Alert archive / Louisiana / Flash Flood Warnings in 1998
Flash Flood Warning 36, NWS Lake Charles, LA
NWS Lake Charles, LA issued this flash flood warning at Jan 12, 1998, 9:02 AM CST for Beauregard Parish, Calcasieu Parish, Louisiana. It was in force for 3 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, 9:02 AM CST (15:02 UTC)
- Expired
- Jan 12, 1998, 12:00 PM CST
- In force
- 3 hr
- Issued by
- NWS Lake Charles, LA
- Area
- Whole counties
Counties Beauregard Parish, LA, Calcasieu Parish, LA
The radar
The Lake Charles radar (KLCH), 37 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 15:06 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 12:00Z, 3.0 hours before the alert went out and 38 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.
- 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
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
000 TTAA00 KLCH 121504 RRA FFWLCH LAC003-011-019-039-053-121800- BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED FLOOD WARNING NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES LA 902 AM CST MON JAN 12 1998 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN LAKE CHARLES LA HAS ISSUED A FLOOD WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL NOON CST FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONS... IN SOUTHWESTERN LOUISIANA ...ALLEN PARISH ...BEAUREGARD PARISH ...CALCASIEU PARISH ...EVANGELINE PARISH ...JEFFERSON DAVIS PARISH AT 900 AM...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR ESTIMATES 4 TO 5 INCHES OF RAIN...WITH LOCALIZED AMOUNTS TO 8 INCHES...HAS FALLEN SINCE MIDNIGHT. FLOODING IS CONTINUING IN THESE PARISHES DUE TO RUNOFF FROM THE HEAVIER RAINFALL. SCATTERED SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS IS EXPECTED TO CONTINUE AND ANY ADDITIONAL RAINFALL WILL ONLY WORSEN THE SITUATION. 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..x.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.
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, 6 hours 42 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Jan 12, 2:20 AM CST, 6 hours 42 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.
| 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, 5:33 AM CST | Flash Flood Warning | LCH | Beauregard | 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, 9:50 AM CST | Flash Flood Warning | LCH | Acadia, Saint Landry | 2 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.