Alert archive / Louisiana / Flash Flood Warnings in 1998

Flash Flood Warning 30, NWS Lake Charles, LA

January 12, 1998Beauregard Parish, Louisiana

NWS Lake Charles, LA issued this flash flood warning at Jan 12, 1998, 5:33 AM CST for Beauregard Parish, Louisiana. It was in force for 4 hr. 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, 5:33 AM CST (11:33 UTC)
Expired: Jan 12, 1998, 9:30 AM CST
In force: 4 hr
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 11:29 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, 11.6 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-p

Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.

Hodograph

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 121136
FFWLCH
LAC011-121530-

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

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN LAKE CHARLES LA HAS ISSUED A
FLOOD WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 930 AM CST
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...

IN SOUTHWESTERN LOUISIANA

   ...BEAUREGARD PARISH

AT 530 AM...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR ESTIMATES 3 TO 5
INCHES OF RAIN HAS FALLEN SINCE MIDNIGHT OVER PORTIONS OF
BEAUREGARD PARISH. AN ADDITIONAL ONE TO TWO INCHES IS POSSIBLE OVER
THE NEXT COUPLE OF HOURS AS SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS CONTINUE TO
DEVELOP AND MOVE THE AREA. FLOODING OF STREETS AND LOW-LYING AREAS
WILL OCCUR.

PRESENTLY HWY 113 NORTH OF SUGARTOWN AND HWY 113 AT BUNDICK CREEK
ARE UNDERWATER. MANY OTHER ROADS THROUGHOUT THE PARISH ARE READY TO
GO UNDERWATER AND RESIDENTS ARE URGED BY THE BEAUREGARD PARISH
OFFICE OF EMERGENCY PREPARENESS TO AVOID DRIVING...IF
POSSIBLE...UNTIL THE WATER RECEDES. ALSO RESIDENTS LIVING ALONG
BUNDICKS LAKE SHOULD TAKE ACTION TO PROTECT LIFE AND PROPERTY AS IT
IS LIKELY THAT THE LAKE WILL FLOOD HOMES.

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 DEATHS OCCUR IN
AUTOMOBILES.

STAY TUNED TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO OR YOUR LOCAL RADIO OR TV
STATION FOR THE LATEST INFORMATION ON THIS DANGEROUS WEATHER
SITUATION.



 
d

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, 3 hours 13 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jan 12, 2:20 AM CST, 3 hours 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, 5 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, 5 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, 4 hours 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.

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Jan 12, 1:05 AM CST	Tornado Warning	LCH	Beauregard	50 min
Jan 12, 1:23 AM CST	Tornado Warning	LCH	Allen	47 min
Jan 12, 1:47 AM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	LCH	Evangeline	33 min
Jan 12, 2:11 AM CST	Tornado Warning	LCH	Allen	29 min
Jan 12, 2:25 AM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	LCH	Evangeline	45 min
Jan 12, 2:33 AM CST	Flash Flood Warning	LCH	Allen, Evangeline	117 min
Jan 12, 2:33 AM CST	Flash Flood Warning	LCH	Beauregard	117 min
Jan 12, 2:38 AM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	LCH	Avoyelles	62 min
Jan 12, 3:13 AM CST	Tornado Warning	LCH	Evangeline	47 min
Jan 12, 3:53 AM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	LCH	Saint Landry	62 min
Jan 12, 4:29 AM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	LCH	Calcasieu	61 min
Jan 12, 4:52 AM CST	Flash Flood Warning	LCH	Allen, Evangeline	4 hr
Jan 12, 5:43 AM CST	Flash Flood Warning	LCH	Saint Landry	2 hr
Jan 12, 7:01 AM CST	Flash Flood Warning	LCH	Calcasieu, Jefferson Davis	119 min
Jan 12, 7:47 AM CST	Flash Flood Warning	LCH	Saint Landry	118 min
Jan 12, 8:11 AM CST	Flash Flood Warning	LCH	Acadia	119 min
Jan 12, 9:02 AM CST	Flash Flood Warning	LCH	Allen, Evangeline, Jefferson Davis	3 hr
Jan 12, 9:02 AM CST	Flash Flood Warning	LCH	Beauregard, Calcasieu	3 hr
Jan 12, 9:50 AM CST	Flash Flood Warning	LCH	Acadia, Saint Landry	2 hr

Nearby

Flash Flood Warnings in Louisiana, 1998 Every 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.