Alert archive / Texas / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 2000

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 121, NWS Lake Charles, LA

May 2, 2000Jefferson County, Texas

NWS Lake Charles, LA issued this severe thunderstorm warning at May 2, 2000, 6:20 AM CDT for Jefferson County, Texas. It was in force for 55 min. No storm report in the archive falls inside the area while it was in force.

The area

The outline the Iowa Environmental Mesonet reconstructed for it; the warning itself named whole counties.

The facts

Issued
May 2, 2000, 6:20 AM CDT (11:20 UTC)
Expired
May 2, 2000, 7:15 AM CDT
In force
55 min
Issued by
NWS Lake Charles, LA
Area
Whole counties; the outline is the Mesonet’s reconstruction

County Jefferson County, TX

The radar

The Houston radar (KHGX), 87 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 11:24 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 watch it was issued in

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

IssuedProductOfficeLasted
May 2, 2:00 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WatchSPC5 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Lake Charles Mun, LA (KLCH), launched 00:00Z, 11.3 hours before the alert went out and 108 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 2000-05-02Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 813 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 2000-05-02The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity -30 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
813 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-138 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1335 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
32 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
-30 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
3 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
-0.0
Supercell composite
-2.0

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
WUUS54 KLCH 021121
SVRLCH
TXC245-021215-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES LA
620 AM CDT TUE MAY 2 2000

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN LAKE CHARLES HAS ISSUED A

* SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING FOR...
  JEFFERSON COUNTY IN SOUTHEAST TEXAS

* UNTIL 715 AM CDT

* AT 615 AM CDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A
  SEVERE THUNDERSTORM 33 MILES SOUTHWEST OF SABINE PASS...MOVING
  NORTHEAST AT 40 MPH.

* THIS STORM WILL BE NEAR...
  SEA RIM STATE PARK BY 645 AM CDT
  PORT ARTHUR BY 705 AM CDT
  GROVES...NEDERLAND...PORT NECHES BY 710 AM CDT

SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS PRODUCE WINDS IN EXCESS OF 60 MPH...DESTRUCTIVE
HAIL...DEADLY LIGHTNING AND TORRENTIAL RAIN.

HAIL TO THE SIZE OF ONE AND A HALF INCHES CAN BE EXPECTED.

DESTRUCTIVE WINDS UP TO 70 MPH CAN BE EXPECTED - TAKE COVER NOW! 
VEHICLES AND MOBILE HOMES ARE NOT SAFE.

CALL 337-477-5285 TO REPORT SEVERE WEATHER TO THE WEATHER SERVICE.

LAT...LON 2955 9451 2942 9437 2971 9388 2994 9391
          3014 9414

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 May 2, 2:30 AM CDT, 3 hours 50 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, May 2, 2:30 AM CDT, 3 hours 50 minutes before
SOUTHEAST TEXAS AND SOUTHWEST LOUISIANA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES LA
230 AM CDT TUE MAY 2 2000

AN MCS HAS FLARED UP ALONG SFC BOUNDARY THAT EXTENDS FROM NEAR KPOE-
KIAH-KLRD. ALSO ENHANCING THIS MCS IS A STRONG 500 MB SHORTWAVE
MOVING ACROSS THE AREA. THIS AREA WILL SLOWLY DRIFT TO THE SOUTH
AND EAST INTO THE MORE UNSTABLE AIRMASS SOUTH OF THE BOUNDARY. SPC
HAS ISSUED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH FOR OUR SOUTHEAST TEXAS
COUNTIES UNTIL 700 AM THIS MORNING.

THE CHANCES FOR SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WILL BE FAIRLY DECENT
DURING THIS FORECAST PERIOD AS THE 500MB LOW CURRENTLY OVER THE TX
PANHANDLE MOVES TO THE EAST-SOUTHEAST. LOOKS LIKE OUR BEST CHANCES OF
SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WILL BE TONIGHT INTO WEDNESDAY WITH
EXCELLENT UPPER LEVEL DIVERGENCE PROJECTED TO BE RIGHT OVER THE
AREA AS THE UPPER LEVEL LOW MOVES OVER NORTHEAST TEXAS. HOWEVER...
THERE WILL NOT BE ANY REAL SFC BOUNDARY TO FOCUS THE ACTIVITY EXCEPT
FOR OLD OUTFLOW BOUNDARIES.

RAINFALL AMOUNTS COULD BE SIGNIFICANT DURING THE FORECAST PERIOD WITH
2 TO 4 INCH AMOUNTS POSSIBLE...MAINLY DUE TO THE SLOW MOVEMENT OF THE
THUNDERSTORMS. WILL MENTION HEAVY RAIN IN THE FORECAST.

I AM BASING MY FORECAST ON A BLEND OF THE ETA AND AVN MODELS.

10

LCH...
LA...NONE.
TX...NONE.

PRELIM NUMBERS...
LCH 80/64/79/67 7776
LFT 83/64/79/66 5577
AEX 83/62/78/63 7576
BPT 80/65/79/67 8776

In the hours before

Special weather statement, May 2, 3:57 AM CDT, 2 hours 23 minutes before
LAZ027>033-041>045-051>055-TXZ180>182-201-215-216-021500-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES LA
357 AM CDT TUE MAY 2 2000

...HEAVY RAIN POSSIBLE ACROSS SOUTHEAST TEXAS AND SOUTHWEST LOUISIANA
THROUGH WEDNESDAY...

AN UPPER LEVEL LOW PRESSURE SYSTEM WILL AID IN THE POSSIBILITY OF
HEAVY RAIN ACROSS MUCH OF THE AREA TODAY...TONIGHT...AND
WEDNESDAY. THE SIGNIFICANT RAINFALL AMOUNTS WILL BE DUE TO THE SLOW
MOTION OF THE SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS ACROSS SOUTHEAST TEXAS AND
SOUTHWEST LOUISIANA. RAINFALL AMOUNTS OF TWO TO FOUR INCHES ARE A
POSSIBILITY...WITH LOCALLY HIGHER AMOUNTS. HEAVY RAINS FLOOD ROADS
AND LOW LYING AREAS RAPIDLY...SO DO NOT DRIVE YOUR VEHICLE WHERE
WATER OF AN UNKNOWN DEPTH COVER THE ROAD.

ALL INTERESTS IN SOUTHEAST TEXAS AND SOUTHWEST LOUISIANA SHOULD
MONITOR NOAA WEATHER RADIO AND LOCAL MEDIA FOR UPDATES ON THIS
WEATHER SITUATION. MORE INFORMATION CAN BE FOUND ON THE NATIONAL
WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES WEB SITE AT WWW.SRH.NOAA.GOV/LCH.

22

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 2, 4:07 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLCHHardin68 min
May 2, 5:22 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLCHHardin, Tyler23 min
May 2, 5:37 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLCHJefferson38 min

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Texas, 2000Every severe thunderstorm warning in 2000

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.