Alert archive / Louisiana / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 2002

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 40, NWS Lake Charles, LA

July 21, 2002Avoyelles Parish, Louisiana

NWS Lake Charles, LA issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Jul 21, 2002, 8:39 PM CDT for Avoyelles Parish, Louisiana. It was in force for 66 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 21, 2002, 8:39 PM CDT (01:39 UTC)
Expired
Jul 21, 2002, 9:45 PM CDT
In force
66 min
Issued by
NWS Lake Charles, LA
Area
Counties, with a storm outline in the text

County Avoyelles 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 00:00Z, 1.7 hours before the alert went out and 165 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 00:00Z on 2002-07-22Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 4054 joules per kilogram.LCLEL10008507005003002001001 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 00:00Z on 2002-07-22The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 42 square meters per square second.1939Sfc1 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
4054 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-2 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1018 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
11 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
42 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
53 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.

684 
WUUS54 KLCH 220139
SVRLCH
LAC009-220245-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES LA
838 PM CDT SUN JUL 21 2002

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN LAKE CHARLES HAS ISSUED A

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

* UNTIL 945 PM CDT

* AT 830 PM CDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A
  SEVERE THUNDERSTORM 9 MILES NORTHEAST OF EFFIE...MOVING SOUTHWEST
  AT 10 MPH.

* THIS STORM WILL BE NEAR...
  MARKSVILLE BY 855 PM CDT
  EFFIE BY 900 PM CDT

THIS THUNDERSTORM IS CAPABLE OF PRODUCING VERY LARGE HAIL AND WINDS IN EXCESS 
OF 60 MPH WHICH COULD CAUSE SIGNIFICANT DAMAGE TO PROPERTY.

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

LAT...LON 3121 9192 3131 9200 3120 9220 3109 9207

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 21, 2:52 PM CDT, 5 hours 47 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jul 21, 2:52 PM CDT, 5 hours 47 minutes before
SOUTHWEST LOUISIANA AND SOUTHEAST TEXAS FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES LA
252 PM CDT SUN JUL 21 2002

...OZONE ACTION DAY FOR HARDIN...JEFFERSON...AND ORANGE COUNTIES
MONDAY...

AT 2 PM...SEA BREEZE STILL WITHIN 10 MILES OF CAST...NO PRECIP YET...
BUT COULD SEE AN ISOLATED SHOWER OR T-STORM LATER THIS AFTERNOON.
DO NOT EXPECT ANY TO LAST INTO THE EVENING...SO NOT PLANNING ON
ADDING POPS TO THE TONIGHT PERIOD.

OTHERWISE...PLENTY OF CONVECTION IN NE GULF...ASSOCIATED WITH
SHORTWAVE ROTATING AROUND UPPER-LEVEL RIDGE OF HIGH PRESSURE. THIS
ACTIVITY SHOULD NOT REACH THE LCH CWA UNTIL TUESDAY AT THE
EARLIEST. PERSISTENCE LOOKS TO BE THE BEST FORECAST FOR THE NEXT 24
HOURS...BEFORE INCREASING THE POPS SLIGHTLY ON TUESDAY...AND LITTLE
HIGHER FOR WED-FRI TIMEFRAME. STILL...NOT LOOKING AT BETTER THAN
SCATTERED ACTIVITY THROUGH THIS WEEK.

TEMPS STILL SHOULD HOLD IN THE MID 90S FOR HIGHS AND LOW TO MID 70S
FOR LOWS. STILL NO HEAT ADVISORY CRITERIA BEING MET OR EXPECTED FOR
THE NEXT WEEK.

.LCH...NONE.

.PRELIMINARY NUMBERS...
AEX 72/96 72/96 72/96 010213
BPT 75/93 75/93 75/93 010213
LCH 74/93 74/93 74/93 010213
LFT 74/93 74/93 74/93 010213

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jul 21, 8:29 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLCHRapides61 min
Jul 22, 5:45 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLCHRapides60 min
Jul 22, 6:28 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLCHVernon62 min
Jul 22, 6:44 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLCHRapides61 min

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Louisiana, 2002Every 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.