Alert archive / Louisiana / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1997
Severe Thunderstorm Warning 34, NWS Lake Charles, LA
NWS Lake Charles, LA issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Apr 25, 1997, 4:21 PM CDT for Calcasieu Parish, Cameron Parish, Louisiana. It was in force for 69 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 25, 1997, 4:21 PM CDT (21:21 UTC)
- Expired
- Apr 25, 1997, 5:30 PM CDT
- In force
- 69 min
- Issued by
- NWS Lake Charles, LA
- Area
- Whole counties
Counties Calcasieu Parish, LA, Cameron Parish, LA
The radar
The Lake Charles radar (KLCH), 11 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 21:22 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 25, 5:15 PM CDT | Hail 0.75 | Sulphur, LA | |
| Apr 25, 5:15 PM CDT | Thunderstorm Wind | Cameron, 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, 9.4 hours before the alert went out and 12 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
- 0 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- No buoyant parcel
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 1388 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 57 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 131 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 472 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 4.4
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
122 WUUS1 KLCH 252123 RRA SVRLCH LAC019-023-252230- BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES LA 421 PM CDT FRI APR 25 1997 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN LAKE CHARLES HAS ISSUED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 530 PM CDT FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONS... IN SOUTHWEST LOUISIANA ...CALCASIEU PARISH...CAMERON PARISH AND ADJACENT COASTAL WATERS AT 420 PM CDT...NEXRAD DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM 5 MILES SOUTH OF GRAND LAKE MOVING NORTH AT 25 MPH. THE CITY OF LAKE CHARLES IS IN THE PATH OF THIS STORM. LARGE HAIL CAN BE EXPECTED WITH THIS STORM. SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS PRODUCE DAMAGING WIND IN EXCESS OF 55 MPH...DESTRUCTIVE HAIL...DEADLY LIGHTNING...AND VERY HEAVY RAIN. FOR YOUR PROTECTION MOVE TO AN INTERIOR ROOM ON THE LOWEST FLOOR OF YOUR HOME OR BUSINESS. HEAVY RAINS FLOOD ROADS QUICKLY SO DONT DRIVE INTO AREAS WHERE WATER COVERS THE ROAD.
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 25, 2:30 PM CDT, 1 hour 51 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Apr 25, 2:30 PM CDT, 1 hour 51 minutes before
SOUTHEAST TEXAS..SOUTHWEST AND CENTRAL LOUISIANA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES LA 230 PM CDT FRI APR 25 1997 SFC PLOT SHOWS QUASI-STATIONARY FRONT OVER NORTHERN GULF. TSRA FIRING UP ALONG FRONT AND MOVING N INTO CWA COASTAL WATERS. SAT PICS SHOW SHORTWAVES RIPPLING ACROSS CENTRAL TEXAS...HEADED FOR SE TX AND LA. 88-D ACTIVE WITH NUMEROUS TSRA OVER SE TX AND OVER THE COASTAL WATERS. ETA SEEMS TO BE THE MODEL OF CHOICE WITH 50H LOW DIGGING S INTO N MEXICO. SEVERAL PERTURBATIONS RIPPLE OUT INTO SE TX AND LA THRU PD. SFC LOW SHOULD DEVELOP WITH WARM FRONT MOVING INTO UPPER TX COAST AND COASTAL LA BY SAT. MORNING. CONDITIONS COMING TOGETHER FOR HVY RAINFALL OVER SE TX AND SW LA TONIGHT INTO SATURDAY POSSIBLY SHIFTING EASTWARD SAT. NIGHT INTO SUNDAY. FOCUSING MECHANISM(WARM FRONT)... PWS AT 1.6 TO 1.8...THETA-E RIDGE AT 335 TO 340...LIS AT -4 TO -6... LLJ AT 40KTS...SHORTWAVES RIPPLING ACROSS CWA...VVS AT -10 TO -13. WITH ALL THIS IN MIND...WOULD LIKE A FFA TO BE ISSUED FOR SE TX LCH CWA. AS FAR AS COASTAL AREAS...COASTAL FLOOD WATCH MAY NEED TO BE ISSUED FOR SW LA COASTAL WATERS...ESPECIALLY IF WINDS BECOME MORE SELY. WILL KEEP COASTAL FLOOD WARNING AT LEAST THROUGH 600 PM...MAY NEED TO BE EXTENDED AS WINDS ARE EXPECTED TO BECOME SE. CAMERON TIDE GAUGE NOW RUNNING AT 3.0 FEET...SABINE PASS TIDE GAUGE AT 3.1 FEET. OVERALL...WENT SOMEWHAT COOLER ON MOS TEMPS DUE TO CLD COVER AND RAINFALL. HERE ARE THE NUMBERS... 13 BPT 63/73/66/75 8887 LCH 63/72/66/75 8877 LFT 63/73/65/74 7777 AEX 60/72/63/71 8877
The office that day
Everything else NWS Lake Charles, LA issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apr 25, 8:48 AM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | LCH | Vernon | 42 min |
| Apr 25, 5:32 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | LCH | Beauregard | 58 min |
| Apr 25, 5:48 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | LCH | Calcasieu | 57 min |
| Apr 25, 6:24 PM CDT | Flash Flood Warning | LCH | Calcasieu | 3 hr |
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; verification from NCEI's Storm Data; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.