Alert archive / Louisiana / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1997
Severe Thunderstorm Warning 80, NWS Lake Charles, LA
NWS Lake Charles, LA issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Jul 29, 1997, 7:24 PM CDT for Calcasieu Parish, Louisiana. It was in force for 51 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 29, 1997, 7:24 PM CDT (00:24 UTC)
- Expired
- Jul 29, 1997, 8:15 PM CDT
- In force
- 51 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 00:28 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 29, 8:00 PM CDT | Thunderstorm Wind | Sulphur, 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, 0.4 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.
- Mixed-layer CAPE
- 4126 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -4 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 932 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 23 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 63 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 108 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 1.2
- Supercell composite
- 6.6
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
000 TTAA00 KLCH 300025 RRA SVRLCH LAC019-300115- BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES LA 724 PM CDT TUE JUL 29 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 ...EASTERN CALCASIEU PARISH AT 722 PM DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM EAST OF LAKE CHARLES MOVING SOUTHWEST AT 15 MPH. CHENAULT FIELD REPORTED A 55 MPH GUST FROM THIS THUNDERSTORM. SMALL HAIL IS ALSO POSSIBLE WITH THIS STORM. THOSE PEOPLE FROM LAKE CHARLES AND AREAS TO THE SOUTH CAN EXPECT THIS SEVERE THUNDERSTORM BY 730 PM. 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 29, 2:08 PM CDT, 5 hours 16 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Jul 29, 2:08 PM CDT, 5 hours 16 minutes before
SOUTHEAST TEXAS..SOUTHWEST AND CENTRAL LOUISIANA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES LA 145 PM CDT TUE JUL 29 1997 THE BIG QUESTION IS HOW FAR SOUTH WILL THE COLD FRONT GO? ALL THE MODELS SHOW SOME TYPE OF BOUNDARY MOVING OFFSHORE BY 48 HRS. HOWEVER...THIS IS MOST LIKELY A PRE-FRONTAL TROF AS THE HIGH BRIDGES ACROSS THE FRONT. LUKS LIKE THE COLD FRONT WILL STALL OUT ACROSS EXTREME NORTHERN LA ON THURSDAY. WE MAY SEE SOME SLIGHTLY DRIER ACROSS THE FA AS THE PRE-FRONTAL TROF MOVES THROUGH WITH SFC DEW POINTS DROPPING FROM THE MID 70S TO THE LOWER 70S. WL KEEP POPS IN THE CHC CAT THROUGHOUT THE FORECAST PD(AT LEAST DURING THE DAYTIME HOURS). CONVECTION WILL BE AIDED BY 5H SHEAR AXIS THAT WILL LINGER ALONG THE COAST DURING THIS FORECAST PD. AMS WILL CONTINUE TO BE NICE AND JUICY WITH PW AROUND 2 INCHES...K INDEX VALUES IN THE 30S...AND LIS AROUND -5. 10 BPT 76/94/75/92 2433 LCH 76/93/75/92 2433 LFT 76/94/75/92 2433 AEX 74/91/73/90 2533
In the hours before
Local storm report, Jul 29, 4:45 PM CDT, 2 hours 39 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES LA
445 PM CDT TUE JUL 29 1997
TIME(CDT) .....CITY LOCATION.....STATE ...EVENT/REMARKS...
....COUNTY LOCATION....
435 PM LA WIND DAMAGE
07/29/97 LAFAYETTE TSTM GUST CAUSED DAMAGE TO
EMU PENS NEAR GLORIA SWITCH
RD NORTH OF LAFAYETTE.Local storm report, Jul 29, 4:48 PM CDT, 2 hours 36 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES LA
445 PM CDT TUE JUL 29 1997
TIME(CDT) .....CITY LOCATION.....STATE ...EVENT/REMARKS...
....COUNTY LOCATION....
435 PM LA WIND DAMAGE
07/29/97 LAFAYETTE TSTM GUST CAUSED DAMAGE TO
EMU PENS NEAR GLORIA SWITCH
RD( NORTH OF LAFAYETTE.The office that day
Everything else NWS Lake Charles, LA issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jul 29, 8:13 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | LCH | Calcasieu | 47 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; verification from NCEI's Storm Data; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.