Alert archive / Louisiana / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1997
Severe Thunderstorm Warning 45, NWS Lake Charles, LA
NWS Lake Charles, LA issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Apr 26, 1997, 12:13 AM CDT for Vermilion Parish, Louisiana. It was in force for 62 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 26, 1997, 12:13 AM CDT (05:13 UTC)
- Expired
- Apr 26, 1997, 1:15 AM CDT
- In force
- 62 min
- Issued by
- NWS Lake Charles, LA
- Area
- Whole counties
County Vermilion Parish, LA
The radar
The Lake Charles radar (KLCH), 95 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 05:13 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 26, 1:00 AM CDT | Thunderstorm Wind | Abbeville, 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, 5.2 hours before the alert went out and 93 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
- 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
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
426 WUUS1 KLCH 260515 RRA SVRLCH LAC113-260615- BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES LA 1213 AM CDT SAT APR 26 1997 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN LAKE CHARLES HAS ISSUED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 115 AM CDT FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION... IN SOUTHWEST LOUISIANA ...VERMILION PARISH AND ADJACENT COASTAL WATERS AT 1210 AM...NEXRAD DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A LINE OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS MOVING EAST ACROSS THE PARISH AT 25 MPH. LARGE HAIL AND WINDS IN EXCESS OF 60 MPH CAN BE EXPECTED FROM KAPLAN TO ABBEVILLE. 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, 7:51 PM CDT, 4 hours 22 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Apr 25, 7:51 PM CDT, 4 hours 22 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, 11:04 PM CDT, 1 hour 9 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 REPORTLocal storm report, Apr 25, 11:06 PM CDT, 1 hour 7 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 REPORTLocal storm report, Apr 25, 11:25 PM CDT, 48 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES LA
1125 PM CDT FRI APR 25 1997
TIME(CDT) .....CITY LOCATION.....STATE ...EVENT/REMARKS...
....COUNTY LOCATION....
1124 PM CREOLE LA WIND DAMAGE
04/25/97 CAMERON SHERIFF REPORTS SEVERAL
TREES DOWN. ALSO REPORT
OF 0.75 INCH HAIL.Local storm report, Apr 25, 11:26 PM CDT, 47 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES LA
1125 PM CDT FRI APR 25 1997
TIME(CDT) .....CITY LOCATION.....STATE ...EVENT/REMARKS...
....COUNTY LOCATION....
1124 PM CREOLE LA WIND DAMAGE
04/25/97 CAMERON SHERIFF REPORTS SEVERAL
TREES DOWN. ALSO REPORT
OF 0.75 INCH HAIL.Local storm report, Apr 25, 11:30 PM CDT, 43 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES LA
1130 PM CDT FRI APR 25 1997
TIME(CDT) .....CITY LOCATION.....STATE ...EVENT/REMARKS...
....COUNTY LOCATION....
1100 PM LAKE ARTHUR LA 0.75 INCH HAIL
04/25/97 JEFF DAVIS REPORT BY GROCERY STORELocal storm report, Apr 25, 11:33 PM CDT, 40 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES LA
1130 PM CDT FRI APR 25 1997
TIME(CDT) .....CITY LOCATION.....STATE ...EVENT/REMARKS...
....COUNTY LOCATION....
110&0 PM LAKE ARTHUR LA 0.75 INCH HAIL
04/25/97 JEFF DAVIS REPORT BY GROCERY STOREThe 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 25, 11:19 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | LCH | Cameron | 56 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, 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.