Alert archive / Louisiana / Flash Flood Warnings in 1997

Flash Flood Warning 6, NWS Lake Charles, LA

May 25, 1997Iberia Parish, Louisiana

NWS Lake Charles, LA issued this flash flood warning at May 25, 1997, 1:52 PM CDT for Iberia Parish, Louisiana. It was in force for 2 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: May 25, 1997, 1:52 PM CDT (18:52 UTC)
Expired: May 25, 1997, 4:00 PM CDT
In force: 2 hr
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 18:56 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, 6.9 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-p

Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.

Hodograph

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: 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

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KLCH 251856
FFWLCH
LAC045-252100-
 
BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
FLASH FLOOD WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES LA
152 PM CDT SUN MAY 25 1997
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN LAKE CHARLES HAS ISSUED A
FLASH FLOOD WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 400 PM CDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...
 
IN SOUTH CENTRAL LOUISIANA
 
   ...IBERIA PARISH
 
...FLASH FLOOD WARNING HAS BEEN EXTENDED FOR IBERIA PARISH...
 
AT 155 PM...DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS
CONTINUING OVER EXTREME NORTHERN PORTIONS OF IBERIA PARISH. THERE
HAVE BEEN NUMEROUS REPORTS OF WIDESPREAD FLOODING IN THE THE CITY
OF NEW IBERIA. RESIDENTS ARE URGED TO STAY AT HOME UNTIL THE FLOOD
WATERS HAVE RECEDED.  DOPPLER ESTIMATES OF UP TO 4 INCHES OF
PRECIPITATION HAS FALLEN OVER IBERIA PARISH IN THE LAST 3 HOURS.
THE PRECIPITATION IS EXPECTED TO MOVE NORTH OF THE AREA BY 230 PM...
BUT MANY ROADWAYS WILL REMAIN IMPASSABLE FOR THE NEXT FEW HOURS.
 
DO NOT DRIVE RYOUR VEHICLE INTO AREAS WHERE THE WATER COVERS THE
ROADWAY.  THE WATER DEPTH MAY 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 May 25, 9:54 AM CDT, 3 hours 58 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, May 25, 9:54 AM CDT, 3 hours 58 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, 1 hour 20 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, 1 hour 19 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, 56 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, 1:03 PM CDT	Flash Flood Warning	LCH	Iberia	57 min
May 25, 3:05 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	LCH	Saint Martin	55 min

Nearby

Flash Flood Warnings in Louisiana, 1997 Every 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.