Alert archive / Louisiana / Flash Flood Warnings in 1999

Flash Flood Warning 3, NWS Lake Charles, LA

January 7, 1999Lafayette Parish, Saint Martin Parish, Louisiana

NWS Lake Charles, LA issued this flash flood warning at Jan 7, 1999, 10:20 AM CST for Lafayette Parish, Saint Martin Parish, Louisiana. It was in force for 3 hr. 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 7, 1999, 10:20 AM CST (16:20 UTC)
Expired: Jan 7, 1999, 1:15 PM CST
In force: 3 hr
Issued by: NWS Lake Charles, LA
Area: Whole counties

Counties Lafayette Parish, LA, Saint Martin Parish, LA

The nearest sounding before it

Lake Charles Mun, LA (KLCH), launched 12:00Z, 4.3 hours before the alert went out and 131 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: 45 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -24 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 497 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 32 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 163 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 287 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.0
Supercell composite: 0.1

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KLCH 071622
FFWLCH
LAC039-055-097-099-071910-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
FLASH FLOOD WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES LA
1020 AM CST THU JAN 7 1999

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN LAKE CHARLES HAS ISSUED A

* FLASH FLOOD WARNING FOR...
  EVANGELINE PARISH IN SOUTHWESTERN LOUISIANA
  LAFAYETTE PARISH IN SOUTHWESTERN LOUISIANA
  ST. LANDRY PARISH IN SOUTH CENTRAL LOUISIANA
  UPPER ST. MARTIN PARISH IN SOUTH CENTRAL LOUISIANA

* UNTIL 115 PM CST

* NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR ESTIMATED THAT 2 TO 4
INCHES OF RAIN HAVE FALLEN ACROSS NORTHERN SECTIONS OF LAFAYETTE AND
UPPER ST. MARTIN PARISHES AND SOUTHERN SECTIONS OF EVANGELINE AND
ST. LANDRY PARISHES SINCE WEDNESDAY NIGHT. THIS ENCOMPASSES AN AREA
FROM INTERSTATE 10 NORTH TO AN OBERLIN-VILLE PLATTE-PALMETTO LINE.
2 TO 4 INCHES OF ADDITIONAL RAINFALL ARE EXPECTED ACROSS THE WARNING
AREA THROUGH THIS EVENING .

* ST. LANDRY SHERIFFS OFFICE HAS REPORTED TWENTY ROADS UNDER
WATER...INCLUDING HWY 190 IN SEVERAL LOCATIONS. IN LAFAYETTE
PARISH...NUMEROUS ROADS ARE UNDER WATER IN THE CARENCRO AREA.


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.


STAY TUNED TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO AND LOCAL MEDIA FOR FURTHER UPDATES
ON THIS LIFE THREATENING FLOOD EVENT.

&

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 Jan 7, 8:35 AM CST, 1 hour 45 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jan 7, 8:35 AM CST, 1 hour 45 minutes before

SOUTHWEST...CENTRAL LOUISIANA AND SOUTHEAST TEXAS FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES LA
835 AM CST THU JAN 7 1999

CURRENT SFC MAP SHOWS WARM FRONT IN NORTHERN LA WITH HEAVY TO
TORRENTIAL RAINFALL CENTERED ALONG THE I-10 CORRIDOR OVERNIGHT WITH
12-HOUR TOTALS OF 4-6 OVER A LARGE AREA. THE HEAVIEST BAND OF RAIN IS
MOVING SLOWLY NORTHWARD...BUT WITH 1-HOUR PCPN AMOUNTS OF 0.75 -
1.00 AND SATURATED GROUND...RIVER/FLASH FLOODING BEGINNING TO OCCUR.
ADDITIONAL RAINFALL OF 2-4 IS PSBL ALONG AND NORTH OF I-10. COORD WITH
NEW CONCERNING FLOOD WATCH. WILL INCREASE POPS FOR LCH AND LFT TO 70
1ST PERIOD. WILL TEMPS ALONE FOR NOW

18

LCH CE 070/060 072/056 056 743
LFT CE 070/060 073/057 057 743
AEX CE 064/059 070/053 053 543
BPT CE 070/060 070/055 055 543

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Jan 7, 8:03 AM CST	Flash Flood Warning	LCH	Acadia	3 hr
Jan 7, 10:20 AM CST	Flash Flood Warning	LCH	Evangeline, Saint Landry	3 hr
Jan 7, 11:04 AM CST	Flash Flood Warning	LCH	Acadia, Jefferson Davis	2 hr
Jan 7, 1:30 PM CST	Flash Flood Warning	LCH	Acadia, Evangeline, Jefferson Davis	3 hr
Jan 7, 1:30 PM CST	Flash Flood Warning	LCH	Lafayette, Saint Landry, Saint Martin	3 hr
Jan 7, 3:23 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	LCH	Vernon	47 min
Jan 7, 4:23 PM CST	Tornado Warning	LCH	Rapides, Vernon	32 min

Nearby

Flash Flood Warnings in Louisiana, 1999 Every 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.