Alert archive / Texas / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1997

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 8, NWS Lake Charles, LA

January 27, 1997Jasper County, Texas

NWS Lake Charles, LA issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Jan 27, 1997, 8:11 PM CST for Jasper County, Texas. It was in force for 34 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
Jan 27, 1997, 8:11 PM CST (02:11 UTC)
Expired
Jan 27, 1997, 8:45 PM CST
In force
34 min
Issued by
NWS Lake Charles, LA
Area
Whole counties

County Jasper County, TX

The radar

The Lake Charles radar (KLCH), 104 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 02:13 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 watch it was issued in

The SPC watch in force over the same counties when this warning went out.

IssuedProductOfficeLasted
Jan 27, 7:00 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WatchSPC6 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Lake Charles Mun, LA (KLCH), launched 00:00Z, 2.2 hours before the alert went out and 105 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 1997-01-28Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 1472 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 1997-01-28The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 114 square meters per square second.193958Sfc1 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
1472 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-17 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
733 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
32 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
114 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
131 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.7
Supercell composite
5.0

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.

032 
WUUS1 KLCH 280212 RRA
SVRLCH
TXC241-280245-
 
BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES LA
811 PM CST MON JAN 27 1997
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN LAKE CHARLES HAS ISSUED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  845 PM CST
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...
 
IN SOUTHEAST TEXAS
 
   ...JASPER COUNTY
 
AT 810 PM...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A SEVERE
THUNDERSTORM 5 MILES WEST OF BUNA. THIS STORM IS MOVING NORTHEAST AT
25 MPH AND WILL AFFECT THE COMMUNITY OF KIRBYVILLE BY 830 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 Jan 27, 7:42 PM CST, 29 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jan 27, 7:42 PM CST, 29 minutes before
SOUTHEAST TEXAS..SOUTHWEST AND CENTRAL LOUISIANA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES LA
740 PM CST MON JAN 27 1997

CLD FNT FM LFK TO CLL AND BEGINNING TO PICKUP IN FORWARD MOMENTUM.
SAT PIX CONTS TO SHOW TSRA BACKBUILDING OVR THE HOU AREA WITH
DIFFLUENT TKNS PATTERN. IN ADDTN A FEW CELLS HAVE SHOWN TORNADIC
STRUCTURE EVEN THO UNDIRECTIONAL WIND PROFILE. LARGE CAPE/WEAKLY
SHEARED ENVRIONMENT AND DRY MID LVLS WL BE CONDUCIVE FOR HAIL AND
WIND DAMAGE UP TO FNTL PASG. USING EXTRAPOLATION WL BRING FNT
INTO BPT AT 04Z...LCH/AEX 05Z...AND LFT 07Z. XPCT MAINLY RAIN AFTER
MIDNIGHT WITH UPPR TROF LAGGING BACK OVR CNTRL TX. WL ALSO NEED TO
WATCH FOR FFW POTENTIAL WITH FFG AOB 2.0 INCHES.

5

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jan 27, 8:26 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLCHHardin49 min
Jan 27, 8:31 PM CSTFlash Flood WarningLCHHardin3 hr

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.