Alert archive / Louisiana / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1997
Severe Thunderstorm Warning 83, NWS Lake Charles, LA
NWS Lake Charles, LA issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Aug 21, 1997, 5:30 PM CDT for Cameron Parish, Louisiana. It was in force for 30 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
- Aug 21, 1997, 5:30 PM CDT (22:30 UTC)
- Expired
- Aug 21, 1997, 6:00 PM CDT
- In force
- 30 min
- Issued by
- NWS Lake Charles, LA
- Area
- Whole counties
County Cameron Parish, LA
The radar
The Lake Charles radar (KLCH), 31 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 22:30 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Aug 21, 5:45 PM CDT | Thunderstorm Wind | Cameron, 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 12:00Z, 10.5 hours before the alert went out and 30 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
- 994 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -129 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 1194 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 22 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 34 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 44 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 0.3
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
000 TTAA00 KLCH 212231 RRA SVRLCH LAC023-212300- BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES LA 530 PM CDT THU AUG 21 1997 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN LAKE CHARLES HAS ISSUED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 600 PM CDT FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION... IN SOUTHWEST LOUISIANA ...CAMERON PARISH AND ADJACENT COASTAL WATERS AT 530 PM...DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM 5 MILES NORTH OF HOLLY BEACH. MOVEMENT WAS SOUTH AT 15 MPH. PEOPLE BETWEEN JOHNSON BAYOU AND HOLLY BEACH CAN EXPECT WIND GUSTS IN EXCESS OF 55 MPH BETWEEN 535 AND 550 PM. WHEN THUNDERSTORMS ARE OCCURRING...PEOPLE SHOULD MOVE INSIDE A STRONG B UILDING. 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. ERICKSON
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 Aug 21, 3:31 PM CDT, 1 hour 59 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Aug 21, 3:31 PM CDT, 1 hour 59 minutes before
SOUTHEAST TEXAS..SOUTHWEST AND CENTRAL LOUISIANA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES LA 323 PM CDT THU AUG 21 1997 LOOKS LIKE COOLER DRIER PUSH OF AIR INTO AREA WILL HAVE TO WAIT TILL LATE FRI/EARLY SAT. MEANWHILE...FAIRLY IMPRESSIVE S/W RIDING OVER WRN US H5 RDG APPROACHES AREA BY 30-36 HRS. BEST MSTR WILL RESIDE IN SE TX AND BEST POPS WILL BE LATE FRIDAY IN SE TX AND XTRM WRN LA ZONES. WILL KEEP CHANCE POPS THESE AREAS INTO FRI NITE. SLIGHTLY COOLER TEMPS COMING 2ND HALF OF PD.8 BPT 73/94/72/91 1333 LCH 72/92/70/89 1333 LFT 71/91/69/88 0213 AEX 67/89/67/87 0213
In the hours before
Local storm report, Aug 21, 5:23 PM CDT, 7 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES LA
523 PM CDT THU AUG 21 1997
TIME(CDT) .....CITY LOCATION.....STATE ...EVENT/REMARKS...
....COUNTY LOCATION....
500 PM 2 NE BUNA TX WIND DAMAGE
08/21/97 JASPER SEVERAL TREES AND POWER
LINES DOWN. REPORT RELAYED
BY TV METEOROLOGIST.Local storm report, Aug 21, 5:26 PM CDT, 4 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES LA
523 PM CDT THU AUG 21 1997
TIME(CDT) .....CITY LOCATION.....STATE ...EVENT/REMARKS...
....COUNTY LOCATION....
500 PM 2 NE BUNA TX WIND DAMAGE
08/21/97 JASPER SEVERAL TREES AND POWER
LINES DOWN. REPORT RELAYED
BY TV METEOROLOGIST.The office that day
Everything else NWS Lake Charles, LA issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aug 21, 4:59 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | LCH | Calcasieu | 31 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.