Alert archive / Louisiana / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1997

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 89, NWS Lake Charles, LA

August 22, 1997Cameron Parish, Louisiana

NWS Lake Charles, LA issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Aug 22, 1997, 5:17 PM CDT for Cameron Parish, Louisiana. It was in force for 58 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 22, 1997, 5:17 PM CDT (22:17 UTC)
Expired
Aug 22, 1997, 6:15 PM CDT
In force
58 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 22:16 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

TimeReportWhereRemark
Aug 22, 5:22 PM CDTThunderstorm WindGrand Chenier, 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, 10.3 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.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Lake Charles Mun, LA at 12:00Z on 1997-08-22Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 1535 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 12:00Z on 1997-08-22The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 63 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
1535 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-50 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
959 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
24 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
63 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
198 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.6
Supercell composite
4.1

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

954 
WUUS1 KLCH 222218 RRA
SVRLCH
LAC023-222315-
 
BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES LA
517 PM CDT FRI AUG 22 1997
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN LAKE CHARLES HAS ISSUED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  615 PM CDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...
 
IN SOUTHWEST LOUISIANA
 
   ...CAMERON PARISH
 
AND ADJACENT COASTAL WATERS
 
 
AT 515 PM...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A LINE OF
SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS MOVING SOUTH AT 25 MPH INTO CENTRAL CAMERON PARISH.
THESE STORMS WILL BE CAPABLE OF PRODUCING WIND GUSTS IN EXCESS OF 55 MPH
AND AFFECT THE COMMUNITIES OF CREOLE...GRAND CHENIER AND CAMERON.
 
IF YOU ARE CAUGHT OUTSIDE...SEEK SHELTER FROM THE WEATHER IN A
STRONG BUILDING.  DAMAGING WIND...LARGE HAIL...VERY HEAVY RAIN...
AND DEADLY LIGHTNING ARE ALL POSSIBLE IN SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS.
STAY INSIDE AWAY FROM WINDOWS UNTIL THE STORM HAS PASSED.

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 22, 2:49 PM CDT, 2 hours 28 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Aug 22, 2:49 PM CDT, 2 hours 28 minutes before
SOUTHEAST TEXAS..SOUTHWEST AND CENTRAL LOUISIANA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES LA
242 PM CDT FRI AUG 22 1997

SQUALL LINE CONTINUING TO MOVE SE ARND 30 KTS...ABOUT TO ENTER
NRN PTNS OF FA. HAVE BEEN SEVERAL REPORTS OF GUSTS OVER 55 KNOTS
AND A FEW SVR HAIL REPORTS WITH THESE STORMS. XPCT THIS LINE OF
STORMS TO CONTINUE MOVING THROUGH THE AREA DURING THE EVENING
HOURS AND PUSH ON INTO THE GULF. CHC FOR SVR WX SHUD CONTINUE...
THO UPPER DYNAMICS APPEARS TO BE TRYING TO PULL AWAY FROM THE
ACTIVITY IN A MORE ELY DIRECTION. MODELS SHEAR ANOTHER S/W ACROSS
THE AREA TMRW...BUT AFTER THIS ACTIVITY CLEARS THE AREA TONITE...
BELIEVE AMS WILL NOT SUPPORT THE POPS GIVEN BY GDNC. TEMPS NEARER
FWC THAN FAN. 8

BPT 72/91/71/92 6201
LCH 71/91/70/91 6201  LFT 70/90/69/91 5201  AEX 67/88/67/89 5000

TX ZONES...

LA ZONES...

In the hours before

Local storm report, Aug 22, 3:43 PM CDT, 1 hour 34 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES LA
343 PM CDT FRI AUG 22 1997

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

305 PM     6 N BURKEVILLE            TX   WIND DAMAGE
08/22/97   NEWTON                         TREE DOWN ON HWY 692

305 PM     10 S LEESVILLE            LA   WIND DAMAGE
08/22/97   VERNON                         SEVERAL TREES DOWN OVER MUCH
                                          OF THE PARISH
Local storm report, Aug 22, 3:59 PM CDT, 1 hour 18 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES LA
343 PM CDT FRI AUG 22 1997

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

305 PM     6 N BURKEVILLE            TX   WIND DAMAGE
08/22/97   NEWTON                         TREE DOWN ON HWY 692

305 PM     10 S LEESVILLE            LA   WIND DAMAGE
08/22/97   VERNON   t                      SEVERAL TREES DOWN OVER MUCH
                                          OF THE PARISH

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Aug 22, 2:56 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLCHVernon64 min
Aug 22, 3:30 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLCHBeauregard60 min
Aug 22, 3:57 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLCHAllen63 min
Aug 22, 4:09 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLCHCalcasieu66 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.