Alert archive / Louisiana / Flash Flood Warnings in 1998

Flash Flood Warning 54, NWS Lake Charles, LA

September 12, 1998Evangeline Parish, Louisiana

NWS Lake Charles, LA issued this flash flood warning at Sep 12, 1998, 2:27 PM CDT for Evangeline Parish, Louisiana. It was in force for 2 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 12, 1998, 2:27 PM CDT (19:27 UTC)
Expired: Sep 12, 1998, 4:30 PM CDT
In force: 2 hr
Issued by: NWS Lake Charles, LA
Area: Whole counties

County Evangeline Parish, LA

The nearest sounding before it

Lake Charles Mun, LA (KLCH), launched 12:00Z, 7.5 hours before the alert went out and 102 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: 527 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -12 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 744 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 19 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 145 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 171 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 121928
FFWLCH
LAC039-122130-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
FLASH FLOOD WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES LA
227 PM CDT SAT SEP 12 1998

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN LAKE CHARLES HAS ISSUED A

* FLASH FLOOD WARNING FOR...
  EVANGELINE PARISH IN SOUTHWESTERN LOUISIANA

* UNTIL 430 PM CDT

* AT 225 PM...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR ESTIMATED THAT
  1 TO 2 INCHES OF RAIN HAS FALLEN OVER EVANGELINE PARISH DURING
  THE PAST HOUR. 1 TO 2 INCHES OF ADDITIONAL RAINFALL IS EXPECTED
  ACROSS THE PARISH OVER THE NEXT ONE TO TWO HOURS.

* FLOODING OF LOW LYING AREAS AND STREAMS WILL BE POSSIBLE.  SOME
  ROADS MAY BECOME IMPASSABLE DUE TO HIGH WATER.

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.

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 Sep 12, 10:11 AM CDT, 4 hours 16 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Sep 12, 10:11 AM CDT, 4 hours 16 minutes before

SOUTHEAST TEXAS..SOUTHWEST AND CENTRAL LOUISIANA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES LA
1011 AM CDT SAT SEP 12 1998

WILL MAKE THIS REAL QUICK WITH SEVERE WEATHER AND RIVER FLOODING THE
MAIN AGENDA THIS MORNING. SURFACE LOW NEAR COLLEGE STATION CONTINUE
TO DRIFT NORTHWARD WITH TROPICAL RAIN BANDS STILL ADVECTING NORTHWARD
OFF THE GULF OF MEXICO. ENOUGH LOW-LEVEL SHEAR AND INSTABILITY TO
WARRANT TO THE TORNADO WATCH BY SPC. FURTHER COMPOUNDING THE
PROBLEM ARE BREAKS IN THE CLOUD COVER ACROSS SOUTH CENTRAL LA...
THUS INCREASING DAYTIME INSTABILITY.

BASED ON THE ALREADY SATURATED GROUNDS AND PW OF 2.44 ON THE 12Z LCH
SOUNDING...KEEPING UP THE FLASH FLOOD WATCH WOULD BE PR:UDENT.
BESIDES ADDING THE HEADER FOR THE TORNADO WATCH...ZONES LOOK GOOD.

5

BPT 85/78/88/78 8664
LCH 85/78/89/77 7754
LFT 85/79/90/76 7754
AEX 84/74/90/75 8654

In the hours before

Local storm report, Sep 12, 11:01 AM CDT, 3 hours 26 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES LA
1101 AM CDT SAT SEP 12 1998

TIME(CDT)  .....CITY LOCATION.....STATE   ...EVENT/REMARKS...
           ....COUNTY LOCATION....

0838 AM    4 NW OBERLIN              LA   TORNADO
09/12/98   ALLEN                          TORNADO TOUCHDOWN...REPORTED
                                          BY THE PUBLIC.  NO REPORTED
                                          DAMAGE AT THIS TIME.

0916 AM    LAFAYETTE                 LA   TORNADO
09/12/98   LAFAYETTE                      TORNADO TOUCHDOWN IN WEST
                                          LAFAYETTE.  ROOF DAMAGE AND
                                          TREES DOWN.

Local storm report, Sep 12, 2:08 PM CDT, 19 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES LA
208 PM CDT SAT SEP 12 1998

TIME(CDT)  .....CITY LOCATION.....STATE   ...EVENT/REMARKS...
           ....COUNTY LOCATION....

0117 PM    5 W ALEXANDRIA            LA   WIND DAMAGE
09/12/98   RAPIDES                        TREES DOWN OVER ROADWAY ON
                                          HIGHWAY 28.

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Sep 11, 10:16 PM CDT	Flash Flood Warning	LCH	Lafayette, Saint Landry	3 hr
Sep 12, 8:47 AM CDT	Tornado Warning	LCH	Allen	53 min
Sep 12, 9:17 AM CDT	Tornado Warning	LCH	Lafayette	48 min
Sep 12, 9:23 AM CDT	Tornado Warning	LCH	Vermilion	32 min
Sep 12, 11:00 AM CDT	Flash Flood Warning	LCH	Calcasieu	2 hr
Sep 12, 1:04 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	LCH	Rapides	61 min

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.