Alert archive / Louisiana / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1997
Severe Thunderstorm Warning 71, NWS Lake Charles, LA
NWS Lake Charles, LA issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Jul 5, 1997, 7:52 PM CDT for Calcasieu Parish, Louisiana. It was in force for 53 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
- Jul 5, 1997, 7:52 PM CDT (00:52 UTC)
- Expired
- Jul 5, 1997, 8:45 PM CDT
- In force
- 53 min
- Issued by
- NWS Lake Charles, LA
- Area
- Whole counties
County Calcasieu Parish, LA
The radar
The Lake Charles radar (KLCH), 18 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 00:53 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jul 5, 8:40 PM CDT | Thunderstorm Wind | Sulphur, 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 nearest sounding before it
Lake Charles Mun, LA (KLCH), launched 00:00Z, 0.9 hours before the alert went out and 19 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
- 2356 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -1 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 1568 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 27 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- -26 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 25 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- -0.0
- Supercell composite
- -0.3
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
000 TTAA00 KLCH 060051 RRA SVRLCH LAC019-060145- BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES LA 752 PM CDT SAT JUL 5 1997 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN LAKE CHARLES HAS ISSUED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 845 PM CDT FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION... IN SOUTHWEST LOUISIANA ...CALCASIEU PARISH AT 747 PM...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A LINE OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS MOVING TO THE SOUTH AT 15 MPH ACROSS CALCASIEU PARISH. THESE STORMS WILL AFFECT THE CITIES OF LAKE CHARLES...SULPHUR...AND IOWA. THE MAIN THREAT FROM THESE STORMS WILL BE WIND GUSTS IN EXCESS OF 55 MPH...LARGE HAIL AND DEADLY LIGHTNING. WHEN THUNDERSTORMS ARE OCCURRING...PEOPLE SHOULD MOVE INSIDE A STRONG BUILDING. DO NOT STAND BY WINDOWS. DON'T 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 Jul 5, 2:23 PM CDT, 5 hours 29 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Jul 5, 2:23 PM CDT, 5 hours 29 minutes before
SOUTHEAST TEXAS..SOUTHWEST AND CENTRAL LOUISIANA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES LA 145 PM CDT SAT JUL 5 1997 AREA WL GET SOME WEAK IMPULSES MOVING ACROSS TONIGHT AND SUN. THEN...WEAK SFC TROF HAS TO BE CONSIDERED AS POSSIBLE CANIDATE FOR A BOUNDARY IN WHICH LOW LEVEL MOISTURE WILL PROBABLY BEGIN TO POOL ON SUN. SEABREEZE WILL ALSO BE A PLAYER ON SUN. THUS...PICTURE VERY COMPLICATED AND MOS GUIDANCE COMPOUNDS THAT WITH FAIRLY DESCENT POPS THRU PERIOD AND COOLER THAN EXPECTED TEMPERATURES. TOOK THIS COMPLICATED PUZZLE APART AND DECIDED BEST TO LOWER POPS IN GENERAL BUT VALIDATE RAINFALL POTENTIAL IF VORT MAX COMES THROUGH TONIGHT AND SEABREEZE/SFC WARMFRONT BECOME PLAYERS ON SUN AS MORE RIPPLES OF ENERGY MOVE ACROSS AREA. APPEARS MORE SEASONAL CONDITIONS ON TAP FOR THE START OF NEXT WEEK. 06 BPT 74/94/75/91 2334 LCH 74/94/74/92 2334 LFT 76/93/73/90 3444 AEX 70/91/72/87 2544 TX ZONES... LA ZONES...
In the hours before
Local storm report, Jul 5, 5:00 PM CDT, 2 hours 52 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES LA
500 PM CDT SAT JUL 5 1997
TIME(CDT) .....CITY LOCATION.....STATE ...EVENT/REMARKS...
....COUNTY LOCATION....
420 PM NEW IBERIA LA WIND DAMAGE
07/05/97 IBERIA TELPHONE POLE DOWN ON ADMIRAL
DOYLE ST. AND TREES DOWN ON
JONES ST. AND ON BREAUX ALLEY.
REPORTED BY PUBLIC TO KATC TV 3
METEOROLOGIST IN LAFAYETTE, LA.Local storm report, Jul 5, 5:02 PM CDT, 2 hours 50 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES LA
500 PM CDT SAT JUL 5 1997
TIME(CDT) .....CITY LOCATION.....STATE ...EVENT/REMARKS...
....COUNTY LOCATION....
420 PM NEW IBERIA LA WIND DAMAGE
07/05/97 IBERIA TELPHONE POLE DOWN ON ADMIRAL
DOYLE ST. AND TREES DOWN ON
JONES ST. AND ON BREAUX ALLEY.
REPORTED BY PUBLIC TO KATC TV 3
METEOROLOGIST IN LAFAYETTE, LA.The office that day
Everything else NWS Lake Charles, LA issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jul 5, 7:10 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | LCH | Jefferson Davis | 65 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; verification from NCEI's Storm Data; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.