Alert archive / Louisiana / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1998
Severe Thunderstorm Warning 112, NWS Lake Charles, LA
NWS Lake Charles, LA issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Apr 18, 1998, 9:09 AM CDT for Lafayette Parish, Louisiana. It was in force for 31 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
- Apr 18, 1998, 9:09 AM CDT (14:09 UTC)
- Expired
- Apr 18, 1998, 9:40 AM CDT
- In force
- 31 min
- Issued by
- NWS Lake Charles, LA
- Area
- Whole counties
County Lafayette Parish, LA
The radar
The Lake Charles radar (KLCH), 111 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 14:12 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Apr 18, 9:20 AM CDT | Hail 1.25 | Broussard, 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, 2.2 hours before the alert went out and 110 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
- 0 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- No buoyant parcel
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 542 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 74 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- -139 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 56 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 0.0
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
824 WUUS1 KLCH 181411 RRA SVRLCH LAC055-181440- BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES LA 909 AM CDT SAT APR 18 1998 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN LAKE CHARLES HAS ISSUED A * SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING FOR... LAFAYETTE PARISH IN SOUTHWESTERN LOUISIANA * UNTIL 940 AM CDT * AT 903 AM CDT... NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM 9 MILES SOUTHWEST OF LAFAYETTE OR 2 MILES NORTHWEST OF MILTON MOVING NORTHEAST AT 35 MPH. * THIS STORM CAN BE EXPECTED NEAR... LAFAYETTE BY 915 AM CDT BROUSSARD BY 915 AM CDT MOUTON BY 915 AM CDT THIS THUNDERSTORM IS CAPABLE OF PRODUCING EXTREMELY LARGE HAIL WHICH MAY CAUSE SEVERE DAMAGE TO PROPERTY AND SERIOUS INJURY TO PEOPLE AND LIVESTOCK. DAMAGING WINDS AND TORRENTIAL RAIN ARE ALSO LIKELY WITH THIS STORM. MOVE TO A STURDY BUILD AND STAY AWAY FROM WINDOWS RAP
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 Apr 18, 2:10 AM CDT, 6 hours 59 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Apr 18, 2:10 AM CDT, 6 hours 59 minutes before
SOUTHEAST TEXAS..SOUTHWEST AND CENTRAL LOUISIANA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES LA 210 AM CDT SAT APR 18 1998 WIDESPREAD RAIN EVENT SETTING UP FOR SOUTHEAST TEXAS / LOUISIANA. CONVECTION STARTING TO INTENSIFY OVER CENTRAL LA IN RESPONSE TO INCREASING UPPER LEVEL JET. LATEST 06Z LCH SOUNDING COURTESY OF TRMM PROJECT SHOWING UNSTABLE LAYER FROM 850 UP...WITH ELEVATED CAPE VALUES AROUND 1000 J/KG AND LI AT -4. UPPER LEVEL TROUGH WILL CONTINUE TO MOVE EASTWARD TODAY...SETTING UP GOOD RIGHT REAR QUAD / COUPLED JET ACROSS REGION WITH GOOD DIVERGENCE AT 18Z. BOUNDRY WILL MOVE A LITTLE FURTHER NW BEFORE SFC WAVE DEVELOPS...INTENSIFYING OVER NORTHERN AL. THIS WILL SWEEP COLD FRONT EAST ALONG GULF COAST STATES. SHOULD SEE WIDESPREAD ONE TO TWO INCH TOTALS WITH LOCALLY THREE INCHES POSSIBLE...ESPECIALLY OVER CENTRAL LA. SHOULDNT BE A FLOODING THREAT...GIVEN HIGH FFG NUMBERS AND SPEED OF SYSTEM. BY 00Z TONIGHT UPPER LEVEL TROUGH BEGINS TO PUSH EAST OF THE AREA WITH DRYING / GOOD SUBSIDENCE IN THE MID LAYERS. SHOULD HAVE DECREASING CLOUDS SAT NIGHT...BECOMING MOSTLY SUNNY OVER SOUTHEAST TEXAS / SW LA ON SUN. STAYED CLOSE TO MOS TEMPS. 12 BPT 66/53/77 +00 LCH 66/53/75 +10 LFT 67/58/74 +50 AEX 57/50/70 +20
In the hours before
Special weather statement, Apr 18, 3:10 AM CDT, 5 hours 59 minutes before
LAZ027>033-041>045-051>055-TXZ180>182-201-215-216-181500- HEAVY RAINFALL OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES LA 310 AM CDT SAT APR 18 1998 ...WIDEPREAD RAIN AND THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED ACROSS SOUTHEAST TEXAS AND LOUISIANA TODAY WITH LOCALLY HEAVY RAINFALL POSSIBLE... A STRONG UPPER LEVEL TROUGH LOCATED OVER WEST TEXAS WILL MOVE INTO THE REGION TODAY. THIS IN CONJUNCTION WITH A STRONG UPPER LEVEL JET WILL PRODUCE WIDESPREAD RAIN WITH EMBEDDED THUNDERSTORMS ACROSS MOST OF SOUTHEAST TEXAS AND LOUISIANA. PRECIPITATION WILL BEGIN TO INCREASE OVER SOUTHEAST TEXAS AND CENTRAL LOUISIANA THIS MORNING...SPREADING EASTWARD ACROSS SOUTHWEST AND SOUTHCENTRAL LOUISIANA THROUGH0UT THE DAY. WIDESPREAD ONE TO TWO INCH RAINFALL TOTALS WILL BE LIKELY WITH ISOLATED AMOUNTS OF UP TO THREE INCHES POSSSIBLE ACROSS NORTHERN PORTIONS OF SOUTHEAST TEXAS AND CENTRAL LOUISIANA. AT THIS TIME WIDESPREAD FLOODING IS NOT EXPECTED...ALTHOUGH URBAN AREAS MAY EXPERIENCE MINOR FLOODING OF STREETS AND DITCHES. MOTORISTS SHOULD USE CAUTION TODAY IF TRAVELING. LOCALLY HEAVY RAINFALL WILL REDUCE VISIBILITIES...MAKING DRIVING POTENTIALLY HAZARDOUS. THE SYSTEM WILL MOVE EAST OF THE AREA TONIGHT WITH PRECIPITATION ENDING OVER SOUTHEAST TEXAS BY EARLY EVENING AND AROUND MIDNIGHT FOR RESIDENTS IN CENTRAL AND SOUTHCENTRAL LOUISIANA. STAY TUNED TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO AND YOUR LOCAL MEDIA SOURCE FOR FURTHER WEATHER INFORMATION.
Special weather statement, Apr 18, 3:10 AM CDT, 5 hours 59 minutes before
LAZ027>033-041>045-051>055-TXZ180>182-201-215-216-181500- HEAVY RAINFALL OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES LA 310 AM CDT SAT APR 18 1998 ...WIDEPREAD RAIN AND THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED ACROSS SOUTHEAST TEXAS AND LOUISIANA TODAY WITH LOCALLY HEAVY RAINFALL POSSIBLE... A STRONG UPPER LEVEL TROUGH LOCATED OVER WEST TEXAS WILL MOVE INTO THE REGION TODAY. THIS IN CONJUNCTION WITH A STRONG UPPER LEVEL JET WILL PRODUCE WIDESPREAD RAIN WITH EMBEDDED THUNDERSTORMS ACROSS MOST OF SOUTHEAST TEXAS AND LOUISIANA. PRECIPITATION WILL BEGIN TO INCREASE OVER SOUTHEAST TEXAS AND CENTRAL LOUISIANA THIS MORNING...SPREADING EASTWARD ACROSS SOUTHWEST AND SOUTHCENTRAL LOUISIANA THROUGH0UT THE DAY. WIDESPREAD ONE TO TWO INCH RAINFALL TOTALS WILL BE LIKELY WITH ISOLATED AMOUNTS OF UP TO THREE INCHES POSSSIBLE ACROSS NORTHERN PORTIONS OF SOUTHEAST TEXAS AND CENTRAL LOUISIANA. AT THIS TIME WIDESPREAD FLOODING IS NOT EXPECTED...ALTHOUGH URBAN AREAS MAY EXPERIENCE MINOR FLOODING OF STREETS AND DITCHES. MOTORISTS SHOULD USE CAUTION TODAY IF TRAVELING. LOCALLY HEAVY RAINFALL WILL REDUCE VISIBILITIES...MAKING DRIVING POTENTIALLY HAZARDOUS. THE SYSTEM WILL MOVE EAST OF THE AREA TONIGHT WITH PRECIPITATION ENDING OVER SOUTHEAST TEXAS BY EARLY EVENING AND AROUND MIDNIGHT FOR RESIDENTS IN CENTRAL AND SOUTHCENTRAL LOUISIANA. STAY TUNED TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO AND YOUR LOCAL MEDIA SOURCE FOR FURTHER WEATHER INFORMATION.
The office that day
Everything else NWS Lake Charles, LA issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apr 18, 9:31 AM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | LCH | Saint Martin | 19 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.