Alert archive / Louisiana / Flash Flood Warnings in 1999

Flash Flood Warning 28, NWS Lake Charles, LA

May 31, 1999Lafayette Parish, Louisiana

NWS Lake Charles, LA issued this flash flood warning at May 31, 1999, 7:03 PM CDT for Lafayette Parish, Louisiana. It was in force for 62 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
May 31, 1999, 7:03 PM CDT (00:03 UTC)
Expired
May 31, 1999, 8:05 PM CDT
In force
62 min
Issued by
NWS Lake Charles, LA
Area
Whole counties

County Lafayette Parish, LA

The radar

The Lake Charles radar (KLCH), 111 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 00:02 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 00:00Z, 0.1 hours before the alert went out and 110 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 1999-06-01Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 2405 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 1999-06-01The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 109 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
2405 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-12 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
895 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
56 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
109 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
114 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
1.2
Supercell composite
7.3

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KLCH 010001
FFWLCH
LAC055-010105-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
FLASH FLOOD WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES LA
703 PM CDT MON MAY 31 1999

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN LAKE CHARLES HAS ISSUED A

* FLASH FLOOD WARNING FOR...
  LAFAYETTE PARISH IN SOUTHWESTERN LOUISIANA

* UNTIL 805 PM CDT

* AT 655 PM...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR ESTIMATED THAT
  3 TO 4 INCHES OF RAIN HAS FALLEN ACROSS LAFAYETTE PARISH
  DURING THE PAST HOUR. 2 TO 3 INCHES OF ADDITIONAL RAINFALL IS
  EXPECTED ACROSS LAFAYETTE PARISH DURING THE NEXT HOUR.

* SIGNIFICANT FLOODING OF LOW LYING AREAS WILL BE POSSIBLE IN THE
  CITY OF LAFAYETTE AND THE SURROUNDING AREAS.

DO NOT DRIVE YOUR VEHICLE INTO AREAS WHERE WATER COVERS
THE ROAD TO UNKNOWN DEPTHS. THE DEPTH OF THE WATER MAY BE
TOO GREAT TO ALLOW YOUR CAR TO CROSS SAFELY. REMEMBER...MOST
FLOOD RELATED DEATHS OCCUR IN AUTOMOBILES.

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before this flash flood 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 flash flood warning went out at May 31, 1:56 PM CDT, 5 hours 7 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, May 31, 1:56 PM CDT, 5 hours 7 minutes before
SOUTHWEST AND CENTRAL LOUISIANA/SOUTHEAST TEXAS FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES LA
156 PM CDT MON MAY 31 1999

MCS CURRENTLY MAKING ITS WAY ACROSS NE TX AND NW LA WILL CONTINUE
ITS TREK TO THE SOUTH THIS EVENING. IT HAS SHOWN A WEAKENING TREND
OVER THE LAST COUPLE OF HOURS. HOWEVER...IT WILL MAKE ITS WAY
INTO THE LCH CWA IN SOME FORM OR ANOTHER. WL LEAVE POPS IN THE
CHC CAT THIS EVENING DUE THE MCS.

THE MODELS ARE IN PRETTY GUD AGREEMENT ABOUT THE REMAINDER OF
THE FP WITH THE 5H BUILDING ACROSS OLD MEXICO AND INTO THE FA
AND THE 5H LOW DIGGING FROM THE CENTRAL GULF INTO THE BAY OF
CAMPECHE. AT THE SFC...WEAK HIGH PRESSURE WILL REMAIN ENTRENCHED
OVER THE FA. WHAT DOES THIS MEAN FOR THE LCH FA? WELL..AFTER A CHANCE
OF SHRA AND TSRA THIS EVENING. THE POP FOR THE FA WILL BE MINIMAL.

WL STICK PRETTY CLOSE TO FWC TEMPERATURES.

10

LCH 71/88/72/88 3000
AEX 70/89/71/90 3000
BPT 73/89/73/89 3000
LFT 70/88/72/89 3000

In the hours before

Local storm report, May 31, 6:35 PM CDT, 28 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES LA
635 PM CDT MON MAY 31 1999

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

0626 PM    LAFAYETTE                 LA   1.75 INCH HAIL
05/31/99   LAFAYETTE                      GOLFBALL SIZE HAIL REPORTED
                                          BY MEDIA.  TREES DOWN
                                          REPORTED BY PRIVATE
                                          METEOROLOGIST.

0511 PM    2 S DRY CREEK             LA   WIND DAMAGE
05/31/99   BEAUREGARD                     TREES DOWN REPORTED BY
                                          SHERIFFS DEPARTMENT.
Local storm report, May 31, 6:35 PM CDT, 28 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES LA
635 PM CDT MON MAY 31 1999

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

0626 PM    LAFAYETTE                 LA   1.75 INCH HAIL
05/31/99   LAFAYETTE                      GOLFBALL SIZE HAIL REPORTED
                                          BY MEDIA.  TREES DOWN
                                          REPORTED BY PRIVATE
                                          METEOROLOGIST.

0511 PM    2 S DRY CREEK             LA   WIND DAMAGE
05/31/99   BEAUREGARD                     TREES DOWN REPORTED BY
                                          SHERIFFS DEPARTMENT.

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 31, 7:10 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLCHLafayette65 min

Nearby

Flash Flood Warnings in Louisiana, 1999Every flash flood warning in 1999

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.