Alert archive / Louisiana / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1997

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 75, NWS Lake Charles, LA

July 20, 1997Calcasieu Parish, Louisiana

NWS Lake Charles, LA issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Jul 20, 1997, 6:43 PM CDT for Calcasieu Parish, Louisiana. It was in force for 62 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 20, 1997, 6:43 PM CDT (23:43 UTC)
Expired: Jul 20, 1997, 7:45 PM CDT
In force: 62 min
Issued by: NWS Lake Charles, LA
Area: Whole counties

County Calcasieu Parish, LA

The nearest sounding before it

Lake Charles Mun, LA (KLCH), launched 12:00Z, 11.7 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.

Skew-T log-p

Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.

Hodograph

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: 2691 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -13 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 732 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 10 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: -37 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: -33 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 202343 RRA
SVRLCH
LAC019-210045-
 
BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES LA
643 PM CDT SUN JUL 20 1997
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN LAKE CHARLES HAS ISSUED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  745 PM CDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...
 
IN SOUTHWEST LOUISIANA
 
   ...CALCASIEU PARISH
 
AT 640 PM...RADAR INDICATED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM OVER LAKE CHARLES.
THIS STORM IS PART OF A LINE THAT EXTENDS FROM NORTH OF VINTON EASTWARD
THROUGH HAYES. THESE STORMS WERE MOVING SOUTH AT 7 MPH. CHENAULT AIR
FIELD REPORTED A WIND GUST OF 50 KNOTS. STRONG WINDS...DANGEROUS
LIGHTNING...AND HAIL WILL BE THE MAIN THREATS FROM THIS STORM.
 
IF YOU ARE CAUGHT OUTSIDE...SEEK SHELTER FROM THE WEATHER IN A
STRONG BUILDING.  DAMAGING WIND...LARGE HAIL...VERY HEAVY RAIN...
AND DEADLY LIGHTNING ARE ALL POSSIBLE IN SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS.
STAY INSIDE AWAY FROM WINDOWS UNTIL THE STORM HAS@ PASSED.
 
 
 
&

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 20, 3:18 PM CDT, 3 hours 25 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jul 20, 3:18 PM CDT, 3 hours 25 minutes before

SOUTHEAST TEXAS..SOUTHWEST AND CENTRAL LOUISIANA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES LA
317 PM CDT SUN JUL 20 1997

CONVERGENT BAND OVER CENTRAL LOUISIANA APPEARS TO BE AN OFFSHOOT OF
"DANNY" AND HAS INITIATED CNVTN. OUTFLOW BNDRYS AND SEABREEZE COUPLED
WITH A WEAK SHEAR/MDTLY UNSTABLE ENVIROMENT WL CONTINUE TO SUPPORT
TSRA THRU THE EARLY EVE. FURTHERMORE...LIGHT STEERING WINDS WL CONT
TO SUPPORT LOCALIZED HEAVY RAINS WITH THE PTNL FOR PULSE SVR DUE TO
DRY MID LEVLES. WL CONT TO HANDLE THESE VERY LOCALIZED EFFECTS IN
SHORT-TERM FORECAST.

STAGNANT PATTERN WL SLOWLY UNRAVEL WITH STRONG S/W TROF BUIDLING INTO
THE MID MSP VLY LATE IN THE FORECAST PERIOD. FURTHER AMPLIFICATION
IS HINTED BY AVN FOR LATER PERIODS. THIS WL RESULT IN THE NORTHERN
BRANCH TAPPING TROPICAL MSTR FROM THE REMNANTS OF "DANNY" WITH THE
PTNL FOR HEAVY RAINS UP THE EAST COAST. PTNL WL ALSO EXIST FOR HEAVY
RAINS BY MID WEEKS WITH TROF AXIS OVR THE LWR MSP VLY. AS FAR AS
CLIMO GOES...VERY UNLIKELY FOR FRONT TO MAKE IT AS FAR SOUTH AS THE
GULF COAST AS INDICATED BY MRF. IN THE MEANTIME...WEAK WX FTRS TO
IMPACT RGN AND WL GO WITH A PERSISTENCE FORECAST. MAY ONCE AGAIN
SEE COVERGENT BNDRY SET UP ACROSS AREA WITH A NRLY FLOW ON THE
EASTERN PERIPHERY CONVERGING WITH WEAKER WIND FIELD. THFR...WL GO
WITH LOW CHC POPS AGN ON SUN AFT. WL ALSO CONT TO GO WITH PARTLY
CLOUDY SKIES...FAIR NIGHTS. AS FOR WINDS...WL GO WITH LIGHT TNITE...
AND WEST AT 5 MPH ON SUN.

5

BPT 76/95/76 WDLY SCT EARLY EVE 121
LCH 74/95/75 SCT EARLY EVE      131
LFT 74/95/74 SCT EARLY EVE      131
AEX 73/97/74 SCT EARLY EVE      031

In the hours before

Local storm report, Jul 20, 3:50 PM CDT, 2 hours 53 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES LA
350 PM CDT SUN JUL 20 1997

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

230 PM     5 N LAFAYETTE             LA   FUNNEL CLOUD
07/20/97   LAFAYETTE                      KLFY METEOROLOGIST REPORTED
                                          FUNNEL CLOUD SIGHTED BY
                                          PUBLIC NEAR CARENCRO.

Local storm report, Jul 20, 3:52 PM CDT, 2 hours 51 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES LA
350 PM CDT SUN JUL 20 1997

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

230 PM     5 N LAFAYETTE             LA   FUNNEL CLOUD
07/20/97   LAFAYETTE                      KLFY METEOROLOGIST REPORTED
                                          FUNNEL CLOUD SIGHTED BY
                                          P`UBLIC NEAR CARENCRO.

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Louisiana, 1997 Every 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.