Alert archive / Texas / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1997

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 78, NWS Lake Charles, LA

July 23, 1997Orange County, Texas

NWS Lake Charles, LA issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Jul 23, 1997, 8:07 PM CDT for Orange County, Texas. It was in force for 68 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 23, 1997, 8:07 PM CDT (01:07 UTC)
Expired
Jul 23, 1997, 9:15 PM CDT
In force
68 min
Issued by
NWS Lake Charles, LA
Area
Whole counties

County Orange County, TX

The radar

The Lake Charles radar (KLCH), 65 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 01:10 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 00:00Z, 1.1 hours before the alert went out and 67 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 00:00Z on 1997-07-24Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 4601 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 00:00Z on 1997-07-24The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 47 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
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 240108 RRA
SVRLCH
TXC361-240215-
 
BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES LA
807 PM CDT WED JUL 23 1997
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN LAKE CHARLES HAS ISSUED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  915 PM CDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...
 
IN SOUTHEAST TEXAS
 
   ORANGE COUNTY
 
 
AT 805 PM...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A SEVERE
THUNDERSTORM 7 MILES NORTH OF ORANGE.
 
THIS STORM WAS MOVING SOUTHWEST AT 15 MPH AND WILL AFFECT THE
MAURICEVILLE AREA BY 815 PM AND MOVE PARALLEL TO HIGHWAY 12...REACHING
VIDOR BY 845 PM.
 
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, 6 hours 7 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jul 23, 2:00 PM CDT, 6 hours 7 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, 2 hours 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 54 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
Local storm report, Jul 23, 7:52 PM CDT, 15 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES LA
752 PM CDT WED JUL 23 1997

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

725 PM     GILLIS                    LA   1.00 INCH HAIL
07/23/97   CALCASIEU                      REPORTED TO KPLC CHANNEL 7
                                          METEOROLOGIST
Local storm report, Jul 23, 8:00 PM CDT, 7 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES LA
752 PM CDT WED JUL 23 1997

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

725 PM     GILLIS                    LA   1.00 INCH HAIL
07/23/97   CALCASIEU                      REPORTED TO KPLC CHANNEL 7
                                          METEOROLOGIST

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Texas, 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.