Alert archive / Texas / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1998

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 27, NWS Lake Charles, LA

January 21, 1998Newton County, Texas

NWS Lake Charles, LA issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Jan 21, 1998, 9:46 PM CST for Newton County, Texas. It was in force for 49 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 21, 1998, 9:46 PM CST (03:46 UTC)
Expired: Jan 21, 1998, 10:35 PM CST
In force: 49 min
Issued by: NWS Lake Charles, LA
Area: Whole counties

County Newton County, TX

The radar

The Ft Polk radar (KPOE), 84 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 03:47 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 watch it was issued in

The SPC watch in force over the same counties when this warning went out.

Issued	Product	Office	Lasted
Jan 21, 8:00 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Watch	SPC	6 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Lake Charles Mun, LA (KLCH), launched 00:00Z, 3.8 hours before the alert went out and 91 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-p

Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.

Hodograph

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: 1567 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -9 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 528 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 46 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 120 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 168 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 1.3
Supercell composite: 6.4

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

771 
WUUS1 KLCH 220345 RRA
SVRLCH
TXC351-220435-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES LA
946 PM CST WED JAN 21 1998

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN LAKE CHARLES LA HAS ISSUED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 1035 PM CST
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...

IN SOUTHEASTERN TEXAS

   ...NEWTON COUNTY

AT 945 PM...DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM NEAR
KIRBYVILLE...MOVING EAST AT 25 MPH.  PERSONS IN THE COMMUNITITES OF
BLEAKWOOD AND CALL ARE IN THE PATH OF THIS STORM.

THIS IS A VERY DANGEROUS STORM. FOR YOUR PROTECTION...SEEK SHELTER
IMMEDIATELY IN A STRONG BUILDING. MOVE TO AN INTERIOR ROOM...SUCH
AS A CLOSET OR BATHROOM ON THE LOWEST FLOOR OF YOUR HOME OR
BUSINESS. DO NOT STAND BY WINDOWS.

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 21, 7:45 PM CST, 2 hours 1 minute earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jan 21, 7:45 PM CST, 2 hours 1 minute before

SOUTHEAST TEXAS..SOUTHWEST AND CENTRAL LOUISIANA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES LA
745 PM CST WED JAN 21 1998

SEVERE TSRA CONTINUES OVER EAST TEXAS...GOLFBALL SIZE HAIL REPORTED
EARLIER IN TYLER COUNTY.

00Z LCH SOUNDING SHOWING 2000 CAPES WITH -7 LIS.  WITH CURRENT LOW
LEVEL WIND PROFILE...NE-E MOVING CELLS SHOULD HAVE 0-3KM HELICITIES
RUNNING 180-200 RANGE. PRECIPITATION FILLING IN OVER EAST-CENTRAL TX.
FLASHFLOODING WILL BE A POSSIBILITY...ESPECIALLY OVER NORTHERN ZONES.
MORE OF A SEVERE THREAT WILL CONTINUE OVER COASTAL SECTIONS WITH THE
BETTER LOW LEVEL INFLOW.

FORECAST LOOKS GOOD AT THIS POINT...KEEP FAA TONIGHT FOR ENTIRE AREA.
MAY WANT TO BUMP UP LOWS FOR TONIGHT GIVEN CURRENT TEMPS AND
FRONTAL POSITION.

12

In the hours before

Local storm report, Jan 21, 6:13 PM CST, 3 hours 33 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES LA
613 PM CST WED JAN 21 1998

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

530 PM     9 W KIRBYVILLE            TX   0.75 INCH HAIL
01/21/98   JASPER                         LOCALS REPORT DIME SIZE HAIL.

600 PM     NEWTON                    TX   1.00 INCH HAIL
01/21/98   NEWTON                         REPORTED BY SHERIFF OFFICE

ERICKSON

Local storm report, Jan 21, 7:35 PM CST, 2 hours 11 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES LA
735 PM CST WED JAN 21 1998

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

645 PM     5 N NEWTON                TX   0.75 INCH HAIL
01/21/98   NEWTON                         REPORTED BY SHERIFF OFFICE

ERICKSON

Local storm report, Jan 21, 7:35 PM CST, 2 hours 11 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES LA
735 PM CST WED JAN 21 1998

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

645 PM     5 N NEWTON                TX   0.75 INCH HAIL
01/21/98   NEWTON                         REPORTED BY SHERIFF OFFICE

ERICKSON

Local storm report, Jan 21, 8:34 PM CST, 1 hour 12 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES LA
834 PM CST WED JAN 21 1998

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

815 PM     WOODVILLE                 TX   0.75 INCH HAIL
01/21/98   TYLER                          REPORTED BY SHERIFF OFFICE

ERICKSON

Local storm report, Jan 21, 9:28 PM CST, 18 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES LA
928 PM CST WED JAN 21 1998

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

900 PM     DEQUINCY                  LA   0.75 INCH HAIL
01/21/98   CALCASIEU                      REPORTED BY POLICE DEPT

ERICKSON

Local storm report, Jan 21, 9:28 PM CST, 18 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES LA
928 PM CST WED JAN 21 1998

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

900 PM     DEQUINCY                  LA   0.75 INCH HAIL
01/21/98   CALCASIEU                      REPORTED BY POLICE DEPT

ERICKSON

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Jan 21, 6:33 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	LCH	Newton	32 min
Jan 21, 7:57 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	LCH	Tyler	58 min
Jan 21, 8:50 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	LCH	Jefferson	55 min
Jan 21, 9:11 PM CST	Tornado Warning	LCH	Jasper, Tyler	34 min
Jan 21, 9:44 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	LCH	Jefferson	61 min
Jan 21, 10:32 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	LCH	Orange	63 min
Jan 21, 10:53 PM CST	Flash Flood Warning	LCH	Jefferson	2 hr
Jan 21, 10:55 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	LCH	Jefferson	65 min
Jan 21, 11:24 PM CST	Flash Flood Warning	LCH	Orange	2 hr
Jan 22, 1:53 AM CST	Flash Flood Warning	LCH	Jefferson	2 hr

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Texas, 1998 Every 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.