Alert archive / Louisiana / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 2002

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 36, NWS Lake Charles, LA

July 11, 2002Rapides Parish, Louisiana

NWS Lake Charles, LA issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Jul 11, 2002, 5:18 PM CDT for Rapides Parish, Louisiana. It was in force for 57 min. No storm report in the archive falls inside the area while it was in force.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued: Jul 11, 2002, 5:18 PM CDT (22:18 UTC)
Expired: Jul 11, 2002, 6:15 PM CDT
In force: 57 min
Issued by: NWS Lake Charles, LA
Area: Counties, with a storm outline in the text

County Rapides Parish, LA

Did it verify

Not verified. The Iowa Environmental Mesonet's Cow found no qualifying storm report inside this severe thunderstorm warning while it was in force. That is not proof nothing happened: reports are thin where few people live.

Cow counts a report within 15 km of the polygon while the warning was in force: a tornado for a tornado warning; hail of 1 inch or more, a gust of 58 mph or more or wind damage for a severe thunderstorm warning; a flash flood report for a flash flood warning.

The nearest sounding before it

Lake Charles Mun, LA (KLCH), launched 12:00Z, 10.3 hours before the alert went out and 176 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: 1496 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -49 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 1023 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 6 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: -11 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 20 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.0
Supercell composite: 0.0

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

147 
WUUS54 KLCH 112218
SVRLCH
LAC079-112315-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES LA
517 PM CDT THU JUL 11 2002

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN LAKE CHARLES HAS ISSUED A

* SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING FOR...
  RAPIDES PARISH IN CENTRAL LOUISIANA

* UNTIL 615 PM CDT

* AT 515 PM CDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A
  SEVERE THUNDERSTORM OVER PINEVILLE...MOVING SOUTHWEST AT 5 MPH.

* THIS STORM WILL BE NEAR...
  ALEXANDRIA BY 525 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 3139 9253 3126 9238 3162 9188 3181 9210

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 Jul 11, 2:35 PM CDT, 2 hours 43 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jul 11, 2:35 PM CDT, 2 hours 43 minutes before

SOUTHWEST LOUISIANA AND SOUTHEAST TEXAS FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES LA
ISSUED BY NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HOUSTON/GALVESTON TX
235 PM CDT THU JUL 11 2002

SEABREEZE HAD DIFFICULTY TRYING TO GET CRANKED UP TODAY IN THE TEETH
OF OFFSHORE FLOW IN THE LOWER 2-3 KM.  HOWEVER... WARM TEMPS AND
CONDITIONAL INSTABILITY TO NORTH HAVE LED TO WIDELY SCATTERED TSRA
OVER NORTHERN/NORTHWESTERN PTNS OF CWA.

AS FOR THE FRONT... IF IT CAN BE CALLED THAT... THE EXISTENCE OF THE
SURFACE BOUNDARY MAY BE SIGNIFICANT AS A FORCING MECHANISM THROUGH
LATE TOMORROW... BUT AFTER THAT ITS SIGNIFICANCE WANES IN COMPARISON
TO THE EAST-WEST ORIENTATION OF THE UPPER LEVEL CYCLONE AXIS ACROSS
NORTH TX/LA/MS PLACING THE FORECAST AREA IN THE ACTIVE REGION OF THE
UPPER LEVEL TROUGH.  WEAK 700 MB WAVELETS TRAVELING EAST ACROSS THE
CWA WILL HAVE PERSISTENT PW VALUES NEAR 2 INCHES AND MODERATE CAPE
EACH DAY TO WORK WITH IN ADDITION TO ANY LAND/SEA CONFLUENCE.

THE RESULT IS A FAIR SHOT AT CONVECTION ACROSS THE REGION EVERY DAY
THROUGH SUNDAY... WHEN THE UPPER LEVEL CIRCULATION CUTS OFF AND
BEGINS TO RETROGRADE INTO TX AND A SURFACE RIDGE BUILDS OVER THE
NORTHER GULF OF MEXICO.

CLOUDINESS OVER THE WEEKEND WILL BRING SLIGHTLY COOLER MAX TEMPS BUT
MOISTURE CONTENT WILL ALSO PRODUCE MUGGY WARM NIGHTS.

FOR MARINE... FAIRLY LIGHT NORTHWEST/WEST WIND REGIME TO PERSIST
THROUGH SATURDAY UNTIL SFC TROF PULLS NORTHWARD... THEN BECOME
SOUTHWEST SUNDAY AND SOUTH ON MONDAY.  GRADIENTS NOT EXPECTED TO BE
STRONG ENOUGH TO WARRANT SCEC OR SCA.

38

.KLCH...NONE.

.PRELIMS...
AEX 74/92/74/90/73/89 254535
BPT 76/91/75/89/74/90 144434
LCH 76/91/75/89/73/89 144434
LFT 75/91/74/89/74/89 144435

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Jul 11, 4:45 AM CDT	Special Marine Warning	LCH		60 min
Jul 11, 4:45 AM CDT	Special Marine Warning	LCH		60 min

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Louisiana, 2002 Every severe thunderstorm 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.