Alert archive / Louisiana / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1997
Severe Thunderstorm Warning 11, NWS Lake Charles, LA
NWS Lake Charles, LA issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Feb 21, 1997, 12:48 AM CST for Avoyelles Parish, Saint Landry Parish, Louisiana. It was in force for 42 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
- Feb 21, 1997, 12:48 AM CST (06:48 UTC)
- Expired
- Feb 21, 1997, 1:30 AM CST
- In force
- 42 min
- Issued by
- NWS Lake Charles, LA
- Area
- Whole counties
Counties Avoyelles Parish, LA, Saint Landry Parish, LA
The radar
The Ft Polk radar (KPOE), 99 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 06:47 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Feb 21, 12:50 AM CST | Thunderstorm Wind | Eunice, LA | |
| Feb 21, 1:00 AM CST | Thunderstorm Wind | Simmesport, 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Feb 20, 7:30 PM CST | Tornado Watch | SPC | 6 hr |
| Feb 20, 11:45 PM CST | Tornado Watch | SPC | 5 hr |
The nearest sounding before it
Lake Charles Mun, LA (KLCH), launched 00:00Z, 6.8 hours before the alert went out and 140 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
- 873 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -1 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 530 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 52 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 286 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 305 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 1.1
- Supercell composite
- 6.8
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
000 TTAA00 KLCH 210649 RRA SVRLCH LAC009-097-210730- BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES LA 1248 AM CST FRI FEB 21 1997 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN LAKE CHARLES HAS ISSUED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 130 AM CST FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONS... IN EAST CENTRAL LOUISIANA ...AVOYELLES PARISH IN SOUTH CENTRAL LOUISIANA ...ST. LANDRY PARISH AT 1245 AM...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RADAR INDICATED A LINE OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS THAT EXTENDED FROM NEAR MARKSVILLE IN AVOYELLES PARISH TO NEAR OPELOUSAS IN ST LANDRY PARISH. MOVEMENT WAS TO THE NORTHEAST AT 45 MPH. THE MAIN THREAT FROM THESE THUNDERSTORMS ARE WIND GUSTS IN EXCESS OF 60 MPH. THE CITIES OF COTTONPORT... WASHINGTON AND SIMMESPORT ARE IN THE PATH OF THESE STORMS. 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.
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 Feb 20, 10:45 PM CST, 2 hours 3 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Feb 20, 10:45 PM CST, 2 hours 3 minutes before
SOUTHEAST TEXAS..SOUTHWEST AND CENTRAL LOUISIANA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES LA 1045 PM CST THU FEB 20 1997 PREV FCST LKS GOOD. 88-D SHOWING INCRG SHOWER ACTIVITY IN INTERIOR SE TX ATTM IN MSTR AXIS. VIS STLT SHOWING CONVECTION DEVELOPING TWD JASPER AND LFK. VAD PROFILES SHOWING SOME SHEARING. XPCT BEST LIFT FOR TSTMS THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING. TIDES CONTINUE 2 TO 2.5 FT ABV NORMAL CAMERON TO SABINE PASS. SE FETCH MEANS COASTAL FLOOD THREAT E OF INTRACOASTAL CITY IS SUPPRESSED FOR NOW. COORD WITH SIL. 11
The office that day
Everything else NWS Lake Charles, LA issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Feb 20, 11:55 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | LCH | Acadia, Jefferson Davis | 50 min |
| Feb 21, 2:40 AM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | LCH | St. Mary | 50 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.