Alert archive / Louisiana / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1997

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 81, NWS Lake Charles, LA

July 29, 1997Calcasieu Parish, Louisiana

NWS Lake Charles, LA issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Jul 29, 1997, 8:13 PM CDT for Calcasieu Parish, Louisiana. It was in force for 47 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 29, 1997, 8:13 PM CDT (01:13 UTC)
Expired
Jul 29, 1997, 9:00 PM CDT
In force
47 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 01:14 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, 1.2 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-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Lake Charles Mun, LA at 00:00Z on 1997-07-30Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 4126 joules per kilogram.LCLEL10008507005003002001001 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 1997-07-30The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 63 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
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

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KLCH 300114 RRA
SVRLCH
LAC019-300200-
 
BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES LA
813 PM CDT TUE JUL 29 1997
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN LAKE CHARLES HAS ISSUED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  900 PM CDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...
 
IN SOUTHWEST LOUISIANA
 
   ...WEST CENTRAL CALCASIEU PARISH
 
AT 812 PM DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM 7 MILES
NORTHEAST OF VINTON MOVING TOWARD THE WEST AT 15 MPH. THOSE IN
THE AREA BETWEEN VINTON AND STARKS CAN EXPECT GUSTS GREATER THAN
55 MPH...LARGE HAIL...HEAVY RAINFALL...AND FREQUENT DEADLY LIGHTNING.
 
 
 
SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS PRODUCE DAMAGING WIND IN EXCESS OF 55
MPH...DESTRUCTIVE HAIL...DEADLY LIGHTNING...AND VERY HEAVY RAIN.
FOR YOUR PROTECTION MOVE TO AN INTERIOR ROOM ON THE LOWEST FLOOR
OF YOUR HOME OR BUSINESS.  HEAVY RAINS FLOOD ROADS QUICKLY SO
DON'T DRIVE INTO AREAS WHERE WATER COVERS THE ROAD.

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, 6 hours 5 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jul 29, 2:08 PM CDT, 6 hours 5 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, 3 hours 28 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, 3 hours 25 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, 7:38 PM CDT, 35 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES LA
738 PM CDT TUE JUL 29 1997

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

720 PM     5 E LAKE CHARLES          LA   55 MPH TSTM GUST
07/29/97   CALCASIEU                      55 MPH WIND GUST RECORDED AT
                                          CHENAULT FIELD. 38 MPH GUST
                                          ALSO RECORED AT LAKE CHARLES
                                          AIRPORT.
Local storm report, Jul 29, 7:41 PM CDT, 32 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES LA
738 PM CDT TUE JUL 29 1997

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

720 PM     5 E LAKE CHARLES          LA   55 MPH TSTM GUST
07/29/97   CALCASIEU                      55 MPH WIND GUST RECORDED AT
                                          CHENAULT FIELD. 38 MPH GUST
                                          ALSO RECORED AT LAKE CHARLES
                                          AIRPORT.

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jul 29, 7:24 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLCHCalcasieu51 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; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.