Alert archive / Louisiana / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1997

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 110, NWS Lake Charles, LA

December 3, 1997Calcasieu Parish, Cameron Parish, Louisiana

NWS Lake Charles, LA issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Dec 3, 1997, 6:40 AM CST for Calcasieu Parish, Cameron Parish, Louisiana. It was in force for 35 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, 6:40 AM CST (12:40 UTC)
Expired: Dec 3, 1997, 7:15 AM CST
In force: 35 min
Issued by: NWS Lake Charles, LA
Area: Whole counties

Counties Calcasieu Parish, LA, Cameron Parish, LA

The radar

The Lake Charles radar (KLCH), 11 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 12:44 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, 6:45 AM CST	Thunderstorm Wind	Grand Lake, LA
Dec 3, 6:50 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 12:00Z, 0.7 hours before the alert went out and 12 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: 944 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -9 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 523 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 71 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 325 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 282 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 1.8
Supercell composite: 9.3

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KLCH 031241 RRA
SVRLCH
LAC019-023-031315-
 
BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES LA
640 AM CST WED DEC 3 1997
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN LAKE CHARLES HAS ISSUED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  715 AM CST
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONS...
 
IN SOUTHWEST LOUISIANA
 
   ...CALCASIEU PARISH...CAMERON PARISH
 
 
AT 635 PM...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A LINE
OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS FROM JUST SOUTH OF LAKE CHARLES TO HACKBERRY
MOVING NORTHEAST AT 40 MPH. THE COMMUNITIES OF HAYES IN CALCASIEU
PARISH AND SWEET LAKE IN CAMERON PARISH ARE IN THE PATH OF THIS
LINE OF THUNDERSTORMS. RESIDENTS CAN EXPECT WINDS IN EXCESS OF
60 MPH.
 
 
WHEN THUNDERSTORMS ARE OCCURRING...PEOPLE SHOULD MOVE INSIDE A
STRONG BUILDING.  DO NOT STAND BY WINDOWS.  DON'T USE TELEPHONES
OR ELECTRICAL APPLIANCES UNLESS IN AN EMERGENCY UNTIL THE STORM
HAS PASSED.  MOTORISTS SHOULD NOT DRIVE INTO LOW WATER CROSSINGS.

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, 4 hours 6 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Dec 3, 2:34 AM CST, 4 hours 6 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, 5:26 AM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	LCH	Calcasieu	64 min
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

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.