Alert archive / Louisiana / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1997

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 102, NWS Lake Charles, LA

October 23, 1997Rapides Parish, Louisiana

NWS Lake Charles, LA issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Oct 23, 1997, 9:58 PM CDT for Rapides Parish, Louisiana. It was in force for 47 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, 9:58 PM CDT (02:58 UTC)
Expired: Oct 23, 1997, 10:45 PM CDT
In force: 47 min
Issued by: NWS Lake Charles, LA
Area: Whole counties

County Rapides Parish, LA

The radar

The Ft Polk radar (KPOE), 42 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 03:01 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, 10:20 PM CDT	Hail 0.75	Alexandria, 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, 3.0 hours before the alert went out and 136 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: 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

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KLCH 240300 RRA
SVRLCH
LAC079-240345-
 
BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES LA
958 PM CDT THU OCT 23 1997
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN LAKE CHARLES HAS ISSUED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 1045 PM CDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...
 
IN CENTRAL LOUISIANA
 
   ...RAPIDES PARISH
 
AT 955 PM...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A LINE OF
SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS FROM BOYCE TO GLENMORA. MOVEMENT WAS NORTHEAST AT
35 MPH.
 
THE TOWNS OF ALEXANDRIA...PINEVILLE...WOODWORTH...GLENMORA AND LECOMPTE
ARE IN THE PATH OF THESE STORMS.
 
WIND GUSTS TO 60 MPH AND LARGE HAIL ARE LIKELY WITH THESE STORMS.
 
 
A TFORNADO 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.

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, 1 hour 9 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Oct 23, 8:49 PM CDT, 1 hour 9 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, 3 hours 38 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

ERICKSON

Local storm report, Oct 23, 6:22 PM CDT, 3 hours 36 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

ERICKSON

Local storm report, Oct 23, 9:03 PM CDT, 55 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 DEPT

Local storm report, Oct 23, 9:10 PM CDT, 48 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     DERIDDER                  LA   1.75 INCH HAIL
10/23/97   BEAUREGARD                     RPT BY SHERIFF DEPT

Local storm report, Oct 23, 9:50 PM CDT, 8 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES LA
950 PM CDT THU OCT 23 1997

TIME(CDT)  .....CITY LOCATION.....STATE   ...EVENT/REMARKS...
           ....COUNTY LOCATION....

830 PM     NEWTON                    TX   WIND DAMAGE
10/23/97   NEWTON                         RPT BY SHERIFF DEPT

ERICKSON

Local storm report, Oct 23, 9:53 PM CDT, 5 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES LA
950 PM CDT THU OCT 23 1997

TIME(CDT)  .....CITY LOCATION.....STATE   ...EVENT/REMARKS...
           ....COUNTY LOCATION....

830 <PM     NEWTON                    TX   WIND DAMAGE
10/23/97   NEWTON                         RPT BY SHERIFF DEPT

ERICKSON

The 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, 9:09 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	LCH	Vernon	36 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, 1997 Every 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.