Alert archive / Louisiana / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 2000

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 65, NWS Lake Charles, LA

April 2, 2000Calcasieu Parish, Louisiana

NWS Lake Charles, LA issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Apr 2, 2000, 6:46 PM CDT for Calcasieu Parish, Louisiana. It was in force for 59 min. 3 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 2, 2000, 6:46 PM CDT (23:46 UTC)
Expired: Apr 2, 2000, 7:45 PM CDT
In force: 59 min
Issued by: NWS Lake Charles, LA
Area: Whole counties

County Calcasieu Parish, LA

The radar

The Lake Charles radar (KLCH), 18 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 23:47 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

Time	Report	Where
Apr 2, 7:00 PM CDT	Hail 1.5	Lake Charles, LA
Apr 2, 7:05 PM CDT	Thunderstorm Wind	Manchester, LA
Apr 2, 7:05 PM CDT	Hail 0.75	Manchester, 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.

Issued	Product	Office	Lasted
Apr 2, 6:00 PM CDT	Tornado Watch	SPC	6 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Lake Charles Mun, LA (KLCH), launched 12:00Z, 11.8 hours before the alert went out and 19 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: 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 022348
SVRLCH
LAC019-030045-

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

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN LAKE CHARLES HAS ISSUED A

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

* UNTIL 745 PM CDT

* AT 645 PM CDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED   
  A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM NEAR GRAND LAKE...MOVING NORTHEAST AT 20 MPH.

* THIS STORM WILL BE NEAR...
  BELL CITY...HAYES BY 745 PM CDT

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

A TORNADO WATCH REMAINS IN EFFECT UNkTIL MIDNIGHT CDT MONDAY MORNING
FOR SOUTHWESTERN LOUISIANA AND SOUTHEAST TEXAS.

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

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, 5 hours 3 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Apr 2, 1:43 PM CDT, 5 hours 3 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, 4:42 PM CDT, 2 hours 4 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES, LA
442 PM CDT SUN APR 2 2000

TIME(CDT)  .....CITY LOCATION.....STATE   ...EVENT/REMARKS...
           ....COUNTY LOCATION....
^
0430 PM    ORANGE                   TX    1.25 INCH HAIL
04/2/00    ORANGE                         CAR WINDSHIELDS BROKEN

FN

Local storm report, Apr 2, 5:18 PM CDT, 1 hour 28 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES, LA
518 PM CDT SUN APR 2 2000

TIME(CDT)  .....CITY LOCATION.....STATE   ...EVENT/REMARKS...
           ....COUNTY LOCATION....
O
0438 PM    SINGER                   LA    1.50 INCH HAIL
04/2/00    BEAUREGARD                     REPORTED BY SINGER FIRE DEPT.

FN

Local storm report, Apr 2, 5:24 PM CDT, 1 hour 22 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES, LA
524 PM CDT SUN APR 2 2000

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

0523 PM    LAKE CHARLES             LA    .75 INCH HAIL
04/2/00    CALCASIEU                      REPORTED BY RETIRED NWS
                                          EMPLOYEE

0527 PM    LAKE CHARLES             LA    .88 INCH HAIL
04/2/00    CALCASIEU                      REPORTED BY PUBLIC

FN

Local storm report, Apr 2, 6:03 PM CDT, 43 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES, LA
603 PM CDT SUN APR 2 2000

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

0600 PM    PORT ARTHUR              TX    1.75 INCH HAIL
04/2/00    JEFFERSON                      REPORTED BY PUBLIC

FN

Local storm report, Apr 2, 6:37 PM CDT, 9 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES, LA
637 PM CDT SUN APR 2 2000

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

0550 PM    PORT ARTHUR              TX    1.00 INCH HAIL
04/2/00    JEFFERSON                      REPORTED BY SHERIFFS DEPT.

FN

Local storm report, Apr 2, 6:43 PM CDT, 3 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES, LA
643 PM CDT SUN APR 2 2000

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

0640 PM    HACKBERRY                LA    TORNADO
04/2/00    CAMERON                        TORNADO ON THE GROUND...AS
                                          OF THIS LOCAL STORM
                                          REPORT...NUMEROUS CALELS

FN

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Apr 2, 6:10 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	LCH	Vernon	65 min
Apr 2, 3:14 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	LCH	Calcasieu	61 min
Apr 2, 3:49 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	LCH	Beauregard	56 min
Apr 2, 4:25 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	LCH	Calcasieu, Cameron	65 min
Apr 2, 5:24 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	LCH	Calcasieu	66 min
Apr 2, 5:40 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	LCH	Jefferson Davis	65 min
Apr 2, 6:07 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	LCH	Cameron	68 min
Apr 2, 6:12 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	LCH	Allen	48 min
Apr 2, 6:21 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	LCH	Evangeline, Saint Landry	54 min

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Louisiana, 2000 Every 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.