Alert archive / Louisiana / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1997

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 108, NWS Lake Charles, LA

December 3, 1997Calcasieu Parish, Louisiana

NWS Lake Charles, LA issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Dec 3, 1997, 5:26 AM CST for Calcasieu Parish, Louisiana. It was in force for 64 min. 2 reports 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: Dec 3, 1997, 5:26 AM CST (11:26 UTC)
Expired: Dec 3, 1997, 6:30 AM CST
In force: 64 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 11:25 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
Dec 3, 5:45 AM CST	Thunderstorm Wind	Vinton, LA
Dec 3, 6:02 AM CST	Thunderstorm Wind	Lake Charles, 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, 11.4 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-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: 0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: No buoyant parcel
Mixed-layer LCL: 840 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 49 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 178 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 200 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.0
Supercell composite: 0.0

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KLCH 031127
SVRLCH
LAC019-031230-
 
BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES LA
526 AM CST WED DEC 3 1997
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN LAKE CHARLES HAS ISSUED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  630 AM CST
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...
 
IN SOUTHWEST LOUISIANA
 
   ...CALCASIEU PARISH
 
AT 525 AM...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A SEVERE
THUNDERSTORM 5 MILES NORTH OF ORANGE TEXAS. THIS STORM WAS MOVING
NORTHEAST AT AT 30 MPH AND WILL MOVE INTO WESTERN CALCASIEU PARISH BY
545 AM.  THIS STORM WILL AFFECT THE COMMUNITIES OF NIBLETT
BLUFF...TOOOMEY...AND VINTON BY 545 AM.  DAMAGING WINDS IN EXCESS
OF 60 MPH...AND DAMAGING HAIL UP TO ONE INCH IN DIAMETER CAN BE EXPECTED
WITH 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 Dec 3, 2:34 AM CST, 2 hours 52 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Dec 3, 2:34 AM CST, 2 hours 52 minutes before

SOUTHWEST...CENTRAL LOUISIANA AND SOUTHEAST TEXAS FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES LA
232 AM CST WED DEC 3 1997

08Z ANALYSIS SHOWS CD FNT THRU CLL AND ELD. ETA PROGS CD FNT INTO
CEN AND S CEN LA ARND NOON. NGM MOS SHOWS CLRNG IN SE TX THIS
AFTERNOON. ETA A BIT MORE CONSERVATIVE ON CLDNS FOR S CEN LA...
KEEPING OVERRUNNING CLDS IN LFT TIL MIDNITE. STAYED CLOSE TO MOS
POPS BUT BLV MOS UNDERPLAYING COLD AIR SO WENT WITH ONLY A SLT RISE
IN MORNING TEMPS DUE TO FRONTAL TIMING AND CLOUDS. EARLY MORNING
TSTMS PSBL DUE TO FAVORABLE RIGHT REAR QUAD OF H2 AND H3 JETSTREAK
AND STG UVV SEEN ON ETA X-SEC. LDS SHOWING LTNG ACTIVITY FM HOU
WEST. TWEAKED LOWS HIR DUE TO WINDS TNITE. KEPT THURS TEMPS A CAT
LWR DUE TO WK CAA.
11

BPT 67/48/59 400            LCH 66/50/58 400
LFT 70/51/58 500            AEX 62/47/58 400

The office that day

Everything else NWS Lake Charles, LA issued on the same UTC day.

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Dec 3, 5:52 AM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	LCH	Rapides	68 min
Dec 3, 5:57 AM CST	Tornado Warning	LCH	Calcasieu	33 min
Dec 3, 6:40 AM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	LCH	Calcasieu, Cameron	35 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.