Alert archive / Louisiana / Flash Flood Warnings in 1998
Flash Flood Warning 48, NWS Lake Charles, LA
NWS Lake Charles, LA issued this flash flood warning at Aug 30, 1998, 11:51 AM CDT for Saint Landry Parish, Louisiana. It was in force for 114 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
- Aug 30, 1998, 11:51 AM CDT (16:51 UTC)
- Expired
- Aug 30, 1998, 1:45 PM CDT
- In force
- 114 min
- Issued by
- NWS Lake Charles, LA
- Area
- Whole counties
County Saint Landry Parish, LA
The radar
The Ft Polk radar (KPOE), 111 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 16:50 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, 4.9 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.
- Mixed-layer CAPE
- 2927 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -30 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 906 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 6 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 9 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 18 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 301659 COR FFWLCH LAC097-301845- BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED FLASH FLOOD WARNING...CORRECT PM TO AM 1ST PARAGRAPH... NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES LA 1151 AM CDT SUN AUG 30 1998 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN LAKE CHARLES HAS ISSUED A * FLASH FLOOD WARNING FOR... ST. LANDRY PARISH IN SOUTH CENTRAL LOUISIANA * UNTIL 145 PM CDT * AT 1150 AM...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR ESTIMATED THAT 3 TO 4 INCHES OF RAIN HAS FALLEN FROM WOODSIDE TO WASHINGTON DURING THE PAST 1 HOUR. 1 TO 2 INCHES OF ADDITIONAL RAINFALL IS EXPECTED ACROSS THE AREA OVER THE NEXT 1 1/2 HOURS. EXPECT THE THUNDERSTORM ACTIVITY TO SLOWLY MOVE EASTWARD ACROSS THE CENTRAL AND EASTERN PORTIONS OF THE PARISH AFFECTING THE TOWNS OF PALMETTO AND OPELOUSAS. * EXPECT FLOODING OF CREEKS... BAYOUS AND AND LOW LYING AREAS DO NOT DRIVE YOUR VEHICLE INTO AREAS WHERE WATER COVERS THE ROAD TO UNKNOWN DEPTHS. THE DEPTH OF THE WATER MAY BE TOO GREAT TO ALLOW YOUR CAR TO CROSS SAFELY. REMEMBER...MOST FLOOD RELATED DEATHS OCCUR IN AUTOMOBILES. MOGGED
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 Aug 30, 9:43 AM CDT, 2 hours 8 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Aug 30, 9:43 AM CDT, 2 hours 8 minutes before
SOUTHEAST TEXAS..SOUTHWEST AND CENTRAL LOUISIANA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES LA 943 AM CDT SUN AUG 30 1998 12Z SURFACE ANALYSIS DEPICTS A WEAK SURFACE LOW JUST WEST OF TYLER TEXAS...WITH A SURFACE TROUGH EXTENDING EASTWARD INTO NORTHERN LA. A BROAD AREA OF LOW PRESSURE WAS ALSO NOTED OVER THE WESTERN GULF OF MEXICO...ASSOCIATED WITH A WESTWARD MOVING TROPICAL WAVE. MAIN CONCERN THIS MORNING IS WITH CONVECTIVE COMPLEX THAT DEVELOPED NORTH OF THE LCH CWA EARLY THIS MORNING AND RESIDUAL OUTFLOWS PROPAGATING SOUTHWARD. IN ADDITION...LCH 12Z SOUNDING HAS BECOME INCREASINGLY LESS STABLE...WITH AN LI OF -7...K-INDEX OF 28...AND CAPE OF 3900 J/KG. THIS COMBINED WITH A WEAK SHEAR AXIS AT 50H ACROSS NORTHEAST TEXAS AND NORTHERN LA AND THE PROXIMITY OF THE SURFACE TROUGH WILL WARRANT THE CURRENT POPS FORECAST. MAY BE A TAD OVERDONE IN THE SOUTHERN ZONES... BUT BASED ON THE INSTABILITY WILL LEAVE FOR NOW. LASTLY...PRELFER PREVAILING WINDS TO BE OUT OF THE EAST (5 TO 10 MPH) WITH THE TROUGH TO THE NORTH AND A BROAD AREA OF LOW PRESSURE OVER THE GULF OF MEXICO. 5 BPT 97/76/93 314 LCH 97/75/93 314 LFT 97/74/93 314 AEX 98/72/94 423
The office that day
Everything else NWS Lake Charles, LA issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aug 30, 3:22 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | LCH | Avoyelles, Rapides | 63 min |
| Aug 30, 4:39 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | LCH | Calcasieu | 61 min |
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.