Alert archive / Texas / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1997
Severe Thunderstorm Warning 14, NWS Lake Charles, LA
NWS Lake Charles, LA issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Mar 18, 1997, 3:16 PM CST for Jasper County, Newton County, Texas. It was in force for 59 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
- Mar 18, 1997, 3:16 PM CST (21:16 UTC)
- Expired
- Mar 18, 1997, 4:15 PM CST
- In force
- 59 min
- Issued by
- NWS Lake Charles, LA
- Area
- Whole counties
Counties Jasper County, TX, Newton County, TX
The radar
The Lake Charles radar (KLCH), 96 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 21:16 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mar 18, 3:22 PM CST | Thunderstorm Wind | Buna, TX | |
| Mar 18, 3:58 PM CST | Thunderstorm Wind | Deweyville, 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 nearest sounding before it
Lake Charles Mun, LA (KLCH), launched 12:00Z, 9.3 hours before the alert went out and 97 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
- 499 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -29 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 514 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 36 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 137 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 157 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 2.0
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
970 WUUS1 KLCH 182119 RRA SVRLCH TXC241-351-182215- BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES LA 316 PM CST TUE MAR 18 1997 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN LAKE CHARLES HAS ISSUED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 415 PM CST FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONS... IN SOUTHEAST TEXAS ...JASPER COUNTY...NEWTON COUNTY AT 3:17 P.M. THE LAKE CHARLES RADAR SHOWED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM 5 MILES NORTHEAST OF EVADALE MOVING NORTHEAST AT 15 MPH. THIS IS A DANGEROUS STORM...IF YOU ARE IN THE PATH OF THIS STORM YOU SHO DPREPARE FOR DAMAGING WINDS IN EXCESS OF 55 MPH...LARGE HAIL...AND VERY HEAVY RAIN.
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 Mar 18, 1:45 PM CST, 1 hour 31 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Mar 18, 1:45 PM CST, 1 hour 31 minutes before
SOUTHEAST TEXAS..SOUTHWEST AND CENTRAL LOUISIANA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES LA 145 PM CST TUE MAR 18 1997 POCKET OF ENERGY LIFTING OUT OF TROUGH ACROSS WESTERN TEXAS WHICH SHOULD CONTINUE TO TRIGGER NUMEROUS SHOWERS AND TSTMS IN THE AXIS OF GREATEST INSTABILITY WHICH HAPPENS TO BE ACROSS SE TX. 700 MB WEST TO EAST FLOW SUGGEST THAT TRAINING MAY NOT BE A PROBLEM ACROSS AREA AS WAS THE LAST CASE. MAY SEE A SQUALL LINE DEVELOP WHICH MAY ALSO HELP LIMIT RAINFALL. IN ANY CASE...BELIEVE WE HAVE SEVERE WX POTENTIAL ON OUR HANDS WITH SFC BASED LIFTED INDEX AROUND -8 OR SO AND CAPES AROUND 3000 J/KG. SHOULD INCLUDE SEVERE ACROSS AREA TONIGHT AND INCLUDE...SOME WITH HEAVY RAIN STATEMENT IN FORECAST AS SOME OF THE STRONGEST TSTMS WILL PRODUCE 1 TO 2 INCH AMOUNTS. FRONT WILL ALSO ENHANCE SVR DEVELOPMENT AS IT APPROACHES THE AREA. CFP SHOULD BE INTO BPT/BURKVILLE BEFORE 10 PM AND THRU LCH/AEX AROUND MIDNIGHT. WILL CONT TO SEE A CHANCE OF TSTMS AND SHOWERS INTO WED AS SRN END OF TROF CLOSES OFF AND LAGS BEHIND INTO MEXICO ALLOWING FOR AN UPPER LEVEL SHEAR PATTERN TO CONTINUE ACROSS THE REGION. 06 BPT 58/67/50/70 8311 LCH 58/68/50/71 9311 LFT 60/68/50/69 8521 AEX 52/62/46/66 9411 TX ZONES...PER SAT---FFW FOR SE TX LA ZONES...NONE
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.