Alert archive / Louisiana / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1997
Severe Thunderstorm Warning 101, NWS Lake Charles, LA
NWS Lake Charles, LA issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Oct 23, 1997, 9:09 PM CDT for Vernon Parish, Louisiana. It was in force for 36 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
- Oct 23, 1997, 9:09 PM CDT (02:09 UTC)
- Expired
- Oct 23, 1997, 9:45 PM CDT
- In force
- 36 min
- Issued by
- NWS Lake Charles, LA
- Area
- Whole counties
County Vernon Parish, LA
The radar
The Ft Polk radar (KPOE), 20 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 02:10 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
| Time | Report | Where | Remark |
|---|---|---|---|
| Oct 23, 9:20 PM CDT | Thunderstorm Wind | Pitkin, 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 watch it was issued in
The SPC watch in force over the same counties when this warning went out.
| Issued | Product | Office | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|
| Oct 23, 8:00 PM CDT | Tornado Watch | SPC | 6 hr |
The nearest sounding before it
Lake Charles Mun, LA (KLCH), launched 00:00Z, 2.2 hours before the alert went out and 110 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
- 880 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -3 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 853 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 45 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 124 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 173 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.7
- Supercell composite
- 3.4
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
734 WUUS1 KLCH 240218 SVRLCH LAC115-240245- BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING...CORRECTED EXPIRATION TIME NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES LA 909 PM CDT WED OCT 22 1997 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN LAKE CHARLES HAS ISSUED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 945 PM CDT FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION... IN SOUTHWEST LOUISIANA ...VERNON PARISH AT 905 PM...DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM 5 MILES SOUTHWEST OF PITKIN. MOVEMENT WAS NORTHEAST AT 35 MPH. THIS STORM WILL PASS THROUGH PITKIN BETWEEN 910 AND 930 PM. THE PRIMARY THREAT FROM THIS STORM WILL BE LARGE HAIL...AND DAMAGING WINDS IN EXCESS OF 60 MPH. A TORNADO WATCH IS ALSO IN EFFECT FOR THE WARNED AREA. REMEMBER SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS CAN AND OCCASIONALLY DO PRODUCE TORNADOES WITH LITTLE OR NO ADVANCE WARNING. REMAIN CALM BUT BE ALERT TO RAPIDLY CHANGING WEATHER CONDITIONS. ERICKSON
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 Oct 23, 8:49 PM CDT, 20 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Oct 23, 8:49 PM CDT, 20 minutes before
SOUTHWEST AND CENTRAL LOUISIANA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES LA 848 PM CDT THU OCT 23 1997 ZONES HAVE BEEN UPDATED TO INCLUDE WW 758. SVR WX HAS GNLY SHIFTED FRM SE TX CWA TOD SW AND CNTRL LA. UPDATES WILL BE DRIVEN BY CURRENTLY OCCURING WX AND WATCHES. 8
In the hours before
Local storm report, Oct 23, 6:20 PM CDT, 2 hours 49 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES LA
620 PM CDT THU OCT 23 1997
TIME(CDT) .....CITY LOCATION.....STATE ...EVENT/REMARKS...
....COUNTY LOCATION....
545 PM WARREN TX 0.75 INCH HAIL
10/23/97 TYLER RPT BY SHERIFF DEPT
ERICKSONLocal storm report, Oct 23, 6:22 PM CDT, 2 hours 47 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES LA
620 PM CDT THU OCT 23 1997
TIME(CDT) .....CITY LOCATION.....STATE ...EVENT/REMARKS...
....COUNTY LOCATION....
545 $PM WARREN TX 0.75 INCH HAIL
10/23/97 TYLER RPT BY SHERIFF DEPT
ERICKSONLocal storm report, Oct 23, 9:03 PM CDT, 6 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES LA
910 PM CDT THU OCT 23 1997
TIME(CDT) .....CITY LOCATION.....STATE ...EVENT/REMARKS...
....COUNTY LOCATION....
545 PM SPURGER TX WIND DAMAGE
10/23/97 TYLER RPT BY SHERIFF DEPT
710 PM WOODVILLE TX WIND DAMAGE
10/23/97 TYLER BARN DESTOYED JUST SOUTH
OF WOODVILLE
740 PM 5 S JASPER TX WIND DAMAGE
10/23/97 JASPER MOBILE HOME DESTROYED...
MINOR INJURIES REPORTED
845 PM DERIxDDER LA 1.75 INCH HAIL
10/23/97 BEAUREGARD RPT BY SHERIFF DEPTThe office that day
Everything else NWS Lake Charles, LA issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oct 23, 8:24 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | LCH | Beauregard | 66 min |
| Oct 23, 9:05 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | LCH | Allen | 55 min |
| Oct 23, 9:58 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | LCH | Rapides | 47 min |
| Oct 24, 12:47 AM CDT | Tornado Warning | LCH | Evangeline, Jefferson Davis | 58 min |
| Oct 24, 1:56 AM CDT | Tornado Warning | LCH | Vermilion | 64 min |
| Oct 24, 3:49 AM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | LCH | Allen, Evangeline | 41 min |
| Oct 24, 3:49 AM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | LCH | Avoyelles | 41 min |
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.