Alert archive / Louisiana / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 2001
Severe Thunderstorm Warning 45, NWS Lake Charles, LA
NWS Lake Charles, LA issued this severe thunderstorm warning at May 21, 2001, 8:01 PM CDT for Rapides Parish, Louisiana. It was in force for 59 min. 2 reports 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, 8:01 PM CDT (01:01 UTC)
- Expired
- May 21, 2001, 9:00 PM CDT
- In force
- 59 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), 40 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 01:01 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, 8:10 PM CDT | Hail 0.75 | Echo, LA | |
| May 21, 8:10 PM CDT | Hail 0.75 | Woodworth, 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, 7:00 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Watch | SPC | 5 hr |
The nearest sounding before it
Lake Charles Mun, LA (KLCH), launched 00:00Z, 1.0 hours before the alert went out and 122 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
- 2037 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -32 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 690 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 38 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 89 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 122 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.6
- Supercell composite
- 3.1
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
000 WUUS54 KLCH 220101 SVRLCH LAC079-220200- BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES LA 801 PM CDT MON MAY 21 2001 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A * SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING FOR... RAPIDES PARISH IN CENTRAL LOUISIANA * UNTIL 900 PM CDT * AT 756 PM CDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM 4 MILES NORTH OF GLENMORA...MOVING EAST AT 50 MPH. * THIS STORM WILL BE NEAR... LECOMPTE BY 810 PM CDT CHENEYVILLE BY 815 PM CDT ECHO BY 820 PM CDT THIS THUNDERSTORM IS CAPABLE OF PRODUCING VERY LARGE HAIL WHICH COULD CAUSE SIGNIFICANT DAMAGE TO PROPERTY. DESTRUCTIVE WINDS CAN BE EXPECTED - TAKE COVER NOW VEHICLES AND MOBIL HOMES ARE NOT SAFE. CALL 337-477-5285 TO REPORT SEVERE WEATHER TO THE WEATHER SERVICE. LAT...LON 3108 9279 3089 9278 3100 9225 3132 9224
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, 5 hours 31 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, May 21, 2:30 PM CDT, 5 hours 31 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, 5 hours 16 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, 1 hour 41 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.
THMLocal storm report, May 21, 7:17 PM CDT, 44 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES, LA
717 PM CDT MON MAY 21 2001
TIME(CDT) .....CITY LOCATION.....STATE ...EVENT/REMARKS...
....COUNTY LOCATION....d
0645 PM 2 S NEWTON TX 1.00 INCH HAIL
05/21/01 NEWTON THMThe office that day
Everything else NWS Lake Charles, LA issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 21, 7:26 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | LCH | Rapides | 64 min |
| May 21, 8:16 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | LCH | Avoyelles | 59 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.