Alert archive / Louisiana / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1997

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 25, NWS Lake Charles, LA

April 5, 1997Lafayette Parish, Saint Landry Parish, Louisiana

NWS Lake Charles, LA issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Apr 5, 1997, 6:38 AM CST for Lafayette Parish, Saint Landry Parish, Louisiana. It was in force for 52 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: Apr 5, 1997, 6:38 AM CST (12:38 UTC)
Expired: Apr 5, 1997, 7:30 AM CST
In force: 52 min
Issued by: NWS Lake Charles, LA
Area: Whole counties

Counties Lafayette Parish, LA, Saint Landry Parish, LA

The radar

The Lake Charles radar (KLCH), 118 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 12:41 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
Apr 5, 6:41 AM CST	Thunderstorm Wind	Port Barre, LA
Apr 5, 6:42 AM CST	Thunderstorm Wind	Scott, 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 watch it was issued in

The SPC watch in force over the same counties when this warning went out.

Issued	Product	Office	Lasted
Apr 5, 2:30 AM CST	Tornado Watch	SPC	7 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Lake Charles Mun, LA (KLCH), launched 12:00Z, 0.6 hours before the alert went out and 116 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-p

Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.

Hodograph

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: 1 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: No buoyant parcel
Mixed-layer LCL: 521 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 62 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 42 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 116 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.0
Supercell composite: 0.1

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KLCH 051242 RRA
SVRLCH
LAC097-055-051330-
 
BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES LA
638 AM CST SAT APR 5 1997
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN LAKE CHARLES HAS ISSUED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  730 AM CST
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONS...
 
IN SOUTH CENTRAL LOUISIANA
 
   ...ST. LANDRY PARISH
 
IN SOUTHWEST LOUISIANA
 
   ...LAFAYETTE PARISH
 
AT 635 AM CST...NEXRAD DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A LINE OF SEVERE
THUNDERSTORMS FROM OPELOUSAS TO MAURICE. THE PRIMARY THREAT FROM THESE
STORMS IS WIND GUSTS IN EXCESS OF 55 MPH. THE CITY OF LAFAYETTE IS IN
THE PATH OF THIS STORM. LINE MOVEMENT IS TO THE EAST AT 30 MPH.
 
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 Apr 5, 2:45 AM CST, 3 hours 53 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Apr 5, 2:45 AM CST, 3 hours 53 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

In the hours before

Local storm report, Apr 5, 3:15 AM CST, 3 hours 23 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES LA
315 AM CST SAT APR 05 1997

TIME(CST)  .....CITY LOCATION.....STATE   ...EVENT/REMARKS...
           ....COUNTY LOCATION....

0240 AM    10 NW JASPER              TX   WIND DAMAGE
04/05/97   JASPER                         TREES DOWN

Local storm report, Apr 5, 3:22 AM CST, 3 hours 16 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES LA
315 AM CST SAT APR 05 1997

TIME(CST)  .....CITY LOCATION.....STATE   ...EVENT/REMARKS...
           ....COUNTY LOCATION....

0240^ AM    10 NW JASPER              TX   WIND DAMAGE
04/05/97   JASPER                         TREES DOWN

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Apr 5, 2:10 AM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	LCH	St. Mary	35 min
Apr 5, 3:01 AM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	LCH	Calcasieu, Cameron	59 min
Apr 5, 3:01 AM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	LCH	Beauregard, Vernon	59 min
Apr 5, 4:05 AM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	LCH	Beauregard, Calcasieu	55 min
Apr 5, 5:27 AM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	LCH	Rapides	63 min

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Louisiana, 1997 Every 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.