Alert archive / Louisiana / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1998

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 83, NWS Lake Charles, LA

March 7, 1998Cameron Parish, Louisiana

NWS Lake Charles, LA issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Mar 7, 1998, 2:42 AM CST for Cameron Parish, Louisiana. It was in force for 63 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, 2:42 AM CST (08:42 UTC)
Expired
Mar 7, 1998, 3:45 AM CST
In force
63 min
Issued by
NWS Lake Charles, LA
Area
Whole counties

County Cameron Parish, LA

The radar

The Lake Charles radar (KLCH), 31 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 08:42 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, 3:30 AM CSTHail 1.25Grand Chenier, 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 00:00Z, 8.7 hours before the alert went out and 30 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 1998-03-07Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 904 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 00:00Z on 1998-03-07The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 65 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
904 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-3 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
617 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
50 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
65 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
159 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.4
Supercell composite
2.1

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KLCH 070841 RRA
SVRLCH
LAC023-070945-

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

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN LAKE CHARLES LA HAS ISSUED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 345 AM CST
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...

IN SOUTHWESTERN LOUISIANA

   ...CENTRAL AND EASTERN CAMERON PARISH

AT 235 AM...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RADAR INDICATED A SEVERE
THUNDEpRSTORM MOVING ONSHORE IN CAMERON PARISH JUST SOUTH CREOLE.
THIS STORM WAS MOVING NORTHEAST AT 30 MPH AND WILL MOVE ACROSS
HIGHWAY 82 BY 255 AM AND PASS BETWEEN CREOLE AND GRAND CHENIER BY
315 AM.

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, 1:55 AM CST, 47 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Mar 7, 1:55 AM CST, 47 minutes before
SOUTHEAST TEXAS..SOUTHWEST AND CENTRAL LOUISIANA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES LA
155 AM CST SAT MAR 7 1998

STRONGEST ACTIVITY NOW PUSHING NORTHEAST OF FA WITH ACTIVITY
REDEVELOPING ALONG COASTAL SECTIONS WHERE JET SUPPORT CONTINUES. NEXT
BOUT OF SEVERE WEATHER STILL ON TAP BEGINNING LATE THIS MORNING...
CONTINUING INTO THIS EVENING WHEN SURFACE COLD FRONT SWEEPS EAST
ACROSS FA. MODELS STILL SHOWING IMPRESSIVE DIRECTIONAL DIVERGENCE
UPSTREAM DEVELOPING/DEEPENING UPPER LEVEL LOW. FLASH FLOOD WATCH
THROUGH THIS EVENING STILL LOOKS GOOD DUE TO RECENT RAINS...00Z LCH
SOUNDING SHOWED PW VALUES AROUND 1.7 INCHES. PATCHY FOG REDEVELOPING
ALONG COASTAL SECTIONS THIS MORNING...HOWEVER NOT EXPECTING WIDESPREAD
DENSE FOG. LITTLE CHANGE IN TEMPERTURES EXPECTED TODAY AS THICKNESSES
CHANGE LITTLE.
09

BPT 76/57/65 850
LCH 75/59/65 850  LFT 74/60/66 860  AEX 70/56/64 870

TX ZONES...

LA ZONES...

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, 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, 1:26 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLCHBeauregard44 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.