Alert archive / Louisiana / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1997

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 49, NWS Lake Charles, LA

April 26, 1997Iberia Parish, Louisiana

NWS Lake Charles, LA issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Apr 26, 1997, 8:30 AM CDT for Iberia Parish, Louisiana. It was in force for 30 min. No storm report in the archive falls inside the area while it was in force.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued: Apr 26, 1997, 8:30 AM CDT (13:30 UTC)
Expired: Apr 26, 1997, 9:00 AM CDT
In force: 30 min
Issued by: NWS Lake Charles, LA
Area: Whole counties

County Iberia Parish, LA

The radar

The Lake Charles radar (KLCH), 149 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 13:34 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.

The nearest sounding before it

Lake Charles Mun, LA (KLCH), launched 12:00Z, 1.5 hours before the alert went out and 147 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: 2 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -616 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 784 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 47 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 226 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 342 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.0
Supercell composite: 3.8

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

790 
WUUS1 KLCH 261334 RRA
SVRLCH
LAC045-261400-
 
BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES LA
830 AM CDT SAT APR 26 1997
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN LAKE CHARLES HAS ISSUED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  900 AM CDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...
 
IN SOUTH CENTRAL LOUISIANA
 
   ...IBERIA PARISH
 
 
AT 825 AM...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A SEVERE
THUNDERSTORM 8 MILES WEST OF NEW IBERIA. MOVEMENT WAS NORTHEAST AT 30
MPH. THE NEW IBERIA AND LOREAUVILLE AREAS ARE IN THE PATH OF THIS
STORM. WINDS GUSTS IN EXCESS OF 60 MPH AND 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 26, 2:54 AM CDT, 5 hours 36 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Apr 26, 2:54 AM CDT, 5 hours 36 minutes before

SOUTHEAST TEXAS..SOUTHWEST AND CENTRAL LOUISIANA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES LA
253 AM CDT SAT APR 26 1997

A VERY ACTIVE NIGHT WITH NUMEROUS REPORTS OF SVR WX AND HVY RNFL.
OFFICIALLY...LCH RECIEVED 5.02 AND BPT 3.35. THE LCH 88D STP
SUPPORTS WDSPRD 2 TO 3 INCH AMOUNTS ACROSS THE ENITRE CWA WITH UP
TO 8 INCHES OF RAIN NEAR CAMERON...SOME HAIL CONTAMINATION LIKLEY.
LCH 88D CONTINUES TO SHOW BACKBUILDING OF SHRA/TSRA ALONG THE LA
CSLT WATERS WITH ACTIVITY PUSHING NRD.  STRONG LOW-LVL JET ENHANCING
CNVRG AND APPCG S/W MAY ALLOW SCT ACTIVITY TO CONT THRU THE OVRNITE.

NEXT S/W TO MOVE INTO FA SHORTLY AFTER DAYBREAK WITH ELEMENTS COMING
TOGETHER FOR ANOTHER ROUND OF ELEVATED CNVTN. STRONG LOW-LVL JET
(45KTS)...MASSSIVE UPPR DVRG...AND PWS IN EXCESS OF 1.5 INCHES WL
CONT HVY RNFL THREAT. ETA MDL TIME SXNS SHOW DEEP UPWARD VVEL AS
BOTH THE MID/UPPR DYNAMIC FORCING COINCIDE WITH A STRONG ISENTROPIC
REGIME IN THE LOW-LVLS. PER THE 94Q WL CONT WITH FLASH FLOOD WATCH
FOR ENTIRE CWA SAT AND SAT NITE. WL KP SRN ZNS NORTH OF WARM FRONT
TDY EVEN THO MDLS SUGG OTHRW...AS SFC LOW RMNS OVR THE SW GULF. THIS
IN TURN WL KP TEMPS BELOW GUID VALUES.

THE PTNL FOR HVY RNFL WL CONT INTO SUN AS THE UPPR THE LOW PROGRESSES
SLOWLY ERD. UPPR PROGS INIDCATE DVGRT FLOW WITH APPCHG COLD FRONT
AND DIFFLUENT THKNS PATTERN. LA ZNS MAY WARM SECTOR ON SUN,..CLOSE
CALL ATTM.

TIDES AST SABINE PASS AND CAMERON RUNNING 3 FT ABV NORMAL. NEXT HIGH
TIDE AT 7 AM WL PUSH TIDES TO NR 4 FT. THIS SHUD RESULT IN MINOR
TIDAL FLOODING ALONG THE COAST. SUGG DRPG WARNING AND REPLACE WITH A
WATCH.

5

BPT  67/63/67 +67
LCH  67/63/70 +67 LFT 70/64/74 +66  AEX  64/60/70 +66

In the hours before

Local storm report, Apr 26, 4:30 AM CDT, 4 hours before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES LA
430 AM CDT SAT APR 26 1997

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

330 AM     ALEXANDRIA                LA   WIND DAMAGE
04/26/97   RAPIDES                        911 CENTER REPORTED A TREE
                                          FELL THROUGH A ROOF OF A
                                          RESIDENTIAL HOME

Local storm report, Apr 26, 4:34 AM CDT, 3 hours 56 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES LA
430 AM CDT SAT APR 26 1997

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

330 `AM     ALEXANDRIA                LA   WIND DAMAGE
04/26/97   RAPIDES                        911 CENTER REPORTED A TREE
                                          FELL THROUGH A ROOF OF A
                                          RESIDENTIAL HOME

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 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

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; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.