Alert archive / Texas / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1997

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 113, NWS Lake Charles, LA

December 23, 1997Hardin County, Jefferson County, Tyler County, Texas

NWS Lake Charles, LA issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Dec 23, 1997, 5:52 PM CST for Hardin County, Jefferson County, Tyler County, Texas. It was in force for 53 min. 3 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 23, 1997, 5:52 PM CST (23:52 UTC)
Expired
Dec 23, 1997, 6:45 PM CST
In force
53 min
Issued by
NWS Lake Charles, LA
Area
Whole counties

Counties Hardin County, TX, Jefferson County, TX, Tyler County, TX

The radar

The Lake Charles radar (KLCH), 107 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 23:54 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

TimeReportWhereRemark
Dec 23, 6:15 PM CSTThunderstorm WindBatson, TX
Dec 23, 6:45 PM CSTThunderstorm WindFred, TX
Dec 23, 6:50 PM CSTThunderstorm WindSilsbee, TX

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.

IssuedProductOfficeLasted
Dec 23, 2:30 PM CSTTornado WatchSPC6 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Lake Charles Mun, LA (KLCH), launched 12:00Z, 11.9 hours before the alert went out and 109 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 12:00Z on 1997-12-23Temperature 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°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.
HodographHodograph, Lake Charles Mun, LA at 12:00Z on 1997-12-23The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 457 square meters per square second.1939587897Sfc1 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
815 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
56 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
457 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
560 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
2.3

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KLCH 232353 RRA
SVRLCH
TXC199-245-457-240045-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES LA
552 PM CST TUE DEC 23 1997

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN LAKE CHARLES LA HAS ISSUED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 645 PM CST
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONS...

IN SOUTHEASTERN TEXAS

   ...HARDIN COUNTY
   ...JEFFERSON COUNTY
   ...TYLER COUNTY

AT 555 PM DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A LINE OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS
FROM BAYTOWN TO LUFKIN MOVING EAST AT 35 MPH. THE STORMS WILL MOVE
INTO WESTERN PORTIONS OF HARDIN...JEFFERSON...AND TYLER COUNTIES BY
615 PM AND THROUGH THE REMAINDER OF THE THREE COUNTIES INCLUDING THE
BEAUMONT AND PORT ARTHUR AREAS BY 7 PM. LARGE HAIL AND DAMAGING
WINDS UP TO 60 MPH HAVE BEEN REPORTED WITH THIS LINE IN THE HOUSTON
AREA.


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.

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Dec 23, 5:56 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLCHHardin, Jefferson64 min
Dec 23, 5:56 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLCHTyler64 min

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Texas, 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.