Alert archive / Louisiana / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 2001
Severe Thunderstorm Warning 27, NWS Lake Charles, LA
NWS Lake Charles, LA issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Mar 12, 2001, 4:18 AM CST for Rapides Parish, Louisiana. It was in force for 42 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
- Mar 12, 2001, 4:18 AM CST (10:18 UTC)
- Expired
- Mar 12, 2001, 5:00 AM CST
- In force
- 42 min
- Issued by
- NWS Lake Charles, LA
- Area
- Whole counties; the outline is the Mesonet’s reconstruction
County Rapides Parish, LA
The radar
The Ft Polk radar (KPOE), 44 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 10:17 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 | Remark |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mar 12, 4:26 AM CST | Thunderstorm Wind | Alexandria, 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, 10.3 hours before the alert went out and 151 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.
- Mixed-layer CAPE
- 75 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -89 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 790 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 65 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 223 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 266 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 0.3
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
794 WUUS54 KLCH 121019 SVRLCH LAC079-121100- BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES LA 418 AM CST MON MAR 12 2001 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN LAKE CHARLES HAS ISSUED A * SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING FOR... RAPIDES PARISH IN CENTRAL LOUISIANA * UNTIL 500 AM CST * AT 412 AM CST...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM 14 MILES WEST OF ALEXANDRIA...MOVING NORTHEAST AT 45 MPH. * THIS STORM WILL BE NEAR... ALEXANDRIA BY 425 AM CST PINEVILLE BY 430 AM CST BALL BY 435 AM CST THIS THUNDERSTORM IS CAPABLE OF PRODUCING VERY LARGE HAIL WHICH COULD CAUSE SIGNIFICANT DAMAGE TO PROPERTY. CALL 337-477-5285 TO REPORT SEVERE WEATHER TO THE WEATHER SERVICE. LAT...LON 3130 9284 3115 9270 3139 9216 3171 9242
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 Mar 12, 2:36 AM CST, 1 hour 42 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Mar 12, 2:36 AM CST, 1 hour 42 minutes before
SOUTHEAST TEXAS AND SOUTHWEST LOUISIANA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES LA 236 AM CST MON MAR 12 2001 AREA ON THE FRINGE OF SEVERE WEATHER THIS MORNING WITH A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCHES IN EFFECT UNTIL 12Z FOR PORTIONS OF SOUTHEAST TEXAS AND ANOTHER SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH IN EFFECT UNTIL 12Z FOR EXTREME SOUTH-CENTRAL LOUISIANA. SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS CONTINUE TO DEVELOP OVER SOUTH-CENTRAL LOUISIANA... MAINLY DUE TO SOME LOW LEVEL SPEED AND DIRECTIONAL CONVERGENCE AND A DIFFLUENT PATTERN ALOFT. HOWEVER...THE AREA I AM MOST CONCERNED ABOUT IS THE WATCH TO THE WEST. CURRENTLY THERE IS A LINE OF STRONG TO SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS THAT EXTENDS FROM DALLAS TO SAN ANTONIO. THIS LINE OF THUNDERSTORMS SHOULD BE MOVING INTO EXTREME SOUTHEAST TEXAS BY 12Z. COULD ALSO SEE SOME THUNDERSTORMS DEVELOP OUT AHEAD OF THIS LINE SINCE THE AIRMASS IS ALREADY FAIRLY UNSTABLE WITH LI VALUES OF -4 TO -7 AND SBCAPE OF 1000 TO 1500 J/KG. THE AIRMASS WILL BECOME EVEN MORE UNSTABLE AS THE DAY WEARS ON AS STEEPER MID LEVEL LAPSE RATE AIR MOVES INTO THE AREA. WOULD EXPECT SEVERE WEATHER TO BE POSSIBLE ACROSS THE AREA THROUGH THE MID AFTERNOON HOURS. THE COLD FRONT ASSOCIATED WITH THE 500 MB LOW THAT IS MOVING ACROSS THE PLAINS WILL PUSH THROUGH THE AREA THIS EVENING AND ESSENTIALLY PUTTING AND END TO THE PRECIPITATION. THE NEXT CHANCE OF SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WILL BE ON WEDNESDAY NIGHT AND THURSDAY AS THE NEXT SYSTEM APPROACHES THE AREA. WILL ONCE AGAIN GO WITH A BLEND OF AVN AND NGM MOS TEMPS. 10 .LCH...NONE. PRELIM NUMBERS... AEX 75/51/72/47 8200 BPT 77/54/74/53 8200 LCH 76/54/74/52 8200 LFT 78/57/73/52 >8200
The office that day
Everything else NWS Lake Charles, LA issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mar 12, 7:45 AM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | LCH | Evangeline, Saint Landry | 60 min |
| Mar 12, 8:04 AM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | LCH | Allen, Calcasieu, Jefferson Davis | 56 min |
| Mar 12, 9:28 AM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | LCH | Jefferson Davis | 32 min |
Nearby
Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Louisiana, 2001Every severe thunderstorm warning in 2001
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.