Alert archive / Louisiana / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 2000

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 56, NWS Lake Charles, LA

April 2, 2000Beauregard Parish, Louisiana

NWS Lake Charles, LA issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Apr 2, 2000, 3:49 PM CDT for Beauregard Parish, Louisiana. It was in force for 56 min. 1 report came from 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, with what was reported inside it.

The facts

Issued
Apr 2, 2000, 3:49 PM CDT (20:49 UTC)
Expired
Apr 2, 2000, 4:45 PM CDT
In force
56 min
Issued by
NWS Lake Charles, LA
Area
Whole counties; the outline is the Mesonet’s reconstruction

County Beauregard Parish, LA

The radar

The Lake Charles radar (KLCH), 59 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 20:50 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 2, 4:38 PM CDTHail 1.5Singer, 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 watch it was issued in

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

IssuedProductOfficeLasted
Apr 2, 12:30 PM CDTTornado WatchSPC6 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Lake Charles Mun, LA (KLCH), launched 12:00Z, 8.8 hours before the alert went out and 61 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 12:00Z on 2000-04-02Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 984 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 12:00Z on 2000-04-02The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 122 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
984 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-66 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
512 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
51 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
122 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
97 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.6
Supercell composite
4.7

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
WUUS54 KLCH 022052
SVRLCH
LAC011-022145-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES LA
349 PM CDT SUN APR 2 2000

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN LAKE CHARLES HAS ISSUED A

* SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING FOR...
  BEAUREGARD PARISH IN SOUTHWEST LOUISIANA

* UNTIL 445 PM CDT

* AT 349 PM CDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED   
  A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM 30 MILES SOUTHWEST OF DE RIDDER IN SOUTHWEST 
  BEAUREGARD PARISH...MOVING NORTHEAST AT 30 MPH.

* THIS STORM WILL BE NEAR...
  FIELDS BY 355 PM CDT
  ORETTA BY 410 PM CDT
  SINGER BY 430 PM CDT
  LONGVILLE BY 445 PM CDT

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

A TORNADO WATCH REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 600 PM CDT SUNDAY EVENING FOR
SOUTHWEST LOUISIANA AND SOUTHEAST TEXAS.

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

LAT...LON 3052 9374 3039 9359 3061 9320 3085 9344

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 2, 1:43 PM CDT, 2 hours 6 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Apr 2, 1:43 PM CDT, 2 hours 6 minutes before
SOUTHEAST TEXAS AND SOUTHWEST LOUISIANA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES LA
143 PM CDT SUN APR 2 2000

...A TORNADO WATCH IS IN EFFECT UNTIL 6 PM CDT...
...POSSIBLE FLOODING PROBLEM TONIGHT...

.FIRST PERIOD...
AT THE TOP OF THE FRICTION LAYER (NEAR 925 MB)...THE LLJ (LOW-LEVEL
JET) AND ATTENDANT THETA-E (EQUIVALENT POTENTIAL TEMPERATURE) RIDGE
EXTENDS FROM ALABAMA THROUGH THE MOUTH OF THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER. THIS
MESO-SCALE CONFIGURATION HAS SET-UP A FRONTAL INTERFACE...SITUATED
ACROSS SOUTH CENTRAL LOUISIANA. EXPECT CONVECTIVE RAINS ORGANIZING
INTO LINES WITHIN THE LAFAYETTE/NEW IBERIA NEIGHBORHOOD. OTHERWISE
...CONTINUOUS STABLE RAINS ARE EXPECTED ACROSS THE REMAINDER OF THE
FORECAST AREA...THE GENTLE RAINFALL RATES WILL BRING THE GROUND TO
FIELD CAPACITY. LOCALIZED FLOODING MAY BE A PROBLEM...UNDULATIONS IN
THE SOUTHWESTERLY CURRENT ALOFT MAY TRIGGER A FEW EMBEDDED TSTMS.
FINALLY...LOW CEILINGS AND PATCHY FOG ARE LIKELY IN THE RAIN AREAS.

.SECOND PERIOD...
THE SYNOPTIC CONFIGURATION BECOMES COMPLICATED. THE ETA GUIDANCE
DEPICTS THE 925 MB FRONTAL INTERFACE SKEDADDLING ACROSS THE FORECAST
AREA...SHOVING THE CONVECTIVE RAINS TO THE EAST OF THE LAFAYETTE/NEW
IBERIA NEIGHBORHOOD. SIGNIFICANT QUASI-GEOSTROPHIC LIFT (500 MB PVA)
BECOMES ESTABLISHED ACROSS THE WESTERN HALF OF THE FORECAST AREA...
BUT FORTUNATELY IN THE WAKE OF THE 925 MB FRONTAL INTERFACE. THE
STRONG DESCENT IN THE WAKE WILL EXTINGUISH THE RAINS...BEGINNING FROM
THE WEST (EARLY AFTERNOON) AND ENDING TO THE EAST (EARLY EVENING).
FINALLY...THE PRIMARY SOUTHERN PLAINS COLD FRONT WILL BULLDOSE INTO
UPPER SOUTHEAST TEXAS DURING THE EARLY EVENING.

.THIRD PERIOD...
EXPECT A RAPID COOL-DOWN AS THE SOUTHERN PLAINS COLD FRONT SPILLS
INTO THE NORTHWEST GULF OF MEXICO. BRISK NORTHERS WILL BRING ABOUT
CLEAR SKIES AND COLD WIND CHILLS. GUSTY WINDS MAY BE A PROBLEM...
COLD AIR ADVECTION WITHIN THE FRICTION LAYER WILL PRODUCE A SUPER-
ADIABATIC LAPSE RATE...WHICH ENCOURAGES DOWNWARD MOMENTUM TRANSFER.
WIND GUSTS TO 30 KT ARE POSSIBLE.

.FOURTH PERIOD...
BRISK WINDS WILL SLOWLY RELAX BY THE AFTERNOON. AFTERNOON HIGHS WILL
BE RUNNING ABOUT 10 DEG F BELOW NORMAL.

21

.LCH...TORNADO WATCH IS IN EFFECT
TX...TX180>182-210-215>216
LA...LA027>029-030>033-041>043-051

PRELIMINARY NUMBERS...
LCH 67/72/49/65 8820
BPT 68/74/47/65 7710
LFT 68/74/52/60 8840
AEX 65/68/47/58 7720

In the hours before

Local storm report, Apr 2, 2:43 PM CDT, 1 hour 6 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES, LA
243 PM CDT SUN APR 2 2000

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

0241 PM    HAMSHIRE                  TX   1.75 INCH HAIL
04/2/00   JEFFERSON                      REPORTED BY JEFFERSON
                                          COUNTY SHERIFFS DEPT.

FN
Local storm report, Apr 2, 3:23 PM CDT, 26 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES, LA
323 PM CDT SUN APR 2 2000

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

0324 PM    MAURICEVILLE              TX   1.75 INCH HAIL
04/2/00   ORANGE                         REPORTED BY SHERIFFS DEPT.

FN

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Apr 2, 6:10 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLCHVernon65 min
Apr 2, 3:14 PM CDTTornado WarningLCHCalcasieu61 min
Apr 2, 4:25 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLCHCalcasieu, Cameron65 min
Apr 2, 5:24 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLCHCalcasieu66 min
Apr 2, 5:40 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLCHJefferson Davis65 min
Apr 2, 6:07 PM CDTTornado WarningLCHCameron68 min
Apr 2, 6:12 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLCHAllen48 min
Apr 2, 6:21 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLCHEvangeline, Saint Landry54 min
Apr 2, 6:46 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLCHCalcasieu59 min

Nearby

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