Alert archive / Louisiana / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1997

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 1, NWS Lake Charles, LA

January 6, 1997Calcasieu Parish, Louisiana

NWS Lake Charles, LA issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Jan 6, 1997, 9:20 PM CST for Calcasieu Parish, Louisiana. It was in force for 40 min. 1 report came from inside the area while it was in force.

The area

The counties it named, with what was reported inside it.

The facts

Issued
Jan 6, 1997, 9:20 PM CST (03:20 UTC)
Expired
Jan 6, 1997, 10:00 PM CST
In force
40 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 03:22 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.

What was reported inside it

TimeReportWhereRemark
Jan 6, 9:50 PM CSTThunderstorm WindSulphur, LA

NCEI Storm Data entries that began inside the alert's area while it was in force. Before 2003 the local storm report archive is thin, so this is the record of what happened rather than what was phoned in.

The nearest sounding before it

Lake Charles Mun, LA (KLCH), launched 00:00Z, 3.3 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 1997-01-07Temperature 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 00:00Z on 1997-01-07The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 419 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
664 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
56 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
419 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
865 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.5

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KLCH 070323 RRA
SVRLCH
LAC019-070400-
 
BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES LA
920 PM CST MON JAN 6 1997
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN LAKE CHARLES HAS ISSUED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 1000 PM CST
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...
 
IN SOUTHWEST LOUISIANA
 
   ...CALCASIEU PARISH
 
AT 919 PM...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A SEVERE
THUNDERSTORM 5 MILES SOUTH OF STARKS...MOVING NORTHEAST AT 35 MPH.
PERSONS IN THE COMMUNITY OF DEQUINCY ARE IN THE PATH OF THIS STORM.
 
THIS IS A DANGEROUS STORM.  IF YOU ARE IN ITS PATH YOU SHOULD
PREPARE FOR DAMAGING WIND IN EXCESS OF 55 MPH...LARGE HAIL...AND<
DEADLY LIGHTNING.  PEOPLE OUTSIDE SHOULD MOVE TO A SHELTER...
PREFERABLY INSIDE A STRONG BUILDING BUT STAY AWAY FROM WINDOWS.

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before this severe thunderstorm 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 severe thunderstorm warning went out at Jan 6, 8:30 PM CST, 50 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jan 6, 8:30 PM CST, 50 minutes before
SOUTHEAST TEXAS..SOUTHWEST AND CENTRAL LOUISIANA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES LA
830 PM CST MON JAN 6 1997

SFC LOW OVR NW GULF A BIT STRONGER THAN FCST BY ETA WITH NGM HAVING
A BETTER HNDL ON FTR. THUS...ENHANCING LOW-LVL JET...ISENTROPIC LIFT
AND PRODUCING ELEVATED CNVCTN. 50A ANALYSIS FURTHER NOTED RRQ OF
MID-LVL JET ACROSS NRN/CNTRL LA. LCH VWP INDICATES DEPTH OF COLD AIR
UP TO 4KFT WITH STRONG NE FLOW IN THE LOWj-LVLS. SUGG MENTIONING A FEW
EMBEDDED TSRA OVRNITE IN LA ZNS UPING POPS TO CAT OVR SE TX. CURRENT
TEMP FCST ON TRACK.

5

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Louisiana, 1997Every severe thunderstorm 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; verification from NCEI's Storm Data; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.