Alert archive / Texas / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1998

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 69, NWS Lake Charles, LA

February 21, 1998Jefferson County, Texas

NWS Lake Charles, LA issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Feb 21, 1998, 11:40 PM CST for Jefferson County, Texas. It was in force for 60 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
Feb 21, 1998, 11:40 PM CST (05:40 UTC)
Expired
Feb 22, 1998, 12:40 AM CST
In force
60 min
Issued by
NWS Lake Charles, LA
Area
Whole counties

County Jefferson County, TX

The radar

The Lake Charles radar (KLCH), 95 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 05:44 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
Feb 22, 12:30 AM CSTThunderstorm WindNederland, TX

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 00:00Z, 5.7 hours before the alert went out and 96 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 00:00Z on 1998-02-22Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 0 joules per kilogram.LCL10008507005003002001001 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 00:00Z on 1998-02-22The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 73 square meters per square second.1939587897117Sfc1 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
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
No buoyant parcel
Mixed-layer LCL
1523 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
48 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
73 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
174 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.0

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

221 
WUUS1 KLCH 220542 RRA
SVRLCH
TXC245-220630-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES LA
1140 PM CST SAT FEB 21 1998

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN LAKE CHARLES LA HAS ISSUED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 1240 AM CST
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...

IN SOUTHEASTERN TEXAS

   ...JEFFERSON COUNTY

AT 1139 PM...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A
LINE OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS MOVING EAST AT 35 MPH. THIS LINE WILL
MOVE INTO WESTERN PORTIONS OF JEFFERSON COUNTY IN THE NEXT 10
MINUTES.  THE MAIN THREAT FROM THESE STORMS WILL BE WINDS IN EXCESS
OF 60 MPH.  PERSONS IN THE COMMUNITIES OF NOME...CHINA...HAMSHIRE
AND BEAUMONT ARE IN THE PATH OF THESE STORMS.


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 Feb 21, 8:04 PM CST, 3 hours 36 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Feb 21, 8:04 PM CST, 3 hours 36 minutes before
SOUTHEAST TEXAS..SOUTHWEST AND CENTRAL LOUISIANA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES LA
804 PM CST SAT FEB 21 1998

PREV FCST ON TRACK FOR SRN ZNS. WOULD LIKE A TWEAK DOWNWARD FOR AEX
AS TEMPS SHUD DROP LATE TNITE AS LOW PASSES EAST AND CAA BEGINS...
AS SEEN ON ETA THCKNS WITH A DOWNWARD TREND. OTHERWISE...ONSHORE FLO
SHUD KEEP TEMPS UP FOR SRN ZNS TNITE. 88-D SHOWING XTSV PCPN FM HOU
AND LFK AREA WEST INTO HILL COUNTRY. WV LOOP SHOWING TSTMS FIRING
OFF FM S CEN TO S TX AHEAD OF A WELL DEFINED TROF WITH STG VORTICITY
SHOWING UP IN WELL DEFINED COMMA MOVING INTO E TX. 01Z SFC DATA SHOWS
SFC LOW STILL FORMING UP ALG LWR TX CST. ETA TRACK OF SFC LOW RUNS
FM NR HOU AT MIDNIGHT TO LCH AT DAYBREAK AND ON TO BTR AT NOON ON
SUNDAY. 88-D VAD WINDS AT LCH SHOWING FAVORABLE LOW AND MID LVL SHEAR
FOR ROTATING TSTMS. CURRENT TRENDS STILL SHOW EVENTUAL SFC LOW TO BE
SOUTH OF ETA/NGM TRACK...OVR NRN GULF AND UPR AIR DYNAMICS NOT
SHOWING FAVORABLE JETSTREAKS...HWVR ELEVATED SVR TSTMS PSBL IN STG
UVV ARND MIDNIGHT. 11
BPT 53/62/47/71 9300
LCH 54/61/47/70 9400  LFT 54/62/48/71 9600  AEX 46/57/46/70 8300

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Feb 22, 12:31 AM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLCHOrange59 min

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Texas, 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.