Alert archive / Louisiana / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1997

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 104, NWS Lake Charles, LA

October 24, 1997Avoyelles Parish, Louisiana

NWS Lake Charles, LA issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Oct 24, 1997, 3:49 AM CDT for Avoyelles Parish, Louisiana. It was in force for 41 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 24, 1997, 3:49 AM CDT (08:49 UTC)
Expired: Oct 24, 1997, 4:30 AM CDT
In force: 41 min
Issued by: NWS Lake Charles, LA
Area: Whole counties

County Avoyelles Parish, LA

The radar

The Ft Polk radar (KPOE), 93 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 08:53 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 24, 4:00 AM CDT	Thunderstorm Wind	Marksville, 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 24, 12:30 AM CDT	Tornado Watch	SPC	7 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Lake Charles Mun, LA (KLCH), launched 00:00Z, 8.8 hours before the alert went out and 156 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 240853 RRA
SVRLCH
LAC009-003-039-240930-
 
BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES LA
349 AM CDT FRI OCT 24 1997
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN LAKE CHARLES HAS ISSUED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  430 AM CDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONS...
 
IN EAST CENTRAL LOUISIANA
 
   ...AVOYELLES PARISH
 
IN SOUTHWEST LOUISIANA
 
   ...ALLEN PARISH...EVANGELINE PARISH
 
AT 346 AM...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A LINE
OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS THAT EXTENDED FROM ELIZABETH TO TURKEY CREEK TO
BUNKIE. MOVEMENT WAS TO THE EAST AT 35 MPH. THE TOWNS OF OAKDALE...
BAYOU CHICOT...BUNKIE AND COTTONPORT ARE IN THE PATH OF THE SEVERE
THUNDERSTORMS. WIND GUSTS IN EXCESS OF 60 MPH AND LARGE HAIL CAN BE
EXPECTED WITH THESE STORMS.
 
A TORNADO WATCH IS ALSO IN EFFECT FOR THE WARNED AREA.  REMEMBER
SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS CAN AND OCCASIONALLY DO PRODUCE TORNADOES6
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 24, 2:49 AM CDT, 1 hour earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Oct 24, 2:49 AM CDT, 1 hour before

SOUTHWEST AND CENTRAL LOUISIANA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES LA
246 AM CDT FRI OCT 24 1997

5H LOW CURRENTLY MOVING ACROSS AR THIS AM WILL CONTINUE TO
MOVE RAPIDLY TO THE EAST TODAY. VORT LOBE CURRENTLY MOVING
ACROSS THE FA WILL BE OUT OF THE FA BY 15Z. STRONG TO
SVR TSRA CONTINUE ACROSS THE FA THIS AM AS SUBTROPICAL
JET INTERACTS WITH THE VORT LOBE AND THE MOIST AMS IN
PLACE ACROSS THE FA. WOULD LUK FOR ACTIVITY TO MOVE OUT
OF THE FA ENTIRELY BY MID MORNING. WL SEE SOME CLEARING
THIS AFTERNOON WITH THE AREA IN A SUBSIDENT REGION.

THE NEXT CHANCE OF SHRA AND TSRA WILL BE ON SATURDAY
AS LOW LEVEL MOISTURE BEGINS TO POOL OVER THE AREA AGAIN AND
SUB TROPICAL JET xCONTINUES TO MOVE OVERHEAD. WL GO WITH CHC POPS ON
SAT.             10

LCH 86/70/84 2(MORN)14    AEX 81/67/81 2(MORN)14
BPT 86/70/84 114          LFT 85/68/82 3(MORN)14

In the hours before

Local storm report, Oct 23, 9:50 PM CDT, 5 hours 59 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 hours 56 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, 10:32 PM CDT, 5 hours 17 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES LA
1032 PM CDT THU OCT 23 1997

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

1020 PM    ALEXANDRIA                LA   0.75 INCH HAIL
10/23/97   RAPIDES                        RPT BY 911

Local storm report, Oct 23, 10:33 PM CDT, 5 hours 16 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES LA
1032 PM CDT THU OCT 23 1997

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

1020 PM    ALEXANDRIA                LA   0.75 INCH HAIL
10/23/97   RAPIDES                        RPT BY 911

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 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

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.