Alert archive / Louisiana / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1997
Severe Thunderstorm Warning 12, NWS Lake Charles, LA
NWS Lake Charles, LA issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Feb 21, 1997, 2:40 AM CST for St. Mary Parish, Louisiana. It was in force for 50 min. No storm report in the archive falls inside the area while it was in force.
The area
The counties it named.
The facts
- Issued
- Feb 21, 1997, 2:40 AM CST (08:40 UTC)
- Expired
- Feb 21, 1997, 3:30 AM CST
- In force
- 50 min
- Issued by
- NWS Lake Charles, LA
- Area
- Whole counties
County St. Mary Parish, LA
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, 11:45 PM CST | Tornado Watch | SPC | 5 hr |
The nearest sounding before it
Lake Charles Mun, LA (KLCH), launched 00:00Z, 8.7 hours before the alert went out and 175 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.
485 WUUS1 KLCH 210843 RRA SVRLCH LAC101-210930- BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES LA 240 AM CST FRI FEB 21 1997 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN LAKE CHARLES HAS ISSUED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 330 AM CST FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION... IN SOUTH CENTRAL LOUISIANA ST. MARY PARISH AND ADJACENT COASTAL WATERS AT 235 AM...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM 20 MILES SOUTHWEST OF THE CITY OF FRANKLIN. MOVEMENT WAS NORTHEAST AT 45 MPH. THE CITIES OF FRANKLIN AND BALDWIN ARE IN THE PATH OF THIS STORM. WIND GUSTS IN EXCESS OF 60 MPH AND LARGE HAIL CAN BE EXPECTED WITH THIS STORM. 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 21, 2:20 AM CST, 20 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Feb 21, 2:20 AM CST, 20 minutes before
SOUTHEAST TEXAS..SOUTHWEST AND CENTRAL LOUISIANA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES LA 220 AM CST FRI FEB 21 1997 A BUSY NIGHT AS ACTIVITY INTENSIFIED OVER LA ZONES. UPPER LEVEL ENERGY NOW LIFTING NE OUT OF AREA. HAVE SEEN 2-3 INCHES OVER PORTIONS OF S CEN LA...THEREFORE WILL WATCH VERMILION TO SEE HOW IT RESPONDS NEXT FEW HRS. AS FOR FORECAST...LIKE NGM HIGHS AS ATMOS DRYS AND HEATS UP TODAY AHEAD OF COOLER AIR. SHUD SEE PLENT OF SUN BY LATE MORNING. WINDS WILL BECOME NORTHWEST THIS AFTERNOON AS DRY FRONT MOVES THRU. WILL INCLUDE SLGHT CHANCE POPS FOR LFT-AEX LINE EASTWARD FOR EARLY THIS MORNING AS A FEW SHWRS STILL AROUND IN SW LA. 1 BPT 75/42/59 000 LCH 75/42/57 000 LFT 75/43/57 100 AEX 76/40/56 100
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, 12:48 AM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | LCH | Avoyelles, Saint Landry | 42 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; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive.