Alert archive / Texas / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1997
Severe Thunderstorm Warning 114, NWS Lake Charles, LA
NWS Lake Charles, LA issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Dec 23, 1997, 5:56 PM CST for Hardin County, Jefferson County, Texas. 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 23, 1997, 5:56 PM CST (23:56 UTC)
- Expired
- Dec 23, 1997, 7:00 PM CST
- In force
- 64 min
- Issued by
- NWS Lake Charles, LA
- Area
- Whole counties
Counties Hardin County, TX, Jefferson County, TX
The radar
The Lake Charles radar (KLCH), 102 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 23:59 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 23, 6:15 PM CST | Thunderstorm Wind | Batson, TX | |
| Dec 23, 6:50 PM CST | Thunderstorm Wind | Silsbee, 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.
| Issued | Product | Office | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dec 23, 2:30 PM CST | Tornado Watch | SPC | 6 hr |
The nearest sounding before it
Lake Charles Mun, LA (KLCH), launched 12:00Z, 11.9 hours before the alert went out and 103 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
- 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
The text
The text of this product is not in the archive. The NWS text archive before 2002 is incomplete.
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 23, 3:11 PM CST, 2 hours 45 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Dec 23, 3:11 PM CST, 2 hours 45 minutes before
SOUTHEAST TEXAS..SOUTHWEST AND CENTRAL LOUISIANA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES LA 310 PM CST TUE DEC 23 1997 LOOKING AT LATE ETA GRIDDS...VERY STG UVV NOTED ON X-SECS NR JASPER IN SE TX AND AEX AROUND SUNDOWN. H5 TEMPS DROP AS MUCH AS 8C ARND MIDNITE OVR INTERIOR SE TX AND CEN LA. WM FNT LOOKS TO BE ON BPT-LCH ARND SUNDOWN TNITE FM OFFSHORE RIG REPORTS AND ETA LI. SPLIT ON H3 JET NOTED FOR STG UPR DIFLUENCE. LWRD POPS TNITE DUE TO ONRUSHING CD FNT WITH STG CAA AND RAPID L/LVL DRYING AS WELL AS WARMING AT H5 LATE TNITE. CD FNT SHUD REACH BPT BEFORE MIDNITE WHILE WF REACHES AEX ARND MIDNITE WITH TRIPLE PT. CD FNT INTO SE LA BY SUNRISE. WENT WITH LWR TEMPS TNITE WITH STG CAA AND KEPT TEMPS LWR AS ANOTHER SHOT OF COLDER AIR MOVES THRU WED NITE. ANTICIPATE LIFTING FFA AND SVR WATCHES AS CD FNT MOVES THRU AND THETA RDGG DEPARTS. WOULD LIKE WORDING WITH HVY RAIN/PSBL SVR EARLY TNITE. 11 BPT 48/61/45/59 4000 LCH 49/61/45/59 5100 LFT 53/63/47/61 7100 AEX 47/57/44/58 6000
In the hours before
Special weather statement, Dec 23, 4:09 PM CST, 1 hour 47 minutes before
TXZ215-232230- SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES LA 410 PM CST TUE DEC 23 1997 ...URBAN AND SMALL STREAM FLOOD ADVISORY IS CANCELLED FOR JEFFERSON COUNTY... SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WITH HEAVY RAIN MOVED NORTH AND OUT OF THE BEAUMONT AND PORT ARTHUR AREAS AS A WARM FRONT MOVED THROUGH.
Special weather statement, Dec 23, 4:10 PM CST, 1 hour 46 minutes before
TXZ215-232230- SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES LA 410 PM CST TUE DEC 23 1997 ...URBAN AND SMALL STREAM FLOOD ADVISORY IS CANCELLED FOR JEFFERSON COUNTY... SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WITH HEAVY RAIN MOVED NORTH AND OUT OF THE BEAUMONT AND PORT ARTHUR AREAS AS A WARM FRONT MOVED THROUGH.
The office that day
Everything else NWS Lake Charles, LA issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dec 23, 5:52 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | LCH | Hardin, Jefferson, Tyler | 53 min |
| Dec 23, 5:56 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | LCH | Tyler | 64 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.