Alert archive / Louisiana / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1998
Severe Thunderstorm Warning 10, NWS Lake Charles, LA
NWS Lake Charles, LA issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Jan 12, 1998, 4:29 AM CST for Calcasieu Parish, Louisiana. It was in force for 61 min. 1 report came from inside the area while it was in force.
The area
The counties it named, with what was reported inside it.
The facts
- Issued
- Jan 12, 1998, 4:29 AM CST (10:29 UTC)
- Expired
- Jan 12, 1998, 5:30 AM CST
- In force
- 61 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 10:29 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.
What was reported inside it
| Time | Report | Where | Remark |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jan 12, 4:45 AM CST | Tornado F0 | Sulphur, LA |
NCEI Storm Data entries that began inside the alert's area while it was in force. Before 2003 the local storm report archive is thin, so this is the record of what happened rather than what was phoned in.
The watch it was issued in
The SPC watch in force over the same counties when this warning went out.
| Issued | Product | Office | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jan 11, 11:30 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Watch | SPC | 7 hr |
The nearest sounding before it
Lake Charles Mun, LA (KLCH), launched 00:00Z, 10.5 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
- 16 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -82 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 953 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 67 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 148 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 253 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 0.7
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
183 WUUS1 KLCH 121031 RRA SVRLCH LAC019-121130- BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES LA 429 AM CST MON JAN 12 1998 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN LAKE CHARLES LA HAS ISSUED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 530 AM CST FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION... IN SOUTHWESTERN LOUISIANA ...CALCASIEU PARISH AT 425 AM CST...NEXRAD DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM 5 MILES NORTHWEST OF VINTON MOVING SOUTHEAST AT 35 MPH. WIND GUSTS TO 60 MPH CAN BE EXPECTED WITH THIS STORM AS IT MOVES BETWEEN SULPHUR AND CARLYSS. 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 12, 2:20 AM CST, 2 hours 9 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Jan 12, 2:20 AM CST, 2 hours 9 minutes before
SOUTHEAST TEXAS..SOUTHWEST AND CENTRAL LOUISIANA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES LA 220 AM CST MON JAN 12 1998 BUSY NIGHT AS CONVERGENCE ZONE LIES ACROSS CEN LA AND VORT MAX ENHANCES LIFT WITH SUBTROPICAL JET STREAM OVERHEAD. RAINFALL AMTS ARE BEGINNING TO PILE UP ACROSS NORTHERN PORTION OF FA AND DEVELOPMENT STILL OCCURRING BACK TO THE SW...MAY NEED FLASH FLOOD WATCH TODAY FOR MORNING HOURS. PWS ARE RUNNING ABOVE ONE INCH AND RADAR ESTIMATES SHOWING STRONG STORMS PUTTING DOWN AS MUCH AS 2 INCHES AN HOUR. HAVE A LITTLE MORE TIME TO CONSIDER THIS SO WILL COORD LATER. AS FAR AS FORECAST...MESSY SITUATION SETTING UP AS AREA IS IN AXIS OF A SERIES OF SHRT WVS WITH AMPLE SUBTROPICAL JET ENERGY PRESENT. MODELS ARE UNDERFORECASTING RAINFALL AMTS CONSIDERABLY AND DO NOT LOOK GOOD FOR THE FIRST PART OF TODAY. SFC TROF/STATIONARY FRONTAL BOUNDARY IN TX IS NOT SHOWING MUCH EASTWARD PROGRESSION...SO WILL KEEP POPS IN CHC CAT TODAY AREAWIDE. WILL LIKELY NEED TO CONTINUE MENTION OF POSSIBLY SVR STORMS THIS MORNING AREAWIDE. 1 BPT 71/62/70 5355 LCH 70/61/70 5355 LFT 72/61/72 5355 AEX 68/58/68 7344
In the hours before
Local storm report, Jan 11, 11:35 PM CST, 4 hours 54 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES LA
1135 PM CST SUN JAN 11 1998
TIME(CST) .....CITY LOCATION.....STATE ...EVENT/REMARKS...
....COUNTY LOCATION....
1035 PM WARREN TX 0.75 INCH HAIL
01/11/98 TYLER NICKEL SIZE HAIL REPORTED BY
TELEVISION STATION WEATHER
OBSERVOR.Local storm report, Jan 12, 12:21 AM CST, 4 hours 8 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES LA
1221 AM CST MON JAN 12 1998
TIME(CST) .....CITY LOCATION.....STATE ...EVENT/REMARKS...
....COUNTY LOCATION....
645 AM S LACASSINE LA WIND DAMAGE
01/12/98 JEFFERSON DAVIS POWER LINES DOWNED DUE TO
TREE LIMBS. HWY 101 JUST
SOUTH OF LACASSINE. REPORTED
BY JEFF DAVIS ELECTRIC.Local storm report, Jan 12, 12:48 AM CST, 3 hours 41 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES LA
1248 AM CST MON JAN 12 1998
TIME(CST) .....CITY LOCATION.....STATE ...EVENT/REMARKS...
....COUNTY LOCATION....
1130 PM KIRBYVILLE TX 0.75 INCH HAIL
01/11/98 JASPER DIME SIZE HAIL REPORTED BY
JASPER COUNTY SHERIFFS
OFFICE PERSONNEL.The office that day
Everything else NWS Lake Charles, LA issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan 12, 1:05 AM CST | Tornado Warning | LCH | Beauregard | 50 min |
| Jan 12, 1:23 AM CST | Tornado Warning | LCH | Allen | 47 min |
| Jan 12, 1:47 AM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | LCH | Evangeline | 33 min |
| Jan 12, 2:11 AM CST | Tornado Warning | LCH | Allen | 29 min |
| Jan 12, 2:25 AM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | LCH | Evangeline | 45 min |
| Jan 12, 2:33 AM CST | Flash Flood Warning | LCH | Allen, Evangeline | 117 min |
| Jan 12, 2:33 AM CST | Flash Flood Warning | LCH | Beauregard | 117 min |
| Jan 12, 2:38 AM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | LCH | Avoyelles | 62 min |
| Jan 12, 3:13 AM CST | Tornado Warning | LCH | Evangeline | 47 min |
| Jan 12, 3:53 AM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | LCH | Saint Landry | 62 min |
| Jan 12, 4:52 AM CST | Flash Flood Warning | LCH | Allen, Evangeline | 4 hr |
| Jan 12, 5:33 AM CST | Flash Flood Warning | LCH | Beauregard | 4 hr |
| Jan 12, 5:43 AM CST | Flash Flood Warning | LCH | Saint Landry | 2 hr |
| Jan 12, 7:01 AM CST | Flash Flood Warning | LCH | Calcasieu, Jefferson Davis | 119 min |
| Jan 12, 7:47 AM CST | Flash Flood Warning | LCH | Saint Landry | 118 min |
| Jan 12, 8:11 AM CST | Flash Flood Warning | LCH | Acadia | 119 min |
| Jan 12, 9:02 AM CST | Flash Flood Warning | LCH | Allen, Evangeline, Jefferson Davis | 3 hr |
| Jan 12, 9:02 AM CST | Flash Flood Warning | LCH | Beauregard, Calcasieu | 3 hr |
| Jan 12, 9:50 AM CST | Flash Flood Warning | LCH | Acadia, Saint Landry | 2 hr |
Nearby
Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Louisiana, 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; verification from NCEI's Storm Data; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.