Alert archive / Louisiana / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1997

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 32, NWS Lake Charles, LA

April 22, 1997Evangeline Parish, Louisiana

NWS Lake Charles, LA issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Apr 22, 1997, 3:09 PM CDT for Evangeline Parish, Louisiana. It was in force for 66 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: Apr 22, 1997, 3:09 PM CDT (20:09 UTC)
Expired: Apr 22, 1997, 4:15 PM CDT
In force: 66 min
Issued by: NWS Lake Charles, LA
Area: Whole counties

County Evangeline Parish, LA

The radar

The Ft Polk radar (KPOE), 72 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 20:11 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 22, 3:30 PM CDT	Hail 1	Pine Prairie, 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 22, 1:15 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Watch	SPC	6 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Lake Charles Mun, LA (KLCH), launched 12:00Z, 8.2 hours before the alert went out and 102 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: 1498 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -233 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 595 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 37 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 144 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 184 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.0
Supercell composite: 1.0

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KLCH 222010 RRA
SVRLCH
LAC039-222115-
 
BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES LA
309 PM CDT TUE APR 22 1997
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN LAKE CHARLES HAS ISSUED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  415 PM CDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...
 
IN SOUTHWEST LOUISIANA
 
   ...EVANGELINE PARISH
 
AT 307 PM...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM 20 MILES WEST OF VILLE PLATTE. LARGE HAIL
IS EXPECTED WITH THIS STORM. PEOPLE IN MAMOU...REDDELL...AND
VILLE PLATTE ARE IN THE PATH OF THIS STORM.
 
 
THIS IS A DANGEROUS STORM.  IF YOU ARE IN ITS PATH YOU SHOULD
PREPARE FOR DAMAGING WIND IN EXCESS OF 55 MPH...LARGE HAIL...AND
DEADLY LIGHTNING.  PEOPLE OUTSIDE SHOULD MOVE TO A SHELTER...
PREFERABLY INSIDE A STRONG BUILDING BUT STAY AWAY FROM WINDOWS.
 
 
 
&

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 22, 2:35 PM CDT, 34 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Apr 22, 2:35 PM CDT, 34 minutes before

SOUTHEAST TEXAS..SOUTHWEST AND CENTRAL LOUISIANA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES LA
145 PM CDT TUE APR 22 1997

...LCH CWA UNDER THE GUN...
SFC LOW WITH ASSOCIATED COLD FRONT BEARING DOWN ON LCH CWA.
WW 180 IN EFFECT TIL 7PM FOR SE TX AND SW LA...WW 182 IN
EFFECT FOR PARTS OF CENTRAL AND SOUTH CENTRAL LA TIL 900 PM.
SVR TSTM WARNINGS IN EFFECT FOR JASPER...NEWTON COUNTIES AND
BEAUREGARD PARISH. REPORTS OF BASEBALL...QUARTER SIZE HAIL IN
JASPER AND NEWTON COUNTIES. ONE INCH SIZE HAIL IN BEAUREGARD.

SAT PICS SHOW SFC LOW MOVING ACROSS SE TX. COLD FRONT WILL TRACK ACROSS
LCH CWA BY 02Z...ENDING THE THREAT OF SVR WX. ETA WAS NOT AVAILABLE.
NGM SHOWS DRYING LOW-MID LEVELS BY 06Z...PCLDY TONIGHT...MOSUNNY
ON WEDNESDAY. LOOKS LIKE A SLGHT CHC OF RA MAY CREEP BACK INTO THE
FORECAST ON THURSDAY WITH RETURN FLOW. MOS GUIDANCE NOT TOO FAR OFF...
WENT A BIT COOLER FOR HIGHS AND LOWS.

13

BPT 56/79/58/79 2002
LCH 57/78/58/79 2001  LFT 59/78/57/78 2001  AEX 56/77/54/77 2002

In the hours before

Local storm report, Apr 22, 2:10 PM CDT, 59 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES LA
210 PM CDT TUE APR 22 1997

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

205 PM     EVADALE                   TX   1.75 INCH HAIL
04/22/97   JASPER                         REPORTED BY CHANNEL 6
                                          WEATHER OBSERVER

Local storm report, Apr 22, 2:12 PM CDT, 57 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES LA
210 PM CDT TUE APR 22 1997

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

205 PM     EVADALE                   TX   1.75 INCH HAIL
04/22/97   JASPER                         REPORTED BY CHANNEL 6
                                          WEATHER OBSERVER

Local storm report, Apr 22, 2:25 PM CDT, 44 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES LA
225 PM CDT TUE APR 22 1997

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

215 PM     MERRYVILLE                LA   1.00 INCH HAIL
04/22/97   BEAUREGARD                     REPORTED BY WEATHER
                                          OBSERVER

Local storm report, Apr 22, 2:27 PM CDT, 42 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES LA
225 PM CDT TUE APR 22 1997

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

215 TPM     MERRYVILLE                LA   1.00 INCH HAIL
04/22/97   BEAUREGARD                     REPORTED BY WEATHER
                                          OBSERVER

Local storm report, Apr 22, 2:30 PM CDT, 39 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES LA
230 PM CDT TUE APR 22 1997

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

225 PM     DEWEYVILLE                TX   1.00 INCH HAIL
04/22/97   NEWTON                         REPORTED BY CHANNEL 6
                                          WEATTHERR OBSERVER

Local storm report, Apr 22, 2:31 PM CDT, 38 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES LA
230 PM CDT TUE APR 22 1997

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

225 lPM     DEWEYVILLE                TX   1.00 INCH HAIL
04/22/97   NEWTON                         REPORTED BY CHANNEL 6
                                          WEATTHERR OBSERVER

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Apr 22, 1:52 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	LCH	Beauregard	68 min
Apr 22, 2:34 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	LCH	Calcasieu	56 min
Apr 22, 2:50 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	LCH	Allen	55 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.