Alert archive / Texas / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1998

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 87, NWS Lake Charles, LA

March 7, 1998Jefferson County, Texas

NWS Lake Charles, LA issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Mar 7, 1998, 4:11 AM CST for Jefferson County, Texas. It was in force for 49 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, 4:11 AM CST (10:11 UTC)
Expired
Mar 7, 1998, 5:00 AM CST
In force
49 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 10:10 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, 4:30 AM CSTThunderstorm Wind 50Port Neches, TX58 mph wind gust recorded at Huntsman Plant.

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 watch it was issued in

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

IssuedProductOfficeLasted
Mar 7, 3:45 AM CSTTornado WatchSPC6 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Lake Charles Mun, LA (KLCH), launched 00:00Z, 10.2 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 1998-03-07Temperature 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.

347 
WUUS1 KLCH 071012 RRA
SVRLCH
TXC245-071100-

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

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN LAKE CHARLES LA HAS ISSUED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 500 AM CST
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...

IN SOUTHEASTERN TEXAS

   ...JEFFERSON COUNTY

AT 405 AM CST...NEXRAD DOPPLER INDICATED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM
3 MILES EAST OF HAMSHIRE.

MOVEMENT IS EAST AT 30 MPH.

THE COMMUNTIES OF NEDERLAND...AND PORT ARTHUR ARE IN THE
PATH OF THIS STORM.

THE PRIMARY THREAT FROM THIS STORM IS LARGE HAIL.

A TORNADO WATCH IS ALSO IN EFFECT FOR THE WARNED AREA. REMEMBER...
SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS CAN AND OCCASIONALLY DO PRODUCE TORNADOES
WITH LITTLE OR NO ADVANCE WARNING. IF A TORNADO APPROACHES YOUR
AREA...REMAIN CALM...MOVE TO A SMALL INTERIOR ROOM ON THE LOWEST
FLOOR OF YOUR HOME OR BUSINESS...SUCH AS A BATHROOM OR CLOSET.
PROTECT YOURSELF FROM FLYING DEBRIS WITH BLANKETS OR PILLOWS.

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, 2 hours 16 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Mar 7, 1:55 AM CST, 2 hours 16 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 7, 4:31 AM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLCHOrange44 min
Mar 7, 5:21 AM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLCHJefferson59 min
Mar 7, 5:33 AM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLCHOrange47 min
Mar 7, 5:49 AM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLCHHardin31 min
Mar 7, 6:54 AM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLCHNewton31 min
Mar 7, 5:27 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLCHJasper48 min
Mar 7, 5:52 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLCHNewton63 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.