Alert archive / Texas / Flash Flood Warnings in 1998

Flash Flood Warning 60, NWS Lake Charles, LA

September 16, 1998Jasper County, Texas

NWS Lake Charles, LA issued this flash flood warning at Sep 16, 1998, 6:49 PM CDT for Jasper County, Texas. It was in force for 101 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
Sep 16, 1998, 6:49 PM CDT (23:49 UTC)
Expired
Sep 16, 1998, 8:30 PM CDT
In force
101 min
Issued by
NWS Lake Charles, LA
Area
Whole counties

County Jasper County, TX

The radar

The Lake Charles radar (KLCH), 104 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 23:51 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, 11.8 hours before the alert went out and 105 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 1998-09-16Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 299 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°0°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 1998-09-16The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity -8 square meters per square second.1939Sfc1 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
299 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-35 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
681 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
7 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
-8 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
40 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 162351
FFWLCH
TXC241-170130-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
FLASH FLOOD WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES LA
649 PM CDT WED SEP 16 1998

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN LAKE CHARLES HAS ISSUED A

* FLASH FLOOD WARNING FOR...
  JASPER COUNTY IN SOUTHEASTERN TEXAS

* UNTIL 830 PM CDT

* AT 645 PM CDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR SHOWED A
  LINE OF THUNDERSTORMS WITH VERY HEAVY RAIN MOVING NORTHWEST AT 20
  MPH INTO JASPER COUNTY.  RADAR ESTIMATES OF TWO TO THREE INCHES OF
  RAIN HAVE ALREADY FALLEN OVER JASPER COUNTY NEAR KIRBYVILLE. AN
  ADDITIONAL ONE TO TWO INCHES WILL BE POSSIBLE DURING THE NEXT HOUR
  OR TWO.

* FLOODING OF LOW LYING AREAS SHOULD BE EXPECTED.  SEVERAL ROADS
  IN THE KIRBYVILLE AREA MAY BE IMMPASSABLE DUE TO HIGH WATER.

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...ABANDONl IT
IMMEDIATELY AND SEEK HIGHER GROUND.

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 16, 3:03 PM CDT, 3 hours 46 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Sep 16, 3:03 PM CDT, 3 hours 46 minutes before
SOUTHEAST TEXAS..SOUTHWEST AND CENTRAL LOUISIANA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES LA
303 PM CDT WED SEP 16 1998

TROPICAL PLUME HAS FINALLY MOVED WEST OF AREA AND DRIER AIR HAS
PROVIDED SOME RELIEF FROM FLOODING RAINS. EVEN SOME PEEKS OF SUN
ACROSS THE AREA. SCATTERED CONVECTION HAS FIRED UP OVER ATCHAFALAYA
BASIN AND MOVING WEST...SHOULD AFFECT AREA INTO THIS EVENING...WILL
INCLUDE EVENING POPS TO COVER THIS ACTIVITY. MAIN INFLUENCE FOR THIS
PERIOD WILL BE DEVELOPMENT OF TROPICAL SYSTEM IN EASTERN GULF. ETA
AND NGM GENERALLY MOVE IT SLOWLY WEST NEAR NRN MEX BY 48 HRS...AVN
PUTS IT IN CNTRL GULF. ALL MODELS ROTATING AREAS OF PRECIPITATION
AROUND THE SYSTEM...WILL GO WITH INCREASING POPS THRU PERIOD WITH
BETTER POPS OVER EASTERN PORTIONS. TIDES NOW RUNNING 2 TO 3 FEET
ABOVE. AS EASTERLY WINDS INCREASE WITH DEVELOPING SYSTEM COASTAL
FLOODING SHOULD AGAIN BECOME A PROBLEM BUT A COASTAL FLOOD WATCH
SHOULD SUFFICE AT THIS POINT. TEMPS SHOULD TREND BACK DOWN AFTER
TOMORROW AS CLOUDS AND RAIN INCREASE. 8

BPT 74/90/72/88 1324
LCH 73/90/72/88 1324  LFT 74/90/72/87 2445  AEX 68/90/68/88 1223

In the hours before

Special weather statement, Sep 16, 3:45 PM CDT, 3 hours 4 minutes before
LAZ027>033-041>045-051>055-TXZ180>182-201-215-216-170300-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES LA
345 PM CDT WED SEP 16 1998

...TROPICS REMAIN ACTIVE IN THE GULF OF MEXICO...

A BROAD AREA OF LOW PRESSURE CONTINUES TO CHURN IN THE CENTRAL GULF
OF MEXICO. AN AIR FORCE RECONNAISSANCE AIRCRAFT HAS FOUND
NO CLOSED CIRCULATION. THIS SYSTEM IS MOVING TO THE NORTHWEST VERY
SLOWLY.

CONDITIONS REMAIN FAVORABLE FOR FURTHER DEVELOPMENT RESULTING IN
THE FORMATION OF A TROPICAL DEPRESSION OR STORM AT ANY TIME.

ALL INDIVIDUALS...INCLUDING MARINERS... ALONG THE COASTAL AREAS
OF SOUTHEAST TEXAS AND SOUTHERN LOUISIANA NEED TO MONITOR THIS
SITUATION VERY CLOSELY FOR THE NEXT SEVERAL DAYS.

STAY TUNED TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO OR YOUR LOCAL MEDIA OUTLET FOR
FURTHER INFORMATION ON THIS DEVELOPING TROPICAL SYSTEM.

T. ERICKSON
Special weather statement, Sep 16, 3:45 PM CDT, 3 hours 4 minutes before
LAZ027>033-041>045-051>055-TXZ180>182-201-215-216-170300-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES LA
345 PM CDT WED SEP 16 1998

...TROPICS REMAIN ACTIVE IN THE GULF OF MEXICO...

A BROAD AREA OF LOW PRESSURE CONTINUES TO CHURN IN THE CENTRAL GULF
OF MEXICO. AN AIR FORCE RECONNAISSANCE AIRCRAFT HAS FOUND
NO CLOSED CIRCULATION. THIS SYSTEM IS MOVING TO THE NORTHWEST VERY
SLOWLY.

CONDITIONS REMAIN FAVORABLE FOR FURTHER DEVELOPMENT RESULTING IN
THE FORMATION OF A TROPICAL DEPRESSION OR STORM AT ANY TIME.

ALL INDIVIDUALS...INCLUDING MARINERS... ALONG THE COASTAL AREAS
OF SOUTHEAST TEXAS AND SOUTHERN LOUISIANA NEED TO MONITOR THIS
SITUATION VERY CLOSELY FOR THE NEXT SEVERAL DAYS.

STAY TUNED TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO OR YOUR LOCAL MEDIA OUTLET FOR
FURTHER INFORMATION ON THIS DEVELOPING TROPICAL SYSTEM.

T. ERICKSON

Nearby

Flash 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.