Alert archive / Louisiana / Flash Flood Warnings in 1998
Flash Flood Warning 61, NWS Lake Charles, LA
NWS Lake Charles, LA issued this flash flood warning at Oct 3, 1998, 10:09 AM CDT for Calcasieu Parish, Louisiana. It was in force for 91 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
- Oct 3, 1998, 10:09 AM CDT (15:09 UTC)
- Expired
- Oct 3, 1998, 11:40 AM CDT
- In force
- 91 min
- 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 15:09 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, 3.2 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.
- Mixed-layer CAPE
- 672 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -34 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 1015 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 22 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 70 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 111 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 0.7
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
000 TTAA00 KLCH 031511 FFWLCH LAC019-031640- BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED FLASH FLOOD WARNING NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES LA 1009 AM CDT SAT OCT 3 1998 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN LAKE CHARLES HAS ISSUED A * FLASH FLOOD WARNING FOR... CALCASIEU PARISH IN SOUTHWESTERN LOUISIANA * UNTIL 1140 AM CDT * AT 1009 AM CDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR ESTIMATED THAT 2-3 INCHES OF RAIN HAVE FALLEN ACROSS OVER CENTRAL CALCASIEU PARISH DURING THE PAST HOUR. 2 TO 3 INCHES OF ADDITIONAL RAINFALL IS EXPECTED ACROSS CENTRAL AND EASTERN CALCASIEU PARISH DURING THE NEXT HOUR OR TWO. * FLOODING OF LOW LYING AREAS WILL OCCUR. STREETS MAY BECOME IMPASSABLE IN THE LAKE CHARLES AREA. DxO 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 Oct 3, 9:19 AM CDT, 50 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Oct 3, 9:19 AM CDT, 50 minutes before
SOUTHEAST TEXAS..SOUTHWEST AND CENTRAL LOUISIANA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES LA 919 AM CDT SAT OCT 3 1998 STRONG THUNDERSTORMS CURRENTLY MOVING THROUGH LCH FA. ACTIVITY DUE TO OUTFLOW BOUNDRY PROPAGATING OUT OF NORTHEAST TEXAS AND MID LEVEL TROF WHICH HAS ALSO ENHANCED CONVECTION. LCH SOUNDING MODERATELY UNSTABLE AROUND 2000 J/KG AND PRECIPITABLE WATER RUNNING AROUND TWO INCHES. EXPECT ACTIVITY TO CONTINUE PUSHING EASTFWARD TODAY AS MID LEVEL ENERGY MOVES EAST. LOCALLY HEAVY RAINFALL POSSIBLE. GIVEN CURRENT TRENDS NEED TO UP POPS OVER SOUTHCENTRAL LA TO 80 PERCENT ELSEWHERE LOOKS GOOD. 12
The office that day
Everything else NWS Lake Charles, LA issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oct 3, 10:50 AM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | LCH | Jefferson Davis | 45 min |
Nearby
Flash Flood Warnings in Louisiana, 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.