Alert archive / Louisiana / Flash Flood Warnings in 2002

Flash Flood Warning 28, NWS Lake Charles, LA

December 3, 2002Calcasieu Parish, Louisiana

NWS Lake Charles, LA issued this flash flood warning at Dec 3, 2002, 3:57 PM CST for Calcasieu Parish, Louisiana. It was in force for 3 hr. No storm report in the archive falls inside the area while it was in force.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued: Dec 3, 2002, 3:57 PM CST (21:57 UTC)
Expired: Dec 3, 2002, 7:00 PM CST
In force: 3 hr
Issued by: NWS Lake Charles, LA
Area: Counties, with a storm outline in the text

County Calcasieu Parish, LA

The radar

The Lake Charles radar (KLCH), 27 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 22:00 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.

The nearest sounding before it

Lake Charles Mun, LA (KLCH), launched 12:00Z, 10.0 hours before the alert went out and 28 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: 175 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -17 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 503 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 46 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 108 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 165 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.0
Supercell composite: 0.5

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
WGUS54 KLCH 032157
FFWLCH
LAC019-040100-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
FLASH FLOOD WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES LA
355 PM CST TUE DEC 3 2002

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN LAKE CHARLES HAS ISSUED A

* FLASH FLOOD WARNING FOR...
  CALCASIEU PARISH IN SOUTHWEST LOUISIANA

* UNTIL 700 PM CST

* AT 355 PM CST...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR ESTIMATED   
THAT 5 TO 7 INCHES OF RAIN HAS FALLEN ACROSS SOUTHERN CALCASIEU 
PARISH. 5.17 INCHES OF RAIN HAS ALREADY FALLEN AT THE LAKE CHARLES 
AIRPORT. EXPECT AN ADDITIONAL 1 TO 2 INCHES OF RAIN FOR THE NEXT 
COUPLE OF HOURS. 

HEAVY RAINS FLOOD ROADS AND LOW LYING AREAS RAPIDLY...SO DO NOT DRIVE
YOUR VEHICLE WHERE WATERS OF AN UNKNOWN DEPTH COVERS THE ROAD.

REMEMBER...MOST FLOOD RELATED DEATHS OCCUR IN AUTOMOBILES.

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

LAT...LON 3036 9304 3007 9300 3007 9371 3040 9372
          3039 9347 3049 9347 3049 9339 3040 9339
          3039 9316

1 follow-up statement

000 
WGUS74 KLCH 040015
FFSLCH
LAC003-011-019-053-040100-

FLASH FLOOD STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES LA
615 PM CST TUE DEC 3 2002

...FLASH FLOOD WARNING CONTINUES FOR CALCASIEU...ALLEN...BEAUREGARD
AND JEFFERSON DAVIS PARISHES IN SOUTHWEST LOUISIANA UNTIL 7 PM...

ALTHOUGH RADAR SHOWS MOST OF THE HEAVY RAIN HAS TAPERED OFF IN
CALCASIEU AND JEFFERSON DAVIS PARISHES...HEAVY RAINS CONTINUE FOR
BEAUREGARD AND ALLEN PARISHES WITH AN ADDITIONAL 1 TO 2 INCHES
EXPECTED BY 7 PM. NEARLY 6 INCHES OF RAIN HAD ALREADY FALLEN AS OF 6
PM AT THE LAKE CHARLES REGIONAL AIRPORT AND NUMEROUS REPORTS OF
ROAD FLOODING HAVE BEEN RECIEVED.

THE CALCASIEU PARISH EMERGENCY MANAGER REPORTS CONTRABAND BAYOU IN
LAKE CHARLES IS AT THE HIGHEST LEVEL IN RECENT MEMORY. THIS WILL
AFFECT GRAVITY DRAINAGE IN MUCH OF SOUTH LAKE CHARLES. RUNOFF WILL
CAUSE ADDITIONAL RISES THROUGH 630 PM. RADAR INDICATES THAT THERE
WILL BE SEVERAL HOURS OF ONLY LIGHT OR NO RAIN...HOWEVER MANY
MOTORISTS HAVE BEEN STALLING OUT VEHICLES WHEN TURNING INTO SIDE
STREETS. THERE HAVE ALSO BEEN NUMEROUS REPORTS OF ACCIDENTS
ASSOCIATED WITH THE HIGH WATER. IF YOU DO NOT HAVE TO DRIVE THIS
EVENING...POSTPONE TRAVEL.

BE ESPECIALLY CAUTIOUS AT NIGHT WHEN IT IS HARDER TO RECOGNIZE THE
DANGERS OF FLASH FLOODS.

DO NOT DRIVE INTO FLOODED AREAS OR ATTEMPT TO CROSS ROADWAYS COVERED
BY HIGH WATER.

$$

SWEENEY

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Dec 3, 1:06 PM CST	Flash Flood Warning	LCH	Calcasieu	3 hr
Dec 3, 4:51 PM CST	Flash Flood Warning	LCH	Allen, Beauregard, Jefferson Davis	2 hr

Nearby

Flash Flood Warnings in Louisiana, 2002 Every flash flood warning in 2002

Sources

The product and its follow-ups from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service and Storm Prediction Center text; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.