Alert archive / Louisiana / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1997

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 58, NWS Lake Charles, LA

May 25, 1997Saint Martin Parish, Louisiana

NWS Lake Charles, LA issued this severe thunderstorm warning at May 25, 1997, 3:05 PM CDT for Saint Martin Parish, Louisiana. It was in force for 55 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 25, 1997, 3:05 PM CDT (20:05 UTC)
Expired
May 25, 1997, 4:00 PM CDT
In force
55 min
Issued by
NWS Lake Charles, LA
Area
Whole counties

County Saint Martin Parish, LA

What was reported inside it

TimeReportWhereRemark
May 25, 3:10 PM CDTHail 1.75Breaux Bridge, LAHail as large as golfballs pounded the Breaux Bridge area.

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, 8.1 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 12:00Z on 1997-05-25Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 1685 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 12:00Z on 1997-05-25The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 219 square meters per square second.1939Sfc1 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
1685 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-40 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
578 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
28 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
219 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
258 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
8.4

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

The text of this product is not in the archive. The NWS text archive before 2002 is incomplete.

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 25, 2:47 PM CDT, 18 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, May 25, 2:47 PM CDT, 18 minutes before
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In the hours before

Special weather statement, May 25, 12:32 PM CDT, 2 hours 33 minutes before
LAZ053-251930-

URBAN AND SMALL STREAM ADVISORY
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES LA
1233 PM CDT SUN MAY 25 1997

AT 1230 PM...DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED STRONG THUNDERSTORMS CONTINUING
OVER NORTHERN PORTIONS OF IBERIA PARISH...MOVING NORTH AT 5 MPH.
DOPPLER RADAR ESTIMATES OF UP TO 3 INCHES OF RAINFALL HAVE FALLEN
OVER CENTRAL IBERIA PARISH...BETWEEN NEW IBERIA AND JEANERETTE.  DUE TO
THE SLOW MOVEMENT OF THESE STORMS AND THE VERY HEAVY RAINFALL

RATES...LOCALIZED STREET FLOODING WILL CONTINUE FOR THE NEXT HOUR OR
TWO. MOTORISTS SHOULD USE CAUTION WHILE TRAVELING...REDUCE SPEED
ACCORDINGLY AND DO NOT DRIVE INTO AREAS WHERE WATER COVERS THE ROAD.
Special weather statement, May 25, 12:33 PM CDT, 2 hours 32 minutes before
LAZ053-251930-

URBAN AND SMALL STREAM ADVISORY
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES LA
1233 PM CDT SUN MAY 25 1997

AT 1230 PM...DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED STRONG THUNDERSTORMS CONTINUING
OVER NORTHERN PORTIONS OF IBERIA PARISH...MOVING NORTH AT 5 MPH.
DOPPLER RADAR ESTIMATES OF UP TO 3 INCHES OF RAINFALL HAVE FALLEN
OVER CENTRAL IBERIA PARISH...BETWEEN NEW IBERIA AND JEANERETTE.  DUE TO
THE SLOW MOVEMENT OF THESE STORMS AND THE VERY HEAVY RAINFALL
RATES...LOCALIZED STREET FLOODING WILL CONTINUE FOR THE NEXT HOUR OR
TWO. MOTORISTS SHOULD USE CAUTION WHILE TRAVELING...REDUCE SPEED
ACCORDINGLY AND DO NOT DRIVE INTO AREAS WHERE WATER COVERS THE ROAD.
Special weather statement, May 25, 12:56 PM CDT, 2 hours 9 minutes before
LAZ053-251930-

URBAN AND SMALL STREAM ADVISORY
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES LA
1233 PM CDT SUN MAY 25 1997

AT 1230 PM...DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED STRONG THUNDERSTORMS CONTINUING
OVER NORTHERN PORTIONS OF IBERIA PARISH...MOVING NORTH AT 5 MPH.
DOPPLER RADAR ESTIMATES OF UP TO 3 INCHES OF RAINFALL HAVE FALLEN
OVER CENTRAL IBERIA PARISH...BETWEEN NEW IBERIA AND JEANERETTE.  DUE TO
THE SLOW MOVEMENT OF THESE STORMS AND THE VERY HEAVY RAINFALLH
RATES...LOCALIZED STREET FLOODING WILL CONTINUE FOR THE NEXT HOUR OR
TWO. MOTORISTS SHOULD USE CAUTION WHILE TRAVELING...REDUCE SPEED
ACCORDINGLY AND DO NOT DRIVE INTO AREAS WHERE WATER COVERS THE ROAD.

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 24, 10:02 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLCHLafayette, Vermilion58 min
May 25, 1:03 PM CDTFlash Flood WarningLCHIberia57 min
May 25, 1:52 PM CDTFlash Flood WarningLCHIberia2 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.