Alert archive / Texas / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1998

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 1, NWS Lake Charles, LA

January 5, 1998Tyler County, Texas

NWS Lake Charles, LA issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Jan 5, 1998, 5:44 PM CST for Tyler County, Texas. It was in force for 61 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
Jan 5, 1998, 5:44 PM CST (23:44 UTC)
Expired
Jan 5, 1998, 6:45 PM CST
In force
61 min
Issued by
NWS Lake Charles, LA
Area
Whole counties

County Tyler County, TX

The radar

The Lake Charles radar (KLCH), 132 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 23:47 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, 11.7 hours before the alert went out and 134 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 1998-01-05Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 871 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 1998-01-05The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 137 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
871 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-11 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
480 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
38 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
137 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
152 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
2.0

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

336 
WUUS1 KLCH 052346 RRA
SVRLCH
TXC457-060045-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES LA
544 PM CST MON JAN 5 1998

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN LAKE CHARLES LA HAS ISSUED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 645 PM CST
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...

IN SOUTHEASTERN TEXAS

   ...TYLER COUNTY

AT 540 PM CST...NEXRAD DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A SEVERE
THUNDERSTORM 5 MILES SOUTHWEST OF CHESTER MOVING NORTHEAST
AT 20 MPH.  THIS STORM WILL MOVE ACROSS NORTHWEST TYLER
COUNTY ACROSS CHESTER LIKELY PRODUCING LARGE HAIL.

SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS PRODUCE WINDS IN EXCESS OF 60 MPH...
DESTRUCTIVE HAIL...DEADLY LIGHTNING...AND TORRENTIAL RAIN. FOR
YOUR PROTECTION...SEEK SHELTER IN A STRONG BUILDING. STAY AWAY
FROM WINDOWS AND AVOID USING TELEPHONES...COMPUTERS...OR OTHER
ELECTRICAL EQUIPMENT UNTIL THE STORM HAS PASSED.

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before this severe thunderstorm 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 severe thunderstorm warning went out at Jan 5, 1:50 PM CST, 3 hours 54 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jan 5, 1:50 PM CST, 3 hours 54 minutes before
SOUTHEAST TEXAS..SOUTHWEST AND CENTRAL LOUISIANA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES LA
150 PM CST MON JAN 5 1998

MORE RAIN ON TAP FOR ALREADY SOAKED FA UNFORTUNATELY. FORECAST
PROBLEM IS EXACTLY WHEN IT WILL BEGIN AGAIN. BELIEVE SHWRS
AND TSTMS WILL DEVELOP LATE THIS EVENING IN TX AS SHRT WV MOVES
INTO AREA FROM SW. NEXT PROBLEM IS MOVEMENT OF CF WHICH MODELS
DIFFER ON...HAVE DECIDED TO COMPROMISE AS MANUAL PROGS HAVE DONE
AND BRING INTO FA TUESDAY EVENING. WILL MOVE SLOWLY DUE TO PARALLEL
FLOW ALOFT...AND WILL PROVIDE A FOCUS FOR ADDITIONAL RAINFALL 3RD
AND 4TH PDS AS ADDITIONAL SHRT WVS MOVE ACROSS.  SUBTROPICAL JET
ENERGY BECOMES RE-ESTABLISHED OVR FA TOMORROW AS UPPER LEVEL TROF
AMPLIFIES. AMPLE DIFFLUENCE ALOFT TUESDAY NIGHT AHEAD OF FRONT WILL
LIKELY PRODUCE ORGANIZED CONVECTION AHEAD OF FRONT WITH SOME STRONG
STRMS...BUT FOR NOW WILL FOCUS ON RAINFALL AS THIS IS MAIN THREAT.
BEFORE FRONT MOVES THROUGH FORECAST AREA...LIKELY SOMETIME ON WED...
MAY SEE SOME TOTALS GREATER THAN 5 INCHES. FLASH FLOOD WATCH
SUGGESTED FOR ENTIRE FA TONIGHT AND TUESDAY. DW PTS HAVE RISEN TO
NEAR 70 THIS AFT...SO WILL GO WARMER TONIGHT ON LOW TEMPS.

1

BPT 66/70/57/59 7884
LCH 65/70/58/60 7886  LFT 65/71/58/62 7876  AEX 64/69/56/59 7886

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Texas, 1998Every severe thunderstorm 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.