Alert archive / Louisiana / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1997

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 112, NWS Lake Charles, LA

December 21, 1997Vernon Parish, Louisiana

NWS Lake Charles, LA issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Dec 21, 1997, 1:31 AM CST for Vernon Parish, Louisiana. It was in force for 49 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
Dec 21, 1997, 1:31 AM CST (07:31 UTC)
Expired
Dec 21, 1997, 2:20 AM CST
In force
49 min
Issued by
NWS Lake Charles, LA
Area
Whole counties

County Vernon Parish, LA

What was reported inside it

TimeReportWhereRemark
Dec 21, 2:00 AM CSTThunderstorm WindLeesville, 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, 7.5 hours before the alert went out and 110 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-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Lake Charles Mun, LA at 00:00Z on 1997-12-21Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 0 joules per kilogram.LCL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°0°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.
HodographHodograph, Lake Charles Mun, LA at 00:00Z on 1997-12-21The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 325 square meters per square second.1939587897117136Sfc1 km3 km6 km9 kmRMLM
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
496 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
52 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
325 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
420 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 210733
SVRLCH
LAC115-210820-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES LA
131 AM CST SUN DEC 21 1997

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN LAKE CHARLES LA HAS ISSUED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 220 AM CST
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...

IN SOUTHWESTERN LOUISIANA

       VERNON PARISH

AT 130 AM CST...NEXRAD DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM
ENTERING WESTERN VERNON PARISH. THE COMMUNITIES OF ANACOCO AND
LEESVILLE ARE IN THE PATH OF THIS STORM.



SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS PRODUCE WINDS IN EXCESS OF 60 MPH...
DESTRUCTIVE HAIL...DEADLY LIGHTNING...AND TORRENTIAL RAIN. FOR
YOUR PROTECTION...SEEK SHELTER IN A\ STRONG BUILDING. STAY AWAY
FROM WINDOWS AND AVOID USING TELEPHONES...COMPUTERS...OR OTHER
ELECTRICAL EQUIPMENT UNTIL THE STORM HAS PASSED.

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 20, 8:42 PM CST, 4 hours 49 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Dec 20, 8:42 PM CST, 4 hours 49 minutes before
SOUTHEAST TEXAS..SOUTHWEST AND CENTRAL LOUISIANA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES LA
840 PM CST SAT DEC 20 1997

OOZ LCH SOUNDING SHOWS BIG INCREASE IN MOISTURE AND DESTABILIZATION
OVER AREA AS PW UP FROM 0.87 TO 1.43 AND LI DECREASING FROM 10 TO
(-1). UPPER AIR ANALYSIS SHOWS LEFT FRONT QUAD OF H3 120 KT JET STREAK
SHOULD MOVE OVER FA SHORTLY ALONG WITH DRY PUNCH AT H7. ALSO...VWP
ON KLCH AND KPOE STILL SHOWS GOOD LOW LEVEL WIND SHEAR. KLCH RADAR
ALSO RECENTLY SHOWING STORMS BEGINNING TO SHOW ROTATION IN SOUTHEAST
TEXAS. THEREFORE...SEVERE AND HEAVY RAIN WORDING IN FORECAST STILL
LOOKS GOOD. THUMBNAIL SKETCH SHOWS LINE OF STORMS IN CENTRAL TX
REACHING BPT BY 6Z...LCHL 8Z...AEX AND LFT 9-10Z.

  7

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.