Alert archive / Louisiana / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1997

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 73, NWS Lake Charles, LA

July 13, 1997Vermilion Parish, Louisiana

NWS Lake Charles, LA issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Jul 13, 1997, 6:17 PM CDT for 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
Jul 13, 1997, 6:17 PM CDT (23:17 UTC)
Expired
Jul 13, 1997, 7:15 PM CDT
In force
58 min
Issued by
NWS Lake Charles, LA
Area
Whole counties

County Vermilion Parish, LA

The radar

The Lake Charles radar (KLCH), 95 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 23:20 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 nearest sounding before it

Lake Charles Mun, LA (KLCH), launched 12:00Z, 11.3 hours before the alert went out and 93 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 1997-07-13Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 2622 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 1997-07-13The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity -21 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
2622 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-14 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
766 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
21 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
-21 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
1 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.

000 
TTAA00 KLCH 132318 RRA
SVRLCH
LAC113-140015-
 
BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES LA
617 PM CDT SUN JUL 13 1997
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN LAKE CHARLES HAS ISSUED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  715 PM CDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...
 
IN SOUTHWEST LOUISIANA
 
   ...VERMILION PARISH
 
AND ADJACENT COASTAL WATERS
 
 
AT 615 PM...WEATHER SERVICE RADAR INDICATED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM 10
MILES EAST OF ABBEVILLE. THIS STORM WAS MOVING SOUTHWEST AT 10 MPH.
ERATH...ABBEVILLLE...AND DELCAMBRE ARE IN THE PATH OF THIS STORM.
 
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 13, 1:39 PM CDT, 4 hours 38 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jul 13, 1:39 PM CDT, 4 hours 38 minutes before
SOUTHEAST TEXAS..SOUTHWEST AND CENTRAL LOUISIANA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES LA
138 PM CDT SUN JUL 13 1997

ATM CONTINUES THE DESTABILIZING TREND WITH LOSS OF UPR RDGG DUE TO
APPCHNG UPR LOW FM THE EAST. WK VORT ADV FM THE NE HELPING TO FIRE
OFF TSTMS OVR COASTAL WATERS AND AT THE COAST NEAR THE SEABREEZE.
MADE ONLY MINOR ADJ TO MOS. MAY SEE SOME LGT FOG LATE TNITE WITH
LTL WIND AND CLOSE SPREADS AS SEEN ON ETA X-SECS. WL HEAT UP AGAIN
MON AND TUES AS OFFSHORE FLO TREND CONTINUES.
11

BPT 75/95/74/96 1224
LCH 75/95/74/94 1224  LFT 75/95/74/95 3313  AEX 73/94/73/93 1223

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jul 13, 6:35 PM CDTFlash Flood WarningLCHIberia115 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.