Alert archive / Louisiana / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1997

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 61, NWS Lake Charles, LA

May 28, 1997Iberia Parish, Saint Martin Parish, Louisiana

NWS Lake Charles, LA issued this severe thunderstorm warning at May 28, 1997, 3:00 PM CDT for Iberia Parish, Saint Martin Parish, Louisiana. It was in force for 45 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 28, 1997, 3:00 PM CDT (20:00 UTC)
Expired
May 28, 1997, 3:45 PM CDT
In force
45 min
Issued by
NWS Lake Charles, LA
Area
Whole counties

Counties Iberia Parish, LA, Saint Martin Parish, LA

The radar

The Lake Charles radar (KLCH), 148 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 20:02 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.

The watch it was issued in

The SPC watch in force over the same counties when this warning went out.

IssuedProductOfficeLasted
May 28, 1:30 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WatchSPC6 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Lake Charles Mun, LA (KLCH), launched 12:00Z, 8.0 hours before the alert went out and 146 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 1997-05-28Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 418 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 1997-05-28The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 699 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
418 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-230 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1363 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
66 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
699 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
723 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
3.9

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

909 
WUUS1 KLCH 282002 RRA
SVRLCH
LAC045-099-282045-
 
BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES LA
300 PM CDT WED MAY 28 1997
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN LAKE CHARLES HAS ISSUED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  345 PM CDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONS...
 
IN SOUTH CENTRAL LOUISIANA
 
   ...EASTERN IBERIA PARISH AND LOWER ST. MARTIN PARISH...
 
 
AT 300 PM...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM 6 MILES NORTHEAST OF CHARENTON MOVING NORTH
AT 10 MILES AN HOUR. THIS STORM WILL MOVE OVER THE ATTAKANAS ISLAND
AREA AND BIG BAYOU PIGEON.
 
 
THIS IS A DANGEROUS STORM.  IF YOU ARE IN ITS PATH YOU SHOULD
PREPARE FOR DAMAGING WIND IN EXCESS OF 55 MPH...LARGE HAIL...AND
DEADLY LIGHTNING.  PEOPLE OUTSIDE SHOULD MOVE TO A SHELTER...
PREFERABLY INSIDE A STRONG BUILDING BUT STAY AWAY FROM WINDOWS.

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 28, 9:18 AM CDT, 5 hours 42 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, May 28, 9:18 AM CDT, 5 hours 42 minutes before
SOUTHEAST TEXAS..SOUTHWEST AND CENTRAL LOUISIANA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES LA
918 AM CDT WED MAY 28 1997

SFC ANALYSIS SHOWS MESO-HI OVR CNTRL LA FM LAST NIGHTS TSRA. WEAK CF
ALSO SHOWS UP ALNG A SAT/LFK/SHV LINE. PREV FCST LUKS REASONABLE.
CONCERN TDY REMAINS THREAT OF TSRA ALNG SFC BNDRIES LAID DOWN BY
OVERNIGHT CONVECTION. ANY TS THAT FORM WL MOV LTL...WITH PW OF 1.4
LOCALLY HVY RAINS PSBL. CAPES PROJECTED TO BE 3100+ USING HI TEMP
FCST. CONVECTIVE TEMP APPEARS TO BE 90 DEGREES USING 12Z LCH SOUNDING.
WK VEERING WINDS EXPECTED AT SFC...BECOMING SW BY LATE AFTERNOON/
EVENING DUE TO SEABREEZE.

  11/14

In the hours before

Local storm report, May 28, 10:12 AM CDT, 4 hours 48 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES LA
1012 AM CDT WED MAY 28 1997

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

1230 AM    JASPER                    TX   WIND DAMAGE
05/28/97   JASPER                         POWER LINE DOWNED ON VERNON
                                          STREET DUE TO A FALLEN TREE
                                          LIMB CAUSED BY STRONG WINDS
                                          ASSOCIATED WITH A
                                          THUNDERSTORM.
Local storm report, May 28, 10:22 AM CDT, 4 hours 38 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES LA
1012 AM CDT WED MAY 28 1997

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

1230 AM    JASPER                    TX   WIND DAMAGE
05/28/97   JASPER                         POWER LINE DOWNED ON VERNON
                                          STREET DUE TO A FALLEN TREE
                                          LlIMB CAUSED BY STRONG WINDS
                                          ASSOCIATED WITH A
                                          THUNDERSTORM.
Local storm report, May 28, 1:41 PM CDT, 1 hour 19 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES LA
141 PM CDT WED MAY 28 1997

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

140 PM     CREOLE                    LA   TORNADO
05/28/97   CAMERON                        BRIEF TORNADO TOUCHDOWN NEAR
                                          CREOLE.
Local storm report, May 28, 1:43 PM CDT, 1 hour 17 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES LA
141 PM CDT WED MAY 28 1997

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

140 PM     CREOLE                    LA   TORNADO
05/28/97   CAMERON                        BRIEF TORNADO TOUCHDOWN NEAR
                                          CREOLE.

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 28, 12:03 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLCHVernon57 min
May 28, 1:21 PM CDTTornado WarningLCHCameron69 min
May 28, 4:31 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLCHCameron59 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; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.