Alert archive / Louisiana / Flash Flood Warnings in 1998

Flash Flood Warning 57, NWS Lake Charles, LA

September 13, 1998Vermilion Parish, Louisiana

NWS Lake Charles, LA issued this flash flood warning at Sep 13, 1998, 1:55 PM CDT for Vermilion 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 13, 1998, 1:55 PM CDT (18:55 UTC)
Expired: Sep 13, 1998, 4:00 PM CDT
In force: 2 hr
Issued by: NWS Lake Charles, LA
Area: Whole counties

County Vermilion Parish, LA

The radar

The Lake Charles radar (KLCH), 95 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 18:56 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

Slidell Radar S, LA (KSIL), launched 12:00Z, 6.9 hours before the alert went out and 255 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: 221 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -18 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 734 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 5 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 26 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 58 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 131856
FFWLCH
LAC113-132100-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
FLASH FLOOD WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES LA
155 PM CDT SUN SEP 13 1998

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN LAKE CHARLES HAS ISSUED A

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

* UNTIL 400 PM CDT

* AT 155 PM CDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR ESTIMATED
  THAT ONE TO TWO INCHES OF RAIN HAS FALLEN OVER WESTERN AND
  CENTRAL SECTIONS OF VERMILION PARISH DURING THE PAST TWO
  HOURS. ONE TO TWO INCHES OF ADDITIONAL RAINFALL IS EXPECTED
  ACROSS VERMILION PARISH OVER THE NEXT FEW HOURS.

* WITH THE PREVIOUS RAINFALL AND ALREADY SATURATED GROUNDS...
  FLOODING OF LOW LYING AREAS SHOULD BE EXPECTED. SOME ROADS AND
  SIDE STREETS MAY BECOME IMPASSABLE.

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 13, 10:24 AM CDT, 3 hours 31 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Sep 13, 10:24 AM CDT, 3 hours 31 minutes before

SOUTHEAST TEXAS..SOUTHWEST AND CENTRAL LOUISIANA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES LA
1023 PM CDT SUN SEP 13 1998

FLASH FLOOD WATCHES SHOULD CONTINUE AS SATELLITE SHOWING ENDLESS BAND
OF SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WITH HEAVY RAIN STREAMING INTO SABINE
RIVER AREA AND ADDITIONAL BAND POISED 80 MILES OFF SOUTH CENTRAL
LOUISIANA. CAN ALLOW COASTAL FLOOD WARNING TO EXPIRE AS GRADIENT IS
RELAXING AND TIDE LEVELS ARE SLOWLY RECEDING...SHOULD BE BELOW 3.5 FT
BY THIS EVENING. COORD WITH RFC SLIDELL...RIVERS WILL BE SLOWER TO
RECEDE DUE TO ADDITIONAL RUNOFF...BUT GOOD NEWS ON COASTAL RIVERS
THAT THE RELAXING TIDES WILL STILL ALLOW LEVELS TO REMAIN AS
FORECAST. IF BAND BUILDS BACK TO THE WEST...SAT...MAY WANT TO
REINSTATE FLOOD WATCH FOR SE TX. AS OF NOW...APPEARS CURRENT PIX
HANDLED OK WITH FLOOD WARNING UNTIL NOON FOR EASTERN COUNTIES.
SUGGEST INCREASE IN POPS ACCORDINGLY FOR SE TX...SW LA.
11

BPT 86/78/89 734
LCH 85/78/88 944  LFT 86/77/89 744  AEX 84/74/89 744

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Sep 13, 3:17 AM CDT	Flash Flood Warning	LCH	Beauregard, Calcasieu	118 min
Sep 13, 3:10 PM CDT	Flash Flood Warning	LCH	Acadia, Vermilion	2 hr

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; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.