Alert archive / Louisiana / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1997

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 57, NWS Lake Charles, LA

May 24, 1997Lafayette Parish, Vermilion Parish, Louisiana

NWS Lake Charles, LA issued this severe thunderstorm warning at May 24, 1997, 10:02 PM CDT for Lafayette Parish, Vermilion Parish, Louisiana. It was in force for 58 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
May 24, 1997, 10:02 PM CDT (03:02 UTC)
Expired
May 24, 1997, 11:00 PM CDT
In force
58 min
Issued by
NWS Lake Charles, LA
Area
Whole counties

Counties Lafayette Parish, LA, Vermilion Parish, LA

The nearest sounding before it

Lake Charles Mun, LA (KLCH), launched 00:00Z, 3.0 hours before the alert went out and 99 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 1997-05-25Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 1974 joules per kilogram.LCLEL10008507005003002001001 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 1997-05-25The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 95 square meters per square second.193958Sfc1 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
1974 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
548 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
16 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
95 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
110 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.0

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

441 
WUUS1 KLCH 250305 RRA
SVRLCH
LAC052-055-250400-
 
BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES LA
1002 PM CDT SAT MAY 24 1997
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN LAKE CHARLES HAS ISSUED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 1100 PM CDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...
 
IN SOUTHWEST LOUISIANA
 
   LAFAYETTE PARISH...VERMILION PARISH
 
AT 1000 PM...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A SEVERE
THUNDERSTORM 10 MILES WEST OF ABBEVILLE MOVING NORTHEAST AT 20 MPH.
 
THE TOWNS OF KAPLAN...ABBEVILLE...MAURICE...SCOTT 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
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 May 24, 7:44 PM CDT, 2 hours 18 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, May 24, 7:44 PM CDT, 2 hours 18 minutes before
SOUTHEAST TEXAS..SOUTHWEST AND CENTRAL LOUISIANA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES LA
742 PM CDT SAT MAY 24 1997

EDGE OF MCS ADVANCING ON FA FM BPT...W OF LCH TO POE. S/WV ROTATING
OUT OF S TX INTO ALREADY UNSTABLE AIR...00Z LCH LI -3...K INDEX 35
...PW 1.8. 88-D EXHIBITING LEWPS ALG LEADING EDGE. STLT SHOWING
NEW CONVECTION IN CLD FREE SLOT AHEAD OF THE MCS ASSOC WITH HTNG
AND SFC CONVERGENCE. STILL EXPECT RAPID IMPROVEMENT ARND MIDNITE AS
MSTR LOOP HINTING AT VORT CTR IN SE TX ATTM. CURRENT NUMBERS OK WITH
MAINLY EVENING POPS.
11

In the hours before

Local storm report, May 24, 9:49 PM CDT, 13 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES LA
949 PM CDT SAT MAY 24 1997

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

950 PM     13 W CROWLEY              LA   45 MPH RADAR INDICATED GUST/
05/24/97   ACADIA                         SHERIFFS DEPT REPORTED CAR                                         45 MPH/SHERIFFS OFFICE IN
                                          BLOWN OFF ROAD                                          OFF ROAD
Local storm report, May 24, 9:49 PM CDT, 13 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT...CORRECT TRANSMISSION FAILURE
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES LA
949 PM CDT SAT MAY 24 1997

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

950 PM     13 W CROWLEY              LA   45 MPH RADAR INDICATED GUST/
05/24/97   ACADIA                         SHERIFFS DEPT REPORTED CAR
                                          BLOWN OFF ROAD
Local storm report, May 24, 9:56 PM CDT, 6 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES LA
949 PM CDT SAT MAY 24 1997

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

950 PM     13 W CROWLEY              LA   45 MPH RADAR INDICATED GUST/
05/24/97   ACADIA                         SHERIFFS DEPT REPORTED CAR                                         45 MPH/SHERIFFS OFFICE IN
                                 :         BLOWN OFF ROAD                                          OFF ROAD

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 25, 1:03 PM CDTFlash Flood WarningLCHIberia57 min
May 25, 1:52 PM CDTFlash Flood WarningLCHIberia2 hr
May 25, 3:05 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLCHSaint Martin55 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; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive.