Alert archive / Louisiana / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 2001
Severe Thunderstorm Warning 43, NWS Lake Charles, LA
NWS Lake Charles, LA issued this severe thunderstorm warning at May 21, 2001, 6:56 PM CDT for Vernon Parish, Louisiana. It was in force for 54 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, 6:56 PM CDT (23:56 UTC)
- Expired
- May 21, 2001, 7:50 PM CDT
- In force
- 54 min
- Issued by
- NWS Lake Charles, LA
- Area
- Whole counties; the outline is the Mesonet’s reconstruction
County Vernon Parish, LA
The radar
The Ft Polk radar (KPOE), 29 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 23:59 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| May 21, 7:15 PM CDT | Thunderstorm Wind | Slagle, 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| May 21, 1:45 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Watch | SPC | 5 hr |
The nearest sounding before it
Lake Charles Mun, LA (KLCH), launched 12:00Z, 11.9 hours before the alert went out and 114 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
- 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
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
000 WUUS54 KLCH 212358 SVRLCH LAC115-220050- BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES LA 656 PM CDT MON MAY 21 2001 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A * SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING FOR... VERNON PARISH IN WEST CENTRAL LOUISIANA * UNTIL 750 PM CDT * AT 656 PM CDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM 15 MILES SOUTHWEST OF LEESVILLE...MOVING NORTHEAST AT 20 MPH. * THIS STORM WILL BE NEAR... PICKERING BY 715 PM CDT NEW LLANO...FORT POLK BY 720 PM CDT LEESVILLE BY 725 PM CDT SLAGLE BY 750 PM CDT SIMPSON BY 800 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 3116 9349 3092 9347 3115 9286 3133 9311
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 26 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, May 21, 2:30 PM CDT, 4 hours 26 minutes 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, 4 hours 11 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, 36 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.
THMNearby
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.