERS THE ROAD.
Special weather statement, May 25, 12:56 PM CDT, 7 minutes before
LAZ053-251930- URBAN AND SMALL STREAM ADVISORY NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES LA 1233 PM CDT SUN MAY 25 1997 AT 1230 PM...DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED STRONG THUNDERSTORMS CONTINUING OVER NORTHERN PORTIONS OF IBERIA PARISH...MOVING NORTH AT 5 MPH. DOPPLER RADAR ESTIMATES OF UP TO 3 INCHES OF RAINFALL HAVE FALLEN OVER CENTRAL IBERIA PARISH...BETWEEN NEW IBERIA AND JEANERETTE. DUE TO THE SLOW MOVEMENT OF THESE STORMS AND THE VERY HEAVY RAINFALLH RATES...LOCALIZED STREET FLOODING WILL CONTINUE FOR THE NEXT HOUR OR TWO. MOTORISTS SHOULD USE CAUTION WHILE TRAVELING...REDUCE SPEED ACCORDINGLY AND DO NOT DRIVE INTO AREAS WHERE WATER COVERS THE ROAD.
The office that day
Everything else NWS Lake Charles, LA issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 24, 10:02 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | LCH | Lafayette, Vermilion | 58 min |
| May 25, 1:52 PM CDT | Flash Flood Warning | LCH | Iberia | 2 hr |
| May 25, 3:05 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | LCH | Saint Martin | 55 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.