Alert archive / Louisiana / Flash Flood Warnings in 1998

Flash Flood Warning 33, NWS Lake Charles, LA

January 12, 1998Saint Landry Parish, Louisiana

NWS Lake Charles, LA issued this flash flood warning at Jan 12, 1998, 7:47 AM CST for Saint Landry Parish, Louisiana. It was in force for 118 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, 7:47 AM CST (13:47 UTC)
Expired
Jan 12, 1998, 9:45 AM CST
In force
118 min
Issued by
NWS Lake Charles, LA
Area
Whole counties

County Saint Landry Parish, LA

The nearest sounding before it

Lake Charles Mun, LA (KLCH), launched 12:00Z, 1.8 hours before the alert went out and 126 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 1998-01-12Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 238 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 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 1998-01-12The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity -200 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
238 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-4 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
494 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
23 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
-200 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
-666 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.0

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KLCH 121349
FFWLCH
LAC097-121545-

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

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN LAKE CHARLES LA HAS ISSUED A
FLASH FLOOD WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 945 AM CST
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...

IN SOUTH CENTRAL LOUISIANA

   ...ST. LANDRY PARISH

AT 745 AM...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR ESTIMATED UP TO
6 INCHES OF RAIN HAS FALLEN SINCE MIDNIGHT OVER PORTIONS OF ST.
LANDRY PARISH. HIGHWAY 190 BETWEEN LAWTELL AND OPELOUSAS IS FLOODED
WITH REPORTS OF CARS STRANDED ON THAT ROADWAY. ALSO...NUMEROUS
STREET FLOODING HAS BEEN REPORTED IN THE OPELOUSAS AREA.


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 LATLEST INFORMATION ON THIS DANGEROUS WEATHER
SITUATION.

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, 5 hours 27 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jan 12, 2:20 AM CST, 5 hours 27 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

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, 2:33 AM CSTFlash Flood WarningLCHBeauregard117 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, 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.