Alert archive / Louisiana / Flash Flood Warnings in 1998

Flash Flood Warning 59, NWS Lake Charles, LA

September 15, 1998Calcasieu Parish, Louisiana

NWS Lake Charles, LA issued this flash flood warning at Sep 15, 1998, 6:00 AM CDT for Calcasieu 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 15, 1998, 6:00 AM CDT (11:00 UTC)
Expired: Sep 15, 1998, 8:00 AM CDT
In force: 2 hr
Issued by: NWS Lake Charles, LA
Area: Whole counties

County Calcasieu Parish, LA

The radar

The Lake Charles radar (KLCH), 18 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 11:01 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 00:00Z, 11.0 hours before the alert went out and 19 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: 529 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -11 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 702 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 16 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 117 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 127 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 151101
FFWLCH
LAC019-151300-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
FLASH FLOOD WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES LA
600 AM CDT TUE SEP 15 1998

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN LAKE CHARLES HAS ISSUED A

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

* UNTIL 800 AM CDT

* AT 553 AM...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR ESTIMATED THAT
  2 TO 3 INCHES OF RAIN HAS FALLEN ACROSS CALCASIEU PARISH SINCE
  MIDNIGHT. LAKE CHARLES MUNICIPAL AIRPORT HAS RECEIVED 2.49
  INCHES. 1 INCH OF ADDITIONAL RAINFALL IS EXPECTED ACROSS THE
  AREA OVER THE NEXT 2 HOURS .

* FLOODING OF ROADS AND LOW LYING AREAS CAN BE EXPECTED.

DO NOT DRIVE YOUR VEHICLE INTO AREAS WHERE WATER CO|VERS
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 15, 2:16 AM CDT, 3 hours 44 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Sep 15, 2:16 AM CDT, 3 hours 44 minutes before

SOUTHEAST TEXAS..SOUTHWEST AND CENTRAL LOUISIANA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES LA
216 AM CDT TUE SEP 15 1998

AREA OF MODERATE RAIN IS CURRENTLY MOVING NORTH ACROSS SOUTHEAST
TEXAS. SHEAR AXIS ACROSS EASTERN TEXAS/WESTERN LOUISIANA IS ALLOWING
FOR THE CURRENT RAINFALL. BEAUMONT HAS PICKED UP AROUND THREE-QUARTERS
OF AN INCH OVER PAST 3-HOURS. PER WATER VAPOR IMAGERY...DRIER AIR
ACROSS CENTRAL TEXAS IS TRYING TO WORK EASTWARD...DRIER/MORE STABLE
AIR MASS ALSO MOVING WESTWARD ACROSS EASTERN LOUISIANA. TROPICAL
CONNECTION IS BEING CONSTRICTED DUE TO THE WESTWARD MOVEMENT OF UPPER
LEVEL LOW OVER THE EASTERN GULF.

ANTICIPATE CONDITIONS TO SLOWLY IMPROVE BY SUNRISE AS FAVORABLE UPPER
LEVEL DYNAMICS SHIFT WESTWARD AND DRIER AIR SPREADS INTO THE REGION.
THEREFORE...WOULD LIKE TO REMOVE FLASH FLOOD WATCH FOR SOUTHEAST TEXAS
COUNTIES. URBAN/SMALL STREAM FLOOD ADVISORY WILL CERTAINLY BE ISSUED
IF CONDITIONS WARRANT.

IN THE EXTENDED PERIODS...AS THE UPPER LOW IN THE EASTERN GULF
CONTINUES MOVING WESTWARD...LOW PRESSURE IN THE NORTHWEST CARIBBEAN
WILL BE BROUGHT INTO THE SOUTHERN GULF OF MEXICO. SYSTEM BEARS
WATCHING AND COULD BE A FORECAST PROBLEM BY THE END OF THE WEEK.

LCH 86/73/90 312
LFT 89/71/91 212
AEX 89/69/91 212
BPT 86/73/90 412

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.