Alert archive / Texas / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 2001

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 42, NWS Lake Charles, LA

May 21, 2001Newton County, Texas

NWS Lake Charles, LA issued this severe thunderstorm warning at May 21, 2001, 6:30 PM CDT for Newton County, Texas. It was in force for 60 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
May 21, 2001, 6:30 PM CDT (23:30 UTC)
Expired
May 21, 2001, 7:30 PM CDT
In force
60 min
Issued by
NWS Lake Charles, LA
Area
Whole counties; the outline is the Mesonet’s reconstruction

County Newton County, TX

The radar

The Ft Polk radar (KPOE), 82 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 23:34 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
May 21, 6:45 PM CDTHail 1Newton, TX

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
May 21, 1:45 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WatchSPC5 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Lake Charles Mun, LA (KLCH), launched 12:00Z, 11.5 hours before the alert went out and 97 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 2001-05-21Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 1654 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 2001-05-21The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 118 square meters per square second.1939587897Sfc1 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
1654 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-13 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
653 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
31 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
118 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
89 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.7
Supercell composite
4.3

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

687 
WUUS54 KLCH 212331
SVRLCH
TXC351-220030-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES LA
630 PM CDT MON MAY 21 2001

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A

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

* UNTIL 730 PM CDT

* AT 630 PM CDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A
  SEVERE THUNDERSTORM 10 MILES SOUTHWEST OF NEWTON...MOVING NORTHEAST
  AT 20 MPH.

* THIS STORM WILL BE NEAR...
  JAMESTOWN...BON WEIR BY 650 PM CDT
  NEWTON BY 655 PM CDT
  WIERGATE BY 715 PM CDT
  BURKEVILLE BY 720 PM CDT

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

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

LAT...LON 3092 9384 3063 9386 3072 9363 3106 9362

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 21, 2:30 PM CDT, 4 hours earlier.

Area forecast discussion, May 21, 2:30 PM CDT, 4 hours before
SOUTHEAST TEXAS AND SOUTHWEST LOUISIANA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES LA
230 PM CDT MON MAY 21 2001

CURRENT SFC ANALYSIS AND VIS SAT SHOWS COLD FRONT FROM JUST N OF
KAUS...KCLL...KGGG TO KHOT. 88D SHOWS TSRA FIRING UP ACROSS CENTRAL
LA INTO MS.

SVR TSTM WATCH 265 IN EFFECT UNTIL 7 PM FOR OUR CWA. COORDINATED WITH
SPC...AND AGREE THE POSSIBILITY FOR LARGE AREAL COVERAGE OF TSRA FROM
SE TX TO AL WITH THIS SYSTEM. LAPS CAPES INCREASING ACROSS SE TX...
AND AS FORECASTED BY ETA. WILL KEEP SVR WORDING ALONG WITH
APPROPRIATE WATCH HEADLINES IN ZONES.

FOR THE FRONTAL PASSAGE...THE AVN IS THE FASTEST...AND NOT WELL
INITIALIZED WITH THE CURRENT 18Z SFC ANALYSIS. ETA/NGM LOOKS BETTER
IN HANDLING THE REST OF FORECAST...WHICH WILL HAVE THE FRONT BETWEEN
LCH/LFT BY MIDNIGHT...AND CLEAR ACROSS THE CWA (INLAND AND COASTAL)
BY 7 AM TUE. BEAUTIFUL...UNSEASONABLE COOLER WEATHER WILL BE IN
STORE ONCE THE CLOUDS CLEAR FROM SUNRISE TO NOON WEST TO EAST ACROSS
THE AREA TUE. TUE EVENING INTO WEDNESDAY MORNING LOOKS TO BE FAIRLY
COOL WITH LOWS APPROACHING RECORD LOWS IN A FEW PLACES. THESE RECORD
LOWS ARE:

AEX  50 IN 1954
BPT  56 IN 1967
LCH  55 IN 1929
LFT  56 IN 1954

WHILE TEMPS ARE FORECASTED TO BE ABOUT 3 TO 5 DEGREES ABOVE THESE
VALUES...A FEW LOW AREAS WITH EXCELLENT COOL AIR DRAINAGE UNDER
CALM WIND CONDITIONS COULD REACH THESE RECORDS.

THE WEEK OF THE FRONTS. CLOUDS WILL INCREASE BY THU MORNING WITH
ANOTHER FRONT TO MOVE THRU THE AREA BY THU AFTERNOON...GENERATING
TSRA FOR THU AFTERNOON AND EVENING. HOWEVER...THIS FRONT DOSENT LOOK
AS POTENT AS FAR AS COOLER AIR BEHIND IT. UPPER TROF/CUTOFF LOW WILL
CONTINUE OVER THE EASTERN US FOR THE REST OF THE WEEK...KEEPING A NW
FLOW WITH MINOR VORT MAXES ADVECTING SE. THIS WILL KEEP PC/MC
CONDITIONS WITH A CHANCE FOR SHRA/TSRA DURING THIS PERIOD.

8

.LCH...SCA...GMZ450-455-470-475

PRELIMINARY NUMBERS...
AEX 55/78/52/84/62 60000
BPT 60/81/58/84/66 60000
LCH 59/80/57/84/65 60000
LFT 59/80/57/84/64 60000

In the hours before

Special weather statement, May 21, 2:45 PM CDT, 3 hours 45 minutes before
LAZ027>033-041>045-051>055-TXZ180>182-201-215-216-220300-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES LA
245 PM CDT MON MAY 21 2001

...SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS POSSIBLE THIS EVENING...
...NEAR RECORD COLD TEMPERATURES TUESDAY NIGHT...

AN UNUSUALLY STRONG COLD FRONT WILL BE CONTINUING TO MOVE ACROSS
SOUTHEAST TEXAS AND THE SOUTHERN HALF OF LOUISIANA THIS EVENING. THE
FRONT WILL BE MOVING INTO A MOIST AND UNSTABLE AIRMASS...GENERATING A
LINE OF STRONG TO SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS. THESE THUNDERSTORMS WILL HAVE
THE POTENTIAL TO PRODUCE WIND GUSTS IN EXCESS OF 60 MPH AND LARGE
HAIL. WHILE THE THREAT FOR TORNADOES IS NOT VERY HIGH...AN ISOLATED
WEAK TORNADO CANT BE RULED OUT. HEAVY RAIN WILL ALSO BE POSSIBLE
WITH 1 TO 2 INCH RAINFALL TOTALS EXPECTED.

IN THE WAKE OF THE FRONT...NEAR RECORD COLD TEMPERATURES ARE EXPECTED
BY WEDNESDAY MORNING AS A COLD CANADIAN HIGH PRESSURE BUILDS INTO THE
AREA. LOW TEMPERATURES WEDNESDAY MORNING WILL RANGE FROM NEAR 50
DEGREES ACROSS THE LAKES AREA OF SOUTHEAST TEXAS TO THE UPPER 50S
ALONG THE COASTAL SECTIONS OF SOUTH-CENTRAL LOUISIANA.

STAY TUNED TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO FOR THE LATEST INFORMATION ON THIS
DEVELOPING WEATHER SITUATION.
Local storm report, May 21, 6:20 PM CDT, 10 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES, LA
620 PM CDT MON MAY 21 2001

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

0616 PM    KIRBEYVILLE               TX   1.00 INCH HAIL
05/21/01   JASPER                         REPORTED BY LAW
                                          ENFORCEMENT.

THM

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 21, 5:55 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLCHJasper65 min

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Texas, 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.