Alert archive / Texas / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1997

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 99, NWS Lake Charles, LA

October 23, 1997Hardin County, Texas

NWS Lake Charles, LA issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Oct 23, 1997, 11:47 AM CDT for Hardin County, Texas. It was in force for 58 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
Oct 23, 1997, 11:47 AM CDT (16:47 UTC)
Expired
Oct 23, 1997, 12:45 PM CDT
In force
58 min
Issued by
NWS Lake Charles, LA
Area
Whole counties

County Hardin County, TX

The nearest sounding before it

Lake Charles Mun, LA (KLCH), launched 12:00Z, 4.8 hours before the alert went out and 117 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 1997-10-23Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 4 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 1997-10-23The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 112 square meters per square second.1939587897Sfc1 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
4 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-174 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
826 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
42 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
112 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
151 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.1

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

629 
WUUS1 KLCH 231650 RRA
SVRLCH
TXC199-231745-
 
BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES LA
1147 AM CDT THU OCT 23 1997
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN LAKE CHARLES HAS ISSUED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 1245 PM CDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...
 
IN SOUTHEAST TEXAS
 
   ...HARDIN COUNTY
 
AT 1145 AM...DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM ENTERING
SOUTHWESTERN HARDIN COUNTY.
 
THE COMMUNITIES OF BATSON...SARATOGA...AND KOUNTZE ARE IN THE PATH OF
THIS STORM.
 
THE PRIMARY THREAT FROM THIS STORM WILL BE HAIL AS LARGE AS
QUARTERS...AND DAMAGING WINDS IN EXCESS OF 60 MPH.
 
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.
 
 
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 Oct 23, 8:51 AM CDT, 2 hours 56 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Oct 23, 8:51 AM CDT, 2 hours 56 minutes before
SOUTHWEST AND CENTRAL LOUISIANA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES LA
845 AM CDT THU OCT 23 1997

...SIGNIFICANT SEVERE WEATHER ON TAP...

SPC HAS ALREADY ISSUED A PWO FOR THE LCH CWA...IN ANTICIPATION OF
THIS AFTN/EVE SVR WX POSSIBILITY. 88D SHOWS BAND OF SHWRS/TRW JUST
SOUTH OF GLS...HAEDING UP TX COAST. CONSENSUS HERE IS THAT THIS IS
PROBABLY THE WARM FRONT.

THIS ACTIVITY ALONG THE WARM FRONT IS NOT WHAT WE EWXPECT TO BE SEVERE
LATER TODAY. AFTER THIS INITIAL BAND OF TSTMS PASSES...MORE ORGANIZED
STORMS ARE FORECASTED FOR THIS AFTN AND EVE.

ONE THING IS FOR SURE...WITH ALL THE HELICITY/SHEAR FCSTD...TORNADOES
STILL LOOK LIKE A POSSIBILITY TODAY.   15

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Oct 23, 5:30 PM CDTTornado WarningLCHTyler45 min
Oct 23, 6:36 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLCHTyler54 min
Oct 23, 6:51 PM CDTTornado WarningLCHTyler54 min

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Texas, 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.