Alert archive / Louisiana / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1997

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 18, NWS Lake Charles, LA

April 5, 1997St. Mary Parish, Louisiana

NWS Lake Charles, LA issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Apr 5, 1997, 2:10 AM CST for St. Mary Parish, Louisiana. It was in force for 35 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
Apr 5, 1997, 2:10 AM CST (08:10 UTC)
Expired
Apr 5, 1997, 2:45 AM CST
In force
35 min
Issued by
NWS Lake Charles, LA
Area
Whole counties

County St. Mary Parish, LA

The nearest sounding before it

Lake Charles Mun, LA (KLCH), launched 00:00Z, 8.2 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.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Lake Charles Mun, LA at 00:00Z on 1997-04-05Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 1185 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 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 1997-04-05The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 267 square meters per square second.19395878Sfc1 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
1185 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-76 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
530 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
52 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
267 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
316 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
1.8
Supercell composite
8.7

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KLCH 050811 RRA
SVRLCH
LAC101-050845-
 
BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES LA
210 AM CST SAT APR 5 1997
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN LAKE CHARLES HAS ISSUED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  245 AM CST
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...
 
IN SOUTH CENTRAL LOUISIANA
 
   ...ST. MARY PARISH
 
AND ADJACENT COASTAL WATERS
 
AT 210 AM CST...NEXRAD DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM 10
MILES SOUTHWEST OF MORGAN CITY. MOVEMENT WAS TO THE NORTHEAST AT 50 MPH.
WIND GUSTS IN EXCESS OF 60 MPH CAN BE EXPECTED WITH THIS STORM.
PATTERSON AND MORGAN CITY ARE IN THE PATH OF THIS STORM.
 
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 Apr 5, 1:49 AM CST, 21 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Apr 5, 1:49 AM CST, 21 minutes before
SOUTHEAST TEXAS..SOUTHWEST AND CENTRAL LOUISIANA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES LA
245 AM CST SAT APR 5 1997

S PORTION OF THE LINE OF TSTMS CURRENTLY PULSING...AND WITH
KLCH VWP SHOWING 65 KTS AT 2 KFT...SVR GUSTS A GOOD BET.

AS FAR AS FORECAST IS CONCERNED...MODELS ARE IN DECENT
AGREEMENT. BOTH SHOW FA IN RR QUAD OF UPPER LEVEL JET AROUND
12Z. RAIN CHC WILL END ACROSS SE TX SHORTLY AFTER SUNRISE AND
BY MID-MORNING FOR LA FA. TOOK A BLEND OF GUID TEMPS.

1

BPT 79/57/81 3(EARLY)00
LCH 77/55/80 6(EARLY)00  LFT 77/55/81 8(AM)00  AEX 77/52/80 8(AM)00

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Apr 5, 3:01 AM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLCHCalcasieu, Cameron59 min
Apr 5, 3:01 AM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLCHBeauregard, Vernon59 min
Apr 5, 4:05 AM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLCHBeauregard, Calcasieu55 min
Apr 5, 5:27 AM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLCHRapides63 min
Apr 5, 6:38 AM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLCHLafayette, Saint Landry52 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.