Alert archive / Louisiana / Flash Flood Warnings in 1998

Flash Flood Warning 49, NWS Lake Charles, LA

September 11, 1998Calcasieu Parish, Cameron Parish, Louisiana; Jefferson County, Orange County, Texas

NWS Lake Charles, LA issued this flash flood warning at Sep 11, 1998, 1:49 PM CDT for Calcasieu Parish, Cameron Parish, Louisiana; Jefferson County, Orange County, Texas. 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
Sep 11, 1998, 1:49 PM CDT (18:49 UTC)
Expired
Sep 11, 1998, 5:50 PM CDT
In force
4 hr
Issued by
NWS Lake Charles, LA
Area
Whole counties

Counties Calcasieu Parish, LA, Cameron Parish, LA, Jefferson County, TX, Orange County, TX

The radar

The Lake Charles radar (KLCH), 44 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 18:51 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, 6.8 hours before the alert went out and 45 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 1998-09-11Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 40 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°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 1998-09-11The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 295 square meters per square second.19395878Sfc1 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
40 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-111 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
636 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
24 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
295 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
422 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.3

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KLCH 111850
FFWLCH
LAC019-023-TXC245-361-112250-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
FLASH FLOOD WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES LA
149 PM CDT FRI SEP 11 1998

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN LAKE CHARLES HAS ISSUED A

* FLASH FLOOD / FLOOD WARNING FOR...
  CALCASIEU PARISH IN SOUTHWESTERN LOUISIANA
  CAMERON PARISH IN SOUTHWESTERN LOUISIANA
  JEFFERSON COUNTY IN SOUTHEASTERN TEXAS
  ORANGE COUNTY IN SOUTHEASTERN TEXAS

* UNTIL 550 PM CDT

* AT 145 PM CDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR
  CONTINUED TO INDICATE HEAVY RAINBANDS MOVING NORTHWEST AT 25 KNOTS
  OVER COASTAL SECTIONS OF SOUTHEAST TEXAS AND SOUTHWEST LOUISIANA.
  THIS TREND IS EXPECTED TO CONTINUE FOR THE NEXT SEVERAL HOURS...
  WITH AN ADDITIONAL 2 TO 4 INCHES RAINFALL EXPECTED OVER THE
  WARNED AREA.

* WIDESPREAD FLOODING OF ROADWAYS AND STREAMS SHOULD BE EXPECTED.
  MANY ROADS AND SIDE STREETS WILL BECOME IMMPASSABLE.

HEAVY RAINS FLOOD ROADS AND LOW LYING AREAS RAPIDLY...SO DO
NOT DRIVE YOUR VEHICLE INTO AREAS WHERE WATER OF AN UNKNOWN
DEPTH COVERS THE ROAD. IF YOUR VEHICLE STALLS...ABANDON IT
IMMEDIATELY AND SEEK HIGHER GROUND.

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Sep 11, 7:24 AM CDTTornado WarningLCHCameron46 min
Sep 11, 10:53 AM CDTTornado WarningLCHJefferson Davis47 min
Sep 11, 4:37 PM CDTFlash Flood WarningLCHAcadia, Allen, Beauregard, Jefferson Davis3 hr
Sep 11, 4:37 PM CDTFlash Flood WarningLCHVermilion3 hr
Sep 11, 5:11 PM CDTTornado WarningLCHAcadia64 min
Sep 11, 5:42 PM CDTTornado WarningLCHJefferson Davis43 min
Sep 11, 5:45 PM CDTTornado WarningLCHAllen, Evangeline65 min

Nearby

Flash Flood Warnings in Louisiana, 1998Flash Flood Warnings in Texas, 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.