Alert archive / Louisiana / Flash Flood Warnings in 1998

Flash Flood Warning 28, NWS Lake Charles, LA

January 12, 1998Beauregard Parish, Louisiana

NWS Lake Charles, LA issued this flash flood warning at Jan 12, 1998, 2:33 AM CST for Beauregard Parish, Louisiana. It was in force for 117 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
Jan 12, 1998, 2:33 AM CST (08:33 UTC)
Expired
Jan 12, 1998, 4:30 AM CST
In force
117 min
Issued by
NWS Lake Charles, LA
Area
Whole counties

County Beauregard Parish, LA

The radar

The Lake Charles radar (KLCH), 59 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 08:32 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, 8.6 hours before the alert went out and 60 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 1998-01-12Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 16 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 00:00Z on 1998-01-12The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 148 square meters per square second.1939587897117Sfc1 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
16 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-82 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
953 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
67 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
148 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
253 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.7

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KLCH 120836
FFWLCH
LAC003-011-039-121030-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
FLASH FLOOD WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES LA
233 AM CST MON JAN 12 1998

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN LAKE CHARLES LA HAS ISSUED A
FLASH FLOOD WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 430 AM CST
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONS...

IN SOUTHWESTERN LOUISIANA

   ...ALLEN PARISH
   ...BEAUREGARD PARISH
   ...EVANGELINE PARISH

AT 230 AM...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR ESTIMATED THAT
NEARLY 4 INCHES OF RAIN HAVE FALLEN ACROSS NORTHERN PORTIONS OF
ALLEN...BEAUREGARD AND EVANGELINE PARISHES. THIS HAS LIKELY CAUSED
FLOODING OF LOW LYING AREAS AND SMALL STREAMS. AN ADDITIONAL 1 TO 2
INCHES OF RAIN IS POSSIBLE ACROSS THE AREA OVER THE NEXT COUPLE OF
HOURS CAUSING ADDITIONAL FLOODING PROBLEMS.

DO NOT DRIVE YOUR VEHICLE INTO AREAS WHERE WATER COVERS THE
ROADWAY. THE WATER DEPTH MAY BE TOO GREAT TO ALLOW YOUR CAR TO
CROSS SAFELY. REMEMBER...MOST FLOOD RELATED DEAhTHS OCCUR IN
AUTOMOBILES.

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before this flash flood 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 flash flood warning went out at Jan 12, 2:20 AM CST, 13 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jan 12, 2:20 AM CST, 13 minutes before
SOUTHEAST TEXAS..SOUTHWEST AND CENTRAL LOUISIANA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES LA
220 AM CST MON JAN 12 1998

BUSY NIGHT AS CONVERGENCE ZONE LIES ACROSS CEN LA AND VORT MAX
ENHANCES LIFT WITH SUBTROPICAL JET STREAM OVERHEAD. RAINFALL
AMTS ARE BEGINNING TO PILE UP ACROSS NORTHERN PORTION OF FA
AND DEVELOPMENT STILL OCCURRING BACK TO THE SW...MAY NEED FLASH
FLOOD WATCH TODAY FOR MORNING HOURS. PWS ARE RUNNING ABOVE ONE
INCH AND RADAR ESTIMATES SHOWING STRONG STORMS PUTTING DOWN AS
MUCH AS 2 INCHES AN HOUR. HAVE A LITTLE MORE TIME TO CONSIDER THIS
SO WILL COORD LATER. AS FAR AS FORECAST...MESSY SITUATION SETTING UP
AS AREA IS IN AXIS OF A SERIES OF SHRT WVS WITH AMPLE SUBTROPICAL
JET ENERGY PRESENT. MODELS ARE UNDERFORECASTING RAINFALL AMTS
CONSIDERABLY AND DO NOT LOOK GOOD FOR THE FIRST PART OF TODAY.
SFC TROF/STATIONARY FRONTAL BOUNDARY IN TX IS NOT SHOWING MUCH
EASTWARD PROGRESSION...SO WILL KEEP POPS IN CHC CAT TODAY AREAWIDE.
WILL LIKELY NEED TO CONTINUE MENTION OF POSSIBLY SVR STORMS THIS
MORNING AREAWIDE.

1

BPT 71/62/70 5355
LCH 70/61/70 5355  LFT 72/61/72 5355  AEX 68/58/68 7344

In the hours before

Local storm report, Jan 11, 11:35 PM CST, 2 hours 58 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES LA
1135 PM CST SUN JAN 11 1998

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

1035 PM    WARREN                    TX   0.75 INCH HAIL
01/11/98   TYLER                          NICKEL SIZE HAIL REPORTED BY
                                          TELEVISION STATION WEATHER
                                          OBSERVOR.
Local storm report, Jan 12, 12:21 AM CST, 2 hours 12 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES LA
1221 AM CST MON JAN 12 1998

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

645 AM     S LACASSINE               LA   WIND DAMAGE
01/12/98   JEFFERSON DAVIS                POWER LINES DOWNED DUE TO
                                          TREE LIMBS. HWY 101 JUST
                                          SOUTH OF LACASSINE. REPORTED
                                          BY JEFF DAVIS ELECTRIC.
Local storm report, Jan 12, 12:48 AM CST, 1 hour 45 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES LA
1248 AM CST MON JAN 12 1998

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

1130 PM    KIRBYVILLE                TX   0.75 INCH HAIL
01/11/98   JASPER                         DIME SIZE HAIL REPORTED BY
                                          JASPER COUNTY SHERIFFS
                                          OFFICE PERSONNEL.

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jan 12, 1:05 AM CSTTornado WarningLCHBeauregard50 min
Jan 12, 1:23 AM CSTTornado WarningLCHAllen47 min
Jan 12, 1:47 AM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLCHEvangeline33 min
Jan 12, 2:11 AM CSTTornado WarningLCHAllen29 min
Jan 12, 2:25 AM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLCHEvangeline45 min
Jan 12, 2:33 AM CSTFlash Flood WarningLCHAllen, Evangeline117 min
Jan 12, 2:38 AM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLCHAvoyelles62 min
Jan 12, 3:13 AM CSTTornado WarningLCHEvangeline47 min
Jan 12, 3:53 AM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLCHSaint Landry62 min
Jan 12, 4:29 AM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLCHCalcasieu61 min
Jan 12, 4:52 AM CSTFlash Flood WarningLCHAllen, Evangeline4 hr
Jan 12, 5:33 AM CSTFlash Flood WarningLCHBeauregard4 hr
Jan 12, 5:43 AM CSTFlash Flood WarningLCHSaint Landry2 hr
Jan 12, 7:01 AM CSTFlash Flood WarningLCHCalcasieu, Jefferson Davis119 min
Jan 12, 7:47 AM CSTFlash Flood WarningLCHSaint Landry118 min
Jan 12, 8:11 AM CSTFlash Flood WarningLCHAcadia119 min
Jan 12, 9:02 AM CSTFlash Flood WarningLCHAllen, Evangeline, Jefferson Davis3 hr
Jan 12, 9:02 AM CSTFlash Flood WarningLCHBeauregard, Calcasieu3 hr
Jan 12, 9:50 AM CSTFlash Flood WarningLCHAcadia, Saint Landry2 hr

Nearby

Flash Flood Warnings in Louisiana, 1998Every flash flood warning in 1998

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.