Alert archive / Louisiana / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1997

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 51, NWS Lake Charles, LA

April 26, 1997Saint Martin Parish, Louisiana

NWS Lake Charles, LA issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Apr 26, 1997, 10:26 PM CDT for Saint Martin Parish, Louisiana. It was in force for 49 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, 10:26 PM CDT (03:26 UTC)
Expired
Apr 26, 1997, 11:15 PM CDT
In force
49 min
Issued by
NWS Lake Charles, LA
Area
Whole counties

County Saint Martin Parish, LA

The nearest sounding before it

Lake Charles Mun, LA (KLCH), launched 00:00Z, 3.4 hours before the alert went out and 153 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-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Lake Charles Mun, LA at 00:00Z on 1997-04-27Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 73 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°0°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.
HodographHodograph, Lake Charles Mun, LA at 00:00Z on 1997-04-27The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 139 square meters per square second.19395878Sfc1 km3 km6 km9 kmRMLM
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
73 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-281 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
600 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
58 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
139 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
180 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.2

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

003 
WUUS1 KLCH 270327 RRA
SVRLCH
LAC099-270415-
 
BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES LA
1026 PM CDT SAT APR 26 1997
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN LAKE CHARLES HAS ISSUED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 1115 PM CDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...
 
IN SOUTH CENTRAL LOUISIANA
 
   UPPER ST. MARTIN PARISH
 
AT 1024 PM...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RADAR INDICATED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM JUST SOUTH OF CATAHOULA. MOVEMENT
WAS TO THE NORTH AT 25 MPH. THE TOWNS OF CATAHOULA AND
BUTTE LA ROSE ARE IN THE PATH OF THIS STORM. THIS STORM
HAS A HISTORY OF PRODUCING GOLF BALL SIZE HAIL.
 
 
 
WHEN THUNDERSTORMS ARE OCCURRING...PEOPLE SHOULD MOVE INSIDE A
STRONG BUILDING.  DO NOT STAND BY WINDOWS.  DONT USE TELEPHONES
OR ELECTRICAL APPLIANCES UNLESS IN AN EMERGENCY UNTIL THE STORM
HAS PASSED.  MOTORISTS SHOULD NOT DRIVE INTO LOW WATER CROSSINGS.

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, 8:51 PM CDT, 1 hour 35 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Apr 26, 8:51 PM CDT, 1 hour 35 minutes before
SOUTHEAST TEXAS..SOUTHWEST AND CENTRAL LOUISIANA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES LA
840 PM CDT SAT APR 26 1997

SHRA AND TSRA NOW DEVELOPING IN THE NORTHERN GULF OF MEXICO
IN THE VCNTY OF A SFC BOUNDARY. LUKS LIKE REAL WARM FRONT
IS MUCH FARTHER TO THE SOUTH. THIS ACTIVITY IS BEING ENHANCED
BY THE LF QUAD OF THE SUB TROPICAL JET. WOULD EXPECT THIS
DEVELOPMENT CONTINUE TONIGHT AS NEXT S/W EJECTS OUT FROM THE
UPPER LOW OVER 0MEXICO. CURRENT FCSTS LUK GUD. 10

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Apr 26, 10:07 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLCHVermilion53 min
Apr 26, 11:36 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLCHLafayette54 min
Apr 27, 5:07 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLCHAcadia38 min
Apr 27, 7:07 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLCHIberia23 min
Apr 27, 9:33 AM CDTFlash Flood WarningLCHIberia117 min
Apr 27, 11:50 AM CDTFlash Flood WarningLCHIberia6 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; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive.