Alert archive / Louisiana / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1998

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 101, NWS Lake Charles, LA

March 7, 1998Beauregard Parish, Louisiana

NWS Lake Charles, LA issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Mar 7, 1998, 1:26 PM CST for Beauregard Parish, Louisiana. It was in force for 44 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
Mar 7, 1998, 1:26 PM CST (19:26 UTC)
Expired
Mar 7, 1998, 2:10 PM CST
In force
44 min
Issued by
NWS Lake Charles, LA
Area
Whole counties

County Beauregard Parish, LA

The radar

The Lake Charles radar (KLCH), 59 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 19:29 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

TimeReportWhereRemark
Mar 7, 1:50 PM CSTHail 0.75Dry Creek, 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 nearest sounding before it

Lake Charles Mun, LA (KLCH), launched 12:00Z, 7.4 hours before the alert went out and 60 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 1998-03-07Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 666 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 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 1998-03-07The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 201 square meters per square second.193958Sfc1 km3 km6 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
666 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-108 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
549 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
46 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
201 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
285 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
3.9

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

587 
WUUS1 KLCH 071928 RRA
SVRLCH
LAC011-072010-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES LA
126 PM CST SAT MAR 7 1998

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN LAKE CHARLES LA HAS ISSUED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 210 PM CST
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...

IN SOUTHWESTERN LOUISIANA

   ...BEAUREGARD PARISH

AT 125 PM...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM...4 MILES SOUTH OF DERIDDER...MOVING NORTHEAST
AT 40 MPH.  PERSONS IN THE COMMUNITIES OF LONGVILLE...DERIDDER AND
SUGARTOWN ARE IN THE PATH OF THIS STORM. THE MAIN THREAT FROM THIS
STORM WILL BE QUARTER SIZE HAIL.


A TORNADO WATCH IS ALSO IN EFFECT FOR THE WARNED AREA. REMEMBER...
SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS CAN AND OCCASIONALLY DO PRODUCE TORNADOES
WITH LITTLE OR NO ADVANCE WARNING. IF A TORNADO APPROACHES YOUR
AREA...REMAIN CALM...MOVE TO A SMALL INTERIOR ROOM ON THE LOWEST
FLOOR OF YOUR HOME OR BUSINESS...SUCH AS A BATHROOM OR CLOSET.
PROTECT YOURSELF FROM FLYING DEBRIS WITH BLANKETS OR PILLOWS.

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 Mar 7, 12:52 PM CST, 34 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Mar 7, 12:52 PM CST, 34 minutes before
SOUTHEAST TEXAS..SOUTHWEST AND CENTRAL LOUISIANA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES LA
130 PM CST SAT MAR 7 1998

APPEARS AFT WILL BE BUSY AS TSTMS BEGINNING TO REGENERATE. DECENT
TORNADO THREAT THIS AFTERNOON AS LOW LEVEL SHEAR INCREASING AS SFC
WINDS INCREASE. WILL HIT THE HIGH PTS OF FORECAST. MODELS IN BETTER
AGREEMENT THAN THEY HAVE BEEN WITH PREVIOUS RUNS. HAVE TRENDED CLOSE
TO ETA SOLN WITH UPCOMING FORECAST. AXIS OF DEEP MOISTURE WILL DICTATE
POPS FOR FIRST PD. IT MOVES EAST TONIGHT WELL AHEAD OF COLD AIR...ALONG
AND JUST AHEAD OF SFC TROF/DRY LINE CURRENTLY SOUTH OF DEVELOPING SFC
LOW BETWEEN LFK AND CLL. BEST CHC FOR SVR WILL BE THIS AFT/EARLY
EVE ACROSS AREA AS SOME HEATING OCCURS AND ATMOS FURTHER DESTABILIZES.

WOULD LIKE TO KKEP FFA FOR LA ZONES FOR PRIMARILY EVENING HVY RAIN
POTENTIAL...HOWEVER BEST MOISTURE WILL BE EAST OF SE TX BY 00Z SO WILL
LET FFA FOR THAT AREA EXPIRE AT 00Z.

LIKE SLIGHTLY COOLER HIGHS 2ND PD WITH CC REMAINING MOST OF DAY AND
DECENT CAA. WILL KEEP POPS FOR SUN MORNING WITH STRONG VORT ROUNDING
BASE OF TROF.

1

BPT 54/60/36/58 3200
LCH 55/60/37/58 6200  LFT 55/59/38/59 6200  AEX 53/57/36/57 6200

In the hours before

Local storm report, Mar 7, 7:50 AM CST, 5 hours 36 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES LA
750 AM CST SAT MAR 7 1998

TIME(CST)  .....CITY LOCATION.....STATE   ...EVENT/REMARKS...
           ....COUNTY LOCATION....

700 AM     5 S SULPHUR            LA      0.75 INCH HAIL
03/07/98   CALCASIEU                      IN CARLYSS AREA

ERICKSON
Local storm report, Mar 7, 7:50 AM CST, 5 hours 36 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES LA
750 AM CST SAT MAR 7 1998

TIME(CST)  .....CITY LOCATION.....STATE   ...EVENT/REMARKS...
           ....COUNTY LOCATION....

700 AM     5 S SULPHUR            LA      0.75 INCH HAIL
03/07/98   CALCASIEU                      IN CARLYSS AREA

ERICKSON
Special weather statement, Mar 7, 10:17 AM CST, 3 hours 9 minutes before
LAZ027>033-041>045-051>055-TXZ180>182-201-215-216-071915-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES LA
1017 AM CST SAT MAR 7 1998

...THE TORNADO WATCH IN EFFECT UNTIL 10 AM HAS BEEN ALLOWED TO
EXPIRE...

STRONG TO SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WILL CONTINUE TO PUSH NORTHEAST
OUT OF CENTRAL LOUISIANA. THEREFORE THE WATCH FOR SOUTHEAST
TEXAS...SOUTHWEST...SOUTH CENTRAL...AND PORTIONS OF CENTRAL
LOUISIANA HAS BEEN ALLOWED TO EXPIRE.

THUNDERSTORM RE-DEVELOPMENT IS EXPECTED LATER THIS AFTERNOON. THE
BEST CHANCE FOR SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WILL OCCUR LATE THIS AFTERNOON
AND TONIGHT AS ADDITIONAL UPPER LEVEL ENERGY AND A COLD
FRONT APPROACHS FROM THE WEST.
Special weather statement, Mar 7, 10:17 AM CST, 3 hours 9 minutes before
LAZ027>033-041>045-051>055-TXZ180>182-201-215-216-071915-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES LA
1017 AM CST SAT MAR 7 1998

...THE TORNADO WATCH IN EFFECT UNTIL 10 AM HAS BEEN ALLOWED TO
EXPIRE...

STRONG TO SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WILL CONTINUE TO PUSH NORTHEAST
OUT OF CENTRAL LOUISIANA. THEREFORE THE WATCH FOR SOUTHEAST
TEXAS...SOUTHWEST...SOUTH CENTRAL...AND PORTIONS OF CENTRAL
LOUISIANA HAS BEEN ALLOWED TO EXPIRE.

THUNDERSTORM RE-DEVELOPMENT IS EXPECTED LATER THIS AFTERNOON. THE
BEST CHANCE FOR SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WILL OCCUR LATE THIS AFTERNOON
AND TONIGHT AS ADDITIONAL UPPER LEVEL ENERGY AND A COLD
FRONT APPROACHS FROM THE WEST.

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Mar 6, 11:48 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLCHJefferson Davis
Mar 7, 2:42 AM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLCHCameron63 min
Mar 7, 3:41 AM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLCHAllen59 min
Mar 7, 3:51 AM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLCHCameron34 min
Mar 7, 3:57 AM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLCHVermilion58 min
Mar 7, 4:36 AM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLCHRapides59 min
Mar 7, 4:40 AM CSTTornado WarningLCHVermilion65 min
Mar 7, 4:55 AM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLCHAcadia45 min
Mar 7, 5:11 AM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLCHBeauregard44 min
Mar 7, 5:17 AM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLCHIberia63 min
Mar 7, 5:57 AM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLCHCalcasieu43 min
Mar 7, 6:24 AM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLCHCameron61 min
Mar 7, 6:36 AM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLCHCalcasieu49 min
Mar 7, 6:45 AM CSTFlash Flood WarningLCHCalcasieu2 hr
Mar 7, 7:50 AM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLCHJefferson Davis40 min
Mar 7, 1:50 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLCHAllen45 min
Mar 7, 2:14 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLCHRapides56 min
Mar 7, 2:20 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLCHSaint Landry60 min
Mar 7, 2:51 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLCHBeauregard34 min
Mar 7, 2:58 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLCHVernon47 min
Mar 7, 3:49 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLCHVernon46 min

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.