Alert archive / Louisiana / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1997
Severe Thunderstorm Warning 56, NWS Lake Charles, LA
NWS Lake Charles, LA issued this severe thunderstorm warning at May 15, 1997, 4:36 PM CDT for Beauregard Parish, Louisiana. It was in force for 69 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
- May 15, 1997, 4:36 PM CDT (21:36 UTC)
- Expired
- May 15, 1997, 5:45 PM CDT
- In force
- 69 min
- Issued by
- NWS Lake Charles, LA
- Area
- Whole counties
County Beauregard Parish, LA
What was reported inside it
| Time | Report | Where | Remark |
|---|---|---|---|
| May 15, 5:00 PM CDT | Thunderstorm Wind | Singer, LA | Power poles were blown down by severe thunderstorm winds. |
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 nearest sounding before it
Lake Charles Mun, LA (KLCH), launched 12:00Z, 9.6 hours before the alert went out and 60 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
- 974 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -53 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 683 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 20 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- -8 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 3 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 0.2
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
663 WUUS1 KLCH 152137 RRA SVRLCH LAC011-152245- BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES LA 436 PM CDT THU MAY 15 1997 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN LAKE CHARLES HAS ISSUED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 545 PM CDT FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION... IN SOUTHWEST LOUISIANA ...BEAUREGARD PARISH AT 435 PM...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM 10 MILES SOUTHWEST OF DE RIDDER MOVING SOUTHEAST AT 10 MILES AN HOUR. THE STORM WILL PASS BETWEEN SINGER AND DE RIDDER OVER HIGHWAY 27 BY 455 PM. 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 May 15, 1:35 PM CDT, 3 hours 1 minute earlier.
Area forecast discussion, May 15, 1:35 PM CDT, 3 hours 1 minute before
SOUTHEAST TEXAS..SOUTHWEST AND CENTRAL LOUISIANA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES LA 135 PM CDT THU MAY 15 1997 WK CF HAS BECOME STATIONARY JUST SOUTH OF AEX TO NORTH OF LFK. TEMPERATURES ARE A COUPLE OF DEGREES COOLER WITH LOWER DW PTS BEHIND CF. ETA MORE AGRESSIVE MOVING FRNT SOUTHWARD THAN NGM. THIS SHOWS UP IN FORECASTED LIS WHERE ETA PUSHES INSTABILITY OFFSHORE TOMORROW. WILL MOVE FRNT TO COAST TOMORROW WHERE IT WILL BECOME DIFFUSE AND WINDS SHOULD RETURN TO THE SE DURING THE AFTERNOON. NEXT FEATURE OF INTEREST IS VORT MAX MOVING UP THE SE TX COAST THIS AFTERNOON. IT IS CURRENTLY ENHANCING LIFT WEST OF FA AND IS EXPECTED TO ENHANCE LIFT OVER WESTERN PORTION OF FA THIS EVENING. MODELS PICK UP ON IT AND MOVE IT INTO SW LA LATE TOWARDS MIDNIGHT AND WEAKEN FEATURE. BEST 850 THTE IS PROGGED TO BE AROUND 330K IN SE TX TONIGHT. BECAUSE OF BETTER MOISTURE AND LIFT WILL HAVE HIGHEST POPS OVR THIS AREA TONIGHT. WILL TAPER POPS WITH TIME BUT KEEP SLIGHT CHC IN FORECAST FOR AFT/EVE DEVELOPMENT. HAVE ADJUSTED TEMPS UPWARD SLIGHTLY (XCEPT AEX WHERE DRIER AIR IS XPECTED TONIGHT) FROM MOS. 1 BPT 68/84/66/85 5322 LCH 67/84/66/85 4322 LFT 67/85/65/85 3322 AEX 61/84/65/86 3322
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.