Alert archive / Louisiana / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1997
Severe Thunderstorm Warning 52, NWS Lake Charles, LA
NWS Lake Charles, LA issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Apr 26, 1997, 11:36 PM CDT for Lafayette Parish, Louisiana. It was in force for 54 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, 11:36 PM CDT (04:36 UTC)
- Expired
- Apr 27, 1997, 12:30 AM CDT
- In force
- 54 min
- Issued by
- NWS Lake Charles, LA
- Area
- Whole counties
County Lafayette Parish, LA
The radar
The Lake Charles radar (KLCH), 111 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 04:37 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, 11:40 PM CDT | Hail 1 | Scott, 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 26, 11:00 PM CDT | Tornado Watch | SPC | 6 hr |
The nearest sounding before it
Lake Charles Mun, LA (KLCH), launched 00:00Z, 4.6 hours before the alert went out and 110 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
- 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
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
000 TTAA00 KLCH 270436 RRA SVRLCH LAC055-270530- BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES LA 1136 PM CDT SAT APR 26 1997 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN LAKE CHARLES HAS ISSUED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 1230 AM CDT FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION... IN SOUTHWEST LOUISIANA ...LAFAYETTE PARISH AT 1133 PM...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM...3 MILES NORTHWEST OF LAFAYETTE...MOVING NORTH AT 30 MPH. PERSONS IN THE COMMUNITIES OF SCOTT...CARENCRO AND LAFAYETTE ARE IN THE PATH OF 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 DON'T 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, 8:51 PM CDT, 2 hours 45 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Apr 26, 8:51 PM CDT, 2 hours 45 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.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apr 26, 10:07 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | LCH | Vermilion | 53 min |
| Apr 26, 10:26 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | LCH | Saint Martin | 49 min |
| Apr 27, 5:07 AM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | LCH | Acadia | 38 min |
| Apr 27, 7:07 AM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | LCH | Iberia | 23 min |
| Apr 27, 9:33 AM CDT | Flash Flood Warning | LCH | Iberia | 117 min |
| Apr 27, 11:50 AM CDT | Flash Flood Warning | LCH | Iberia | 6 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; verification from NCEI's Storm Data; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.