Alert archive / Louisiana / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1997

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 41, NWS Lake Charles, LA

April 25, 1997Calcasieu Parish, Cameron Parish, Louisiana

NWS Lake Charles, LA issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Apr 25, 1997, 10:08 PM CDT for Calcasieu Parish, Cameron Parish, Louisiana. It was in force for 67 min. 4 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, 10:08 PM CDT (03:08 UTC)
Expired: Apr 25, 1997, 11:15 PM CDT
In force: 67 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 03:08 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
Apr 25, 10:08 PM CDT	Thunderstorm Wind	Vinton, LA
Apr 25, 10:20 PM CDT	Hail 0.75	Holly Beach, LA
Apr 25, 10:30 PM CDT	Thunderstorm Wind	Lake Charles, LA
Apr 25, 11:24 PM CDT	Thunderstorm Wind	Creole, 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 25, 8:00 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Watch	SPC	6 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Lake Charles Mun, LA (KLCH), launched 00:00Z, 3.1 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.

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: 0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: No buoyant parcel
Mixed-layer LCL: 501 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 64 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 366 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 631 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 260310 RRA
SVRLCH
LAC019-023-260415-
 
BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES LA
1008 PM CDT FRI APR 25 1997
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN LAKE CHARLES HAS ISSUED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 1115 PM CDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONS...
 
IN SOUTHWEST LOUISIANA
 
   ...CALCASIEU PARISH...CAMERON PARISH
 
AND ADJACENT COASTAL WATERS
 
AT 1005 PM...NEXRAD DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A LINE OF SEVERE
THUNDERSTORMS EXTENDING FROM VINTON TO HOLLY BEACH. MOVEMENT WAS EAST AT
20 MPH. WINDS IN EXCESS OF 55 MPH WILL ACCOMPANY THIS STORM. THE LAKE
CHARLES AND CAMERON AREAS WILL BE IN THE PATH OF THIS STORM.
 
WHEN THUNDERSTORMS ARE OCCURRING...PEOPLE SHOULD MOVE INSIDE A
STRONG BUILDING.  DO NOT STAND BY WINDOWS.  DON'T USE TELEPHONES
OR ELECTRICAL APPLIANCES UNLESS IN AN EMERGENCY UNTIL THE STORM
HAS PASSED.  MOTORISTS SHOULD NOT DRIVE INTO LOW WATER CROSSINGS.
 6

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, 7:51 PM CDT, 2 hours 17 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Apr 25, 7:51 PM CDT, 2 hours 17 minutes before

SOUTHEAST TEXAS..SOUTHWEST AND CENTRAL LOUISIANA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES LA
745 PM CDT FRI APR 25 1997

SPC JUST ISSUED SVR TSTM WATCH FOR LCH CWA...AND NEW WILL BE ISSUIN6G
FFA FOR LCH CWA THIS EVENING. MAIN THREAT SEEMS TO BE HEAVY RAIN
RIGHT NOW...WITH A FEW PULSE SVR TSTMS DROPPING A LOT OF LIGHTNING
AND PEA TO MARBLE SIZED HAIL. 15

In the hours before

Local storm report, Apr 25, 5:22 PM CDT, 4 hours 46 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES LA
520 PM CDT FRI APR 25 1997

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

515 ^PM     SULPHUR                   LA   0.75 INCH HAIL
04/25/97   CALCASIEU                      REPORTED BY SKYWARN SPOTTER

Local storm report, Apr 25, 5:40 PM CDT, 4 hours 28 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES LA
540 PM CDT FRI APR 25 1997

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

535 PM     4 E DEQUINCY              LA   1.75 INCH HAIL
04/25/97   BEAUREGARD                     REPORTED BY CHANNEL 7 OBSERVER

Local storm report, Apr 25, 5:43 PM CDT, 4 hours 25 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES LA
540 PM CDT FRI APR 25 1997

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

535 PM     4 E DEQUINCY              LA   1.75 INCH HAIL
04/25/97   BEAUREGARD                     REPORTED BY CHANNEL 7 OBSERVER

Local storm report, Apr 25, 8:54 PM CDT, 1 hour 14 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES LA
854 PM CDT FRI APR 25 1997

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

850 PM     MORSE                     LA   WIND DAMAGE
04/25/97   ACADIA                         REPORTED BY SHERIFF

Local storm report, Apr 25, 9:35 PM CDT, 33 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES LA
935 PM CDT FRI APR 25 1997

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

930 PM     WEST ORANGE               TX   64 MPH WIND
04/25/97   ORANGE                         CONFIRMED BY POLICE DEPT

Local storm report, Apr 25, 9:36 PM CDT, 32 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES LA
935 PM CDT FRI APR 25 1997

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

930 PM     WEST ORANGE               TX   64 MPH WIND
04/25/97   ORANGE                         CONFIRMED BY POLICE DEPT

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Apr 25, 7:10 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	LCH	Jefferson Davis	50 min
Apr 25, 8:42 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	LCH	Acadia	63 min
Apr 25, 10:45 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	LCH	Jefferson Davis	60 min
Apr 25, 11:19 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	LCH	Cameron	56 min
Apr 26, 12:13 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	LCH	Vermilion	62 min
Apr 26, 12:30 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	LCH	Lafayette	60 min
Apr 26, 1:00 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	LCH	Saint Landry	60 min
Apr 26, 6:16 AM CDT	Tornado Warning	LCH	Vermilion	59 min
Apr 26, 7:53 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	LCH	Vermilion	37 min
Apr 26, 8:30 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	LCH	Iberia	30 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.