Alert archive / Louisiana / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1997

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 43, NWS Lake Charles, LA

April 25, 1997Cameron Parish, Louisiana

NWS Lake Charles, LA issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Apr 25, 1997, 11:19 PM CDT for Cameron Parish, Louisiana. It was in force for 56 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 25, 1997, 11:19 PM CDT (04:19 UTC)
Expired: Apr 26, 1997, 12:15 AM CDT
In force: 56 min
Issued by: NWS Lake Charles, LA
Area: Whole counties

County Cameron Parish, LA

The radar

The Lake Charles radar (KLCH), 31 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 04:23 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, 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, 4.3 hours before the alert went out and 30 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.

184 
WUUS1 KLCH 260428 RRA
SVRLCH
LAC023-260515-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES LA
1119 PM CDT FRI APR 25 1997

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN LAKE CHARLES HAS ISSUED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 1215 AM CDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...

IN SOUTHWEST LOUISIANA

   ...EASTERN CAMERON PARISH

AND ADJACENT COASTAL WATERS


AT 1118 PM...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A LINE OF
SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS BETWEEN CAMERON AND GRAND CHENIER...MOVING EAST AT
25 MPH. THIS STORM HAS A HISTORY OF PRODUCING DIME SIZE HAIL AND WIND
SPEEDS IN EXCESS OF 55 MPH. PERSONS IN THE COMMUNITY OF GRAND CHENIER
ARE IN THE PATH OF THIS STORM.

IF YOU ARE CAUGHT OUTSIDE...SEEK SHELTER FROM THE WEATHER IN A
STRONG BUILDING.  DAMAGING WIND...LARGE HAIL...VERY HEAVY RAIN...
AND DEADLY LIGHTNING ARE ALL POSSIBLE IN SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS.
STAY INSIDE AWAY FROM WINDOWS UNTIL THE STORM HAS PASSED.

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, 3 hours 28 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Apr 25, 7:51 PM CDT, 3 hours 28 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, 9:35 PM CDT, 1 hour 44 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, 1 hour 43 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, 10:23 PM CDT, 56 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES LA
1023 PM CDT FRI APR 25 1997

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

1008 PM    VINTON                    LA   WIND DAMAGE
04/25/97   CALCASIEU                      FIRE DEPARTMENT REPORTED
                                          TREES DOWN

Local storm report, Apr 25, 10:24 PM CDT, 55 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES LA
1023 PM CDT FRI APR 25 1997

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

1008 PM    VINTON                    LA   WIND DAMAGE
04/25/97   CALCASIEU                      FIRE DEPARTMENT REPORTED
                                          TREES DOWN

Local storm report, Apr 25, 11:04 PM CDT, 15 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES LA
1104 PM CDT FRI APR 25 1997

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

1030 PM    LAKE CHARLES              LA   WIND DAMAGE
04/25/97   CALCASIEU                      911 CENTER REPORTS MANY
                                          TREES DOWN ACROSS THE CITY

1020 PM    HOLLY BEACH               LA   0.75 INCH HAIL
04/25/97   CAMERON                        WEATHER OBSERVER REPORT

Local storm report, Apr 25, 11:06 PM CDT, 13 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES LA
1104 PM CDT FRI APR 25 1997

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

1030 PM    LAKE CHARLES              LA   WIND DAMAGE
04/25/97   CALCASIEU                      911 CENTER REPORTS MANY
                                          TREES DOWN ACROSS THE CITY

1020 PM    HOLLY BEACH               LA   0.75 INCH HAIL
04/l25/97   CAMERON                        WEATHER OBSERVER REPORT

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, 10:08 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	LCH	Calcasieu, Cameron	67 min
Apr 25, 10:45 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	LCH	Jefferson Davis	60 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.