Alert archive / Louisiana / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1997

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 95, NWS Lake Charles, LA

September 9, 1997Vernon Parish, Louisiana

NWS Lake Charles, LA issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Sep 9, 1997, 12:48 PM CDT for Vernon Parish, Louisiana. It was in force for 57 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
Sep 9, 1997, 12:48 PM CDT (17:48 UTC)
Expired
Sep 9, 1997, 1:45 PM CDT
In force
57 min
Issued by
NWS Lake Charles, LA
Area
Whole counties

County Vernon Parish, LA

What was reported inside it

TimeReportWhereRemark
Sep 9, 12:50 PM CDTHail 0.75Pickering, 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, 5.8 hours before the alert went out and 110 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 1997-09-09Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 936 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 1997-09-09The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity -32 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
936 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-62 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1132 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
21 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
-32 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
-5 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
-0.0
Supercell composite
-0.4

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KLCH 091749 RRA
SVRLCH
LAC115-091845-
 
BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES LA
1248 PM CDT TUE SEP 9 1997
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN LAKE CHARLES HAS ISSUED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  145 PM CDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...
 
IN SOUTHWEST LOUISIANA
 
   ...SOUTH CENTRAL VERNON PARISH
 
AT 1248 PM NWS DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM 3 MILES
SOUTH OF LEESVILLE MOVING TOWARD THE SOUTH AT 20 MPH. LARGE HAIL AND
DAMAGING WINDS ARE THE PRIMARY THREATS FROM THIS STORM. THOSE NEAR
ROSEPINE CAN EXPECT THIS THUNDERSTORM AROUND 130 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 Sep 9, 9:39 AM CDT, 3 hours 9 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Sep 9, 9:39 AM CDT, 3 hours 9 minutes before
SOUTHEAST TEXAS..SOUTHWEST AND CENTRAL LOUISIANA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES LA
939 AM CDT TUE SEP 9 1997

12Z LCH SNDG UNSTABLE WITH CAPES GTR THN 4000J...K INDEX 33...AND
NO MORE CAP. CONVECTIVE TEMP IS 92F WHICH WL BE REACHED THIS
AFTERNOON. A BAND OF TSTMS CURRENTLY MOVING THRU CEN LA HAS HAD
OUTFLO BNDRYS MOVG AS FAST AS 35KTS SO GUSTY WINDS SHUD CONTINUE
THIS MORNING WITH THESE STORMS. SUGGEST RAISING POPS FOR CEN LA
TO 40% AND INCLUDING GUSTY WINDS IN NEXT UPDATE AS CD FNT REMAINS
IN OK WITH PREFRONTAL TROF LIKELY TO TRIGGER ADDITIONAL TSTMS IN
UNSTABLE AIR IN NRN LA. REST OF ZNS SE TX...SW AND SW LA LK OK.
11

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.