Alert archive / Louisiana / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1997

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 77, NWS Lake Charles, LA

July 23, 1997Calcasieu Parish, Louisiana

NWS Lake Charles, LA issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Jul 23, 1997, 7:18 PM CDT for Calcasieu Parish, Louisiana. It was in force for 57 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 23, 1997, 7:18 PM CDT (00:18 UTC)
Expired: Jul 23, 1997, 8:15 PM CDT
In force: 57 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 00:20 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.

What was reported inside it

Time	Report	Where	Remark
Jul 23, 7:25 PM CDT	Hail 1	Gillis, 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, 0.3 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: 4601 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -5 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 723 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 8 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 47 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 90 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 240018 RRA
SVRLCH
LAC019-240115-
 
BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES LA
718 PM CDT WED JUL 23 1997
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN LAKE CHARLES HAS ISSUED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  815 PM CDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...
 
IN SOUTHWEST LOUISIANA
 
   ...CALCASIEU PARISH
 
AT 715 PM...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A LEADING
EDGE OF STRONG TO SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS FROM 5 MILES NORTH OF IOWA TO
MOSS BLUFF TO 8 MILES NORTH OF SULPHUR. MOVEMENT WAS SOUTH AT 15 MPH.
THE COMMUNITIES OF SULPHUR...WESTLAKE...AND LAKE CHARLES ARE IN THE
PATH OF THESE STORMS. WINDS GUSTS IN EXCESS OF 60 MPH AND LARGE HAIL
ARE LIKELY WITH THESE STORMS.
 
 
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 Jul 23, 2:00 PM CDT, 5 hours 18 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jul 23, 2:00 PM CDT, 5 hours 18 minutes before

SOUTHEAST TEXAS..SOUTHWEST AND CENTRAL LOUISIANA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES LA
200 PM CDT WED JUL 23 1997

SCT TSTMS OCCURRING ACROSS CEN LA AND A DYING TSTM COMPLEX OFF THE
SC LA COAST THIS AFTERNOON. MODELS DIFFER ON RAIN CHCS PARTICULARLY
THIS EVENING AND TOMORROW. ETA DRIER THAN NGM...AND APPEARS AVN POPS
IN BETWEEN. MAIN FEATURES DURING THE PD ARE TROPICAL WV OVR E GULF
MOVING W...SFC TROF LOCATED ACROSS E TX...N LA AND N MISS...AND A WK
UPPER LOW OVR NE TX MOVING SW. SFC TROF IS ACTING TO FOCUS TSTMS N OF
AREA WHERE TEMPS HAVE RISEN INTO THE MID 90S. ATTM NOT MUCH CONVECTION
ASSOCIATED WITH THE TROPICAL WV...HARD TO TELL HOW MUCH THIS FEATURE
WILL ENHANCE RAIN CHCS. NGM VVEL ARE OVERDONE DURING 18-30 HR TIME SO
WILL ABANDON MOS POPS. WITH DEEP SE FLOW OFF OF GULF PROGGED TO DEVELOP
AND ABUNDANT MOISTURE IN PLACE...BELIEVE A SLIGHT INCREASE IN POPS IS
WARRANTED. HAVE TRENDED POPS TOWARDS MOST REASONABLE AVN SOLN. TEMPS
LOOK TO BE CLOSE TO WHERE THEY HAVE BEEN.

1

BPT 78/95/78/95 2323
LCH 78/94/78/94 2323  LFT 78/94/78/94 2424  AEX 75/95/75/95 2424

In the hours before

Local storm report, Jul 23, 6:07 PM CDT, 1 hour 11 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES LA
607 PM CDT WED JUL 23 1997

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

602 PM     2 N KINDER                LA   1.75 INCH HAIL
07/23/97   ALLEN                          REPORTED BY CASINO
                                          VALET SERVICE

Local storm report, Jul 23, 6:13 PM CDT, 1 hour 5 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES LA
607 PM CDT WED JUL 23 1997

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

602 PM     2 N KINDER                LA   1.75 INCH HAIL
07/23/97   ALLEN                          REPORTED BY CASINO
                                          VALET SERVICE

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; verification from NCEI's Storm Data; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.