Alert archive / Louisiana / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1998

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 152, NWS Lake Charles, LA

October 3, 1998Jefferson Davis Parish, Louisiana

NWS Lake Charles, LA issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Oct 3, 1998, 10:50 AM CDT for Jefferson Davis Parish, Louisiana. It was in force for 45 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
Oct 3, 1998, 10:50 AM CDT (15:50 UTC)
Expired
Oct 3, 1998, 11:35 AM CDT
In force
45 min
Issued by
NWS Lake Charles, LA
Area
Whole counties

County Jefferson Davis Parish, LA

The radar

The Lake Charles radar (KLCH), 42 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 15:49 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, 3.8 hours before the alert went out and 41 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 1998-10-03Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 672 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 1998-10-03The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 70 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
672 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-34 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1015 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
22 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
70 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
111 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.7

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

617 
WUUS1 KLCH 031552 RRA
SVRLCH
LAC053-031635-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES LA
1050 AM CDT SAT OCT 3 1998

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN LAKE CHARLES HAS ISSUED A

* SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING FOR...
  JEFFERSON DAVIS PARISH IN SOUTHWESTERN LOUISIANA

* UNTIL 1135 AM CDT

* AT 1050 AM CDT... NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR
  INDICATED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM 8 MILES WEST OF JENNINGS MOVING
  EAST AT 20 MPH.

* THIS STORM CAN BE EXPECTED NEAR...
  LAKE ARTHUR BY 1105 AM CDT
  JENNINGS BY 1110 AM CDT
  HATHAWAY BY 1110 AM CDT

THE MAIN THREAT FROM THESE THUNDERSTORMS IS STRONG STRAIGHT LINE
WINDS. FOR YOUR PROTECTION...SEEK SHELTER IN A STRONG BUILDING.
IF YOU ARE DRIVING...SLOW DOWN...THE HIGH WINDS MAY BLOW YOU OFF
THE ROAD.

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 Oct 3, 9:19 AM CDT, 1 hour 31 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Oct 3, 9:19 AM CDT, 1 hour 31 minutes before
SOUTHEAST TEXAS..SOUTHWEST AND CENTRAL LOUISIANA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES LA
919 AM CDT SAT OCT 3 1998

STRONG THUNDERSTORMS CURRENTLY MOVING THROUGH LCH FA. ACTIVITY DUE TO
OUTFLOW BOUNDRY PROPAGATING OUT OF NORTHEAST TEXAS AND MID LEVEL
TROF WHICH HAS ALSO ENHANCED CONVECTION. LCH SOUNDING MODERATELY
UNSTABLE AROUND 2000 J/KG AND PRECIPITABLE WATER RUNNING AROUND TWO
INCHES. EXPECT ACTIVITY TO CONTINUE PUSHING EASTFWARD TODAY AS MID
LEVEL ENERGY MOVES EAST. LOCALLY HEAVY RAINFALL POSSIBLE. GIVEN
CURRENT TRENDS NEED TO UP POPS OVER SOUTHCENTRAL LA TO 80 PERCENT
ELSEWHERE LOOKS GOOD.

12

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Oct 3, 10:09 AM CDTFlash Flood WarningLCHCalcasieu91 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; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.