Alert archive / Louisiana / Flash Flood Warnings in 1999

Flash Flood Warning 40, NWS Lake Charles, LA

July 12, 1999Cameron Parish, Vermilion Parish, Louisiana

NWS Lake Charles, LA issued this flash flood warning at Jul 12, 1999, 1:31 PM CDT for Cameron Parish, Vermilion Parish, Louisiana. It was in force for 114 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: Jul 12, 1999, 1:31 PM CDT (18:31 UTC)
Expired: Jul 12, 1999, 3:25 PM CDT
In force: 114 min
Issued by: NWS Lake Charles, LA
Area: Whole counties

Counties Cameron Parish, LA, Vermilion Parish, LA

The radar

The Lake Charles radar (KLCH), 56 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 18:34 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 12:00Z, 6.5 hours before the alert went out and 54 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: 1408 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -25 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 729 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 12 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 54 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 80 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.

000 
TTAA00 KLCH 121833
FFWLCH
LAC023-113-122025-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
FLASH FLOOD WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES LA
131 PM CDT MON JUL 12 1999

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN LAKE CHARLES HAS ISSUED A

* FLASH FLOOD WARNING FOR...
  CAMERON PARISH IN SOUTHWESTERN LOUISIANA
  VERMILION PARISH IN SOUTHWESTERN LOUISIANA

* UNTIL 325 PM CDT

* AT 125 PM CDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR ESTIMATED
  THAT 2 TO 4 INCHES OF RAIN HAS FALLEN FROM CAMERON THROUGH
  GRAND CHENIER TO JUST WEST OF KAPLAN DURING THE PAST 3 HOURS. AN
  ADDITIONAL 1 TO 3 INCHES OF RAINFALL IS EXPECTED ACROSS THE
  WARNED AREA OVER THE NEXT 2 HOURS.

* FLOODING OF STREETS AND LOW LYING AREAS CAN BE EXPECTED AS
  THUNDERSTORMS FORM AND MOVE OVER THE SAME GENERAL AREAS.

DO NOT DRIVE YOUR VEHICLE INTO AREAS WHERE WATER COVERS THE
ROADWAY. THE WATER DEPTH MAY BE TOO GREAT TO ALLOW YOUR CAR TO
CROSS SAFELY AND THE ROAD BENEATH MAY NOT BE INTACT. VEHICLES
CAUGHT IN RISING WATER SHOULD BE ABANDONED QUICKLY. IT ONLY TAKES
A FOOT OR TWO OF FLOWING WATER TO WASH MOST CARS AWAY. REMEMBER...
MOST DEATHS IN FLASH FLOODING OCCUR IN AUTOMOBILES.

LANDRENEAU/ZAPPE

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 Jul 12, 8:56 AM CDT, 4 hours 35 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jul 12, 8:56 AM CDT, 4 hours 35 minutes before

SOUTHEAST TEXAS...SOUTHWEST/CENTRAL LOUISIANA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES LA
856 AM CDT MON JUL 12 1999

CURRENT FORECAST LOOKS TO BE IN GOOD SHAPE. TEMPERATURES ARE TRENDING
TO MEET FORECAST HIGHS FOR THE DAY. 12Z RUC IS SHOWING MOIST
CONDITIONS OVER THE AREA THROUGH THE DAY TODAY...HIGHER NORTH...SO
THE LIKELY CATEGORY POPS NORTH TO 50 PERCENT POPS SOUTH WILL PROBABLY
WORK OUT PRETTY GOOD.

ALEXANDRIA AND FORT POLK REPORTED NORTH WINDS AT 8 AM. THIS MAY BE
PART OF THE USUAL EARLY MORNING VARIABILITY IN THE WIND OR PERHAPS
THE PRE-FRONTAL TROUGH HAS MOVED SOUTH OF THE AIRPORTS. WILL NEED TO
MONITOR WIND THERE FOR POSSIBLE UPDATE ON DIRECTION.

SPARKS

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Jul 12, 3:03 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	LCH	Calcasieu	32 min
Jul 12, 3:49 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	LCH	Calcasieu	61 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; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.