Alert archive / Texas / Flash Flood Warnings in 1998

Flash Flood Warning 64, NWS Lake Charles, LA

October 18, 1998Orange County, Texas

NWS Lake Charles, LA issued this flash flood warning at Oct 18, 1998, 4:42 PM CDT for Orange County, Texas. 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
Oct 18, 1998, 4:42 PM CDT (21:42 UTC)
Expired
Oct 18, 1998, 6:45 PM CDT
In force
2 hr
Issued by
NWS Lake Charles, LA
Area
Whole counties

County Orange County, TX

The radar

The Lake Charles radar (KLCH), 65 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 21:45 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, 9.7 hours before the alert went out and 67 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 1998-10-18Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 447 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 1998-10-18The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 149 square meters per square second.193958Sfc1 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
447 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-6 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
647 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
35 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
149 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
172 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.2
Supercell composite
1.5

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.

000 
TTAA00 KLCH 182142
FFWLCH
TXC361-182345-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
FLASH FLOOD WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES LA
442 PM CDT SUN OCT 18 1998

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN LAKE CHARLES HAS ISSUED A

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

* UNTIL 645 PM CDT

* AT 440 PM...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR ESTIMATED THAT
  3 TO 5 INCHES OF RAIN HAS FALLEN ACROSS ORANGE COUNTY DURING THE
  PAST 4 HOURS. 1 TO 3 INCHES OF ADDITIONAL RAINFALL IS EXPECTED
  ACROSS THE AREA OVER THE NEXT 2 HOURS .

* FLOODING OF MANY ROADS AND UNDERPASSES IS OCCURRING.

DO NOT DRIVE YOUR VEHICLE INTO AREAS WHERE WATER COVERS
THE ROAD TO UNKNOWN DEPTHS. THE DEPTH OF THE WATERL 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 18, 3:13 PM CDT, 1 hour 29 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Oct 18, 3:13 PM CDT, 1 hour 29 minutes before
SOUTHEAST TEXAS..SOUTHWEST AND CENTRAL LOUISIANA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES LA
313 PM CDT SUN OCT 18 1998

HEAVY RAINS OVER SOUTHEAST TEXAS HAVE CAUSED SOME MINOR FLOODING
PROBLEMS ALONG WITH SOME ISOLATED TORNADOES. WET WEATHER WILL CONTINUE
OVER SOUTHEAST TEXAS AND SOUTHWEST LOUISIANA THROUGH TOMORROW AS
GOOD MOISTURE CONVERGENCE CONTINUES IN VICINITY OF APPROACHING FRONT.
AS FRONT CONTINUES GRADUAL PROGRESS TO THE EAST POPS WILL TAPER
OFF IN SOUTHEAST TEXAS BY TUESDAY AS DRIER AIR WORKS IN...WITH
ACTIVITY SHIFTING TO EASTERN PORTIONS OF FORECAST AREA. WITH RAINFALL
EXPECTED TO CONTINUE THROUGH TONIGHT...SOUTHEAST TEXAS CAN BE INCLUDED
IN FFA FOR TONIGHT...B,ORDERLINE FOR PORTIONS OF EXTREME SOUTHWEST
LOUISIANA...CAN HOLD OFF FOR NOW. TEMPS WILL BE DEPENDENT ON FRONTAL
PROGRESS AND CLOUDS AND RAIN. 8

LCH 72/78/68/76 8853
LFT 71/80/68/75 6864
AEX 70/75/63/73 8864
BPT 68/77/65/76 9853

In the hours before

Special weather statement, Oct 18, 12:26 PM CDT, 4 hours 16 minutes before
LAZ041-042-051-TXZ215-216-182100-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES LA
1226 PM CDT SUN OCT 18 1998

...FUNNEL CLOUDS EXPECTED TODAY...

NUMEROUS SIGHTINGS OF FUNNEL CLOUDS HAVE BEEN REPORTED ACROSS
JEFFERSON AND ORANGE COUNTIES THIS MORNING AND EARLY THIS AFTERNOON.
CONDITIONS WILL REMAIN FAVORABLE FOR FUNNEL CLOUD DEVELOPMENT AS A
LARGE AREA OF RAIN AND THUNDERSTORMS EDGES EASTWARD INTO SOUTHWEST
LOUISIANA THIS AFTERNOON.

FUNNEL CLOUDS HAVE THE POTENTIAL OF TOUCHING DOWN AS TORNADOES WITH
LITTLE OR NO ADVANCE NOTICE. REMAIN ALERT AND STAY TUNED FOR LATER
STATEMENTS AND POSSIBLE WARNINGS.

DR
Special weather statement, Oct 18, 12:26 PM CDT, 4 hours 16 minutes before
LAZ041-042-051-TXZ215-216-182100-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES LA
1226 PM CDT SUN OCT 18 1998

...FUNNEL CLOUDS EXPECTED TODAY...

NUMEROUS SIGHTINGS OF FUNNEL CLOUDS HAVE BEEN REPORTED ACROSS
JEFFERSON AND ORANGE COUNTIES THIS MORNING AND EARLY THIS AFTERNOON.
CONDITIONS WILL REMAIN FAVORABLE FOR FUNNEL CLOUD DEVELOPMENT AS A
LARGE AREA OF RAIN AND THUNDERSTORMS EDGES EASTWARD INTO SOUTHWEST
LOUISIANA THIS AFTERNOON.

FUNNEL CLOUDS HAVE THE POTENTIAL OF TOUCHING DOWN AS TORNADOES WITH
LITTLE OR NO ADVANCE NOTICE. REMAIN ALERT AND STAY TUNED FOR LATER
STATEMENTS AND POSSIBLE WARNINGS.

DR

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Oct 18, 10:23 AM CDTTornado WarningLCHJasper, Orange62 min
Oct 18, 11:30 AM CDTTornado WarningLCHJasper, Newton, Orange65 min
Oct 18, 11:43 AM CDTFlash Flood WarningLCHHardin, Jasper2 hr

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.