Alert archive / Louisiana / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1999

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 42, NWS Lake Charles, LA

April 4, 1999Rapides Parish, Louisiana

NWS Lake Charles, LA issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Apr 4, 1999, 4:40 AM CDT for Rapides Parish, Louisiana. It was in force for 65 min. 2 reports 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
Apr 4, 1999, 4:40 AM CDT (09:40 UTC)
Expired
Apr 4, 1999, 5:45 AM CDT
In force
65 min
Issued by
NWS Lake Charles, LA
Area
Whole counties

County Rapides Parish, LA

The radar

The Ft Polk radar (KPOE), 42 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 09:39 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
Apr 4, 4:45 AM CDTHail 0.75Glenmora, LA
Apr 4, 5:29 AM CDTHail 1.75Cheneyville, 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, 9.7 hours before the alert went out and 136 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 1999-04-04Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 728 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 1999-04-04The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 95 square meters per square second.19395878Sfc1 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
728 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-290 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1318 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
51 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
95 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
135 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
2.6

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

The text of this product is not in the archive. The NWS text archive before 2002 is incomplete.

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 Apr 4, 3:38 AM CDT, 1 hour 2 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Apr 4, 3:38 AM CDT, 1 hour 2 minutes before
SOUTHWEST...CENTRAL LOUISIANA AND SOUTHEAST TEXAS FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES LA
338 AM CDT SUN APR 4 1999

TRAINING TSTMS WITH HVY RAIN CONTINUING FROM EXTREME E TX TO CEN LA
STG UPR DIFLUENT STLT SIGNATURE OVR W LA APPEARS TO MATCH UP BEST
WITH ETA UPPER WIND PROG WHICH HAS JET MAX OVR PSX...AREA IN LEFT
FRONT QUAD. WILL GO WITH ETA WHICH HAS MUCH OF S LA IN HVY PCPN TDA
TIL EARLY AFTERNOON WITH STG UVV...COORD WITH SIL TO KEEP FFA FOR
AREA FROM BEAUREGARD TO ST LANDRY PARISHES NORTHWARD. WENT HIGHER
ON POPS THAN NGM/MOS DUE TO STGR UPPER FORCING. ALTHO NGM AND ETA
SEEM TO AGREE ON LOW POPS OF 10 PERCENT TNITE DUE TO NVA AND SOME
CAPPING...WL TWEAK TO 20 PERCENT PER SIL COORD SINCE TIMING OF
SYSTEMS COULD AFFECT EITHER SIDE OF TNITE. DUE TO ETA MOISTURE
AND THETA RDGG AS WELL AS STG UPR DIFLUENCE AGAIN ON MON.
...EXTENDED...MRF NOT AVAIL TNITE. FAN SHOWING DRY WX LATE TUES
AS RDG BUILDS IN.

11

BPT TT 078/070 080/058 077 715            LCH TT 079/070 081/059 077 726
LFT TT 080/068 079/062 078 726            AEX TT 078/067 080/062 078 725

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Apr 4, 1:23 AM CSTFlash Flood WarningLCHRapides, Vernon3 hr
Apr 4, 1:23 AM CSTFlash Flood WarningLCHBeauregard3 hr
Apr 4, 7:58 AM CDTFlash Flood WarningLCHAllen, Beauregard, Rapides, Vernon2 hr
Apr 4, 7:58 AM CDTFlash Flood WarningLCHAvoyelles, Evangeline2 hr
Apr 4, 10:30 AM CDTFlash Flood WarningLCHBeauregard4 hr
Apr 4, 3:59 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLCHVernon61 min
Apr 4, 4:05 PM CDTTornado WarningLCHVernon55 min
Apr 4, 5:38 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLCHRapides47 min
Apr 3, 6:51 PM CSTFlash Flood WarningLCHTyler3 hr
Apr 4, 1:23 AM CSTFlash Flood WarningLCHJasper, Newton, Tyler3 hr
Apr 4, 7:58 AM CDTFlash Flood WarningLCHJasper2 hr
Apr 4, 10:30 AM CDTFlash Flood WarningLCHTyler4 hr

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Louisiana, 1999Every severe thunderstorm 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; verification from NCEI's Storm Data; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.