Alert archive / Louisiana / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1997
Severe Thunderstorm Warning 2, NWS Lake Charles, LA
NWS Lake Charles, LA issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Jan 23, 1997, 4:29 PM CST for Vernon Parish, Louisiana; Newton County, Texas. It was in force for 61 min. 1 report 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
- Jan 23, 1997, 4:29 PM CST (22:29 UTC)
- Expired
- Jan 23, 1997, 5:30 PM CST
- In force
- 61 min
- Issued by
- NWS Lake Charles, LA
- Area
- Whole counties
Counties Vernon Parish, LA, Newton County, TX
The radar
The Ft Polk radar (KPOE), 52 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 22:30 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jan 23, 5:06 PM CST | Thunderstorm Wind | Evans, LA |
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, 10.5 hours before the alert went out and 95 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
- 115 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -36 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 553 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 45 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 80 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 104 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 0.1
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
000 TTAA00 KLCH 232235 SVRLCH LAC115-TXC351-232330- BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES LA 429 PM CST THU JAN 23 1997 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN LAKE CHARLES HAS ISSUED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 530 PM CST FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONS... IN SOUTHWEST LOUISIANA ...VERNON PARISH IN SOUTHEAST TEXAS ...NEWTON COUNTY AT 425 PM...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RADAR INDICATED SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS NEAR BURKEVILLE AND NEAR THE CITY OF NEWTON. THE SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WERE MOVING NORTHEAST AT 25 MPH. THE CITIES OF NEWTON...BURKEVILLE...BURR FERRY AND LEESVILLE ARE IN THE PATH OF THESE STORMS. 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 Jan 23, 3:03 PM CST, 1 hour 26 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Jan 23, 3:03 PM CST, 1 hour 26 minutes before
SOUTHEAST TEXAS..SOUTHWEST AND CENTRAL LOUISIANA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES LA 303 PM CST THU JAN 23 1997 CONVECTION CURRENTLY FIRING IN SE TX...AIDED BY SPD MAX RACING UP TX CST...SHOWN IN WV STLT LOOP. XPCT ACTVTY TO CONTINUE ACROSS ENTIRE FA IN ADVANCE OF APPROACHING S/W WHICH PUSHES THRU OVERNITE. ACTVTY SHUD WIND DOWN DURING TMRW AM. SPC PLACES ENTIRE CWA IN MDT RISK...THIS LOOKS OK. XPCT BULK OF ACTVTY SHUD BE AHEAD OF FRONT AND PASSAGE OF FRONT LATE FRI AFTN SHUD BE RATHER UNEVENTFUL. NO REAL PROBLEM W/ MOS TEMPS.8 BPT 60/75/47/69 8500 LCH 61/75/47/68 8500 LFT 61/74/47/67 8500 AEX 57/75/43/65 8300
The office that day
Everything else NWS Lake Charles, LA issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan 23, 4:48 PM CST | Tornado Warning | LCH | Newton | 27 min |
Nearby
Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Louisiana, 1997Severe 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.