Alert archive / Louisiana / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 2002

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 89, NWS Lake Charles, LA

October 9, 2002Vermilion Parish, Louisiana

NWS Lake Charles, LA issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Oct 9, 2002, 3:15 AM CDT for Vermilion Parish, Louisiana. It was in force for 60 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
Oct 9, 2002, 3:15 AM CDT (08:15 UTC)
Expired
Oct 9, 2002, 4:15 AM CDT
In force
60 min
Issued by
NWS Lake Charles, LA
Area
Counties, with a storm outline in the text

County Vermilion 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, 8.3 hours before the alert went out and 94 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 2002-10-09Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 726 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°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 2002-10-09The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 93 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
726 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-2 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
588 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
28 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
93 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
135 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.3
Supercell composite
2.1

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
WUUS54 KLCH 090815
SVRLCH
LAC113-090915-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES LA
315 AM CDT WED OCT 9 2002

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN LAKE CHARLES HAS ISSUED A

* SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING FOR...
  VERMILION PARISH IN SOUTHWEST LOUISIANA

* UNTIL 415 AM CDT

* AT 314 AM CDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A
  SEVERE THUNDERSTORM 3 MILES SOUTHEAST OF PECAN ISLAND...MOVING
  NORTHEAST AT 15 MPH.

SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS PRODUCE WINDS IN EXCESS OF 60 MPH...DESTRUCTIVE
HAIL...DEADLY LIGHTNING AND TORRENTIAL RAIN.

DESTRUCTIVE WINDS CAN BE EXPECTED - TAKE COVER NOW VEHICLES AND
MOBILE HOMES ARE NOT SAFE.

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

LAT...LON 2961 9255 2949 9241 2973 9209 2989 9227

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 Oct 9, 2:50 AM CDT, 25 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Oct 9, 2:50 AM CDT, 25 minutes before
SOUTHWEST LOUISIANA AND SOUTHEAST TEXAS FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES LA
250 AM CDT WED OCT 9 2002

...FLOOD WATCH TO BE ISSUED EARLY THIS MORNING...

WHAT A STRANGE FEELING...ITS WED MORNING AND WERE NOT DEALING WITH
AN APPROACHING TROPICAL CYCLONE IN THE GULF.

LOOKING AT CURRENT CONDITIONS...SFC ANALYSIS SHOWS A MUCH BETTER
TROF OVER THE OFFSHORE GULF WATERS THAN THE REMNANT FNTL BDRY THAT
PASSED A DAY OR SO AGO. GUESS HERE (BASED ON DEWPT & WIND DATA) IS
THAT IT LIES JUST N OF THE I-10 CORRIDOR...BISECTING THE FCST
AREA...AND MOVING SLOWLY NWD. WATER VAPOR PIX SHOW AN UPR LO ACROSS
NWRN TX GRADUALLY MOVING EWD WHILE GOOD MOISTURE STREAMS NE ACROSS
THE AREA. FINALLY KLCH 88D SHOWS A LARGE AREA OF RW/TRW COVERING ALL
BUT THE EXTREME NWRN & SERN ZONES.

INGREDIENTS COMING TOGETHER NICELY FOR A HEAVY RAIN EVENT OVER THE
NEXT 24 HOURS. GREAT LIFT PROGGED W/ THE ADVANCING UPR LO & ITS
CONSIDERABLE DIVERGENCE...S/WV ENERGY (THOUGH MODEL OMEGA FIELDS
LOOK A BIT MUCH) BEING EJECTED BY THE LO...SOME RRQ INFLUENCE OF
APPROACHING H2/H3 JET...CONVERGENCE ALONG SFC TROF FCST TO DEVELOP
OVER THE AREA BY THIS EVE THEN DRIFT EWD...AND EVEN A SMALL
CONTRIBUTION FROM WEAK OVERRUNING THIS MRNG. MOISTURE HAS BEEN
INCREASING W/ AREA SOUNDING PWATS RISING FROM 1.5-1.6 AT 12Z TUE TO
1.8-1.9 AT 00Z WED. WITH 30+ KT LLJ DEVELOPING ALONG W/ SRLY FLOW
THROUGHOUT THE COLUMN...PWAT VALUES SHOULD STEADILY INCREASE WELL
ABOVE 2 TDY. H8/H7 THETA-E RIDGE SLIDES ACROSS THE AREA THIS AFTN
WHILE WEAK THICKNESS DIFLUENCE PERSISTS. 6-HR QPF VALUES EXCEED FFG
ACROSS MOST OF THE AREA...AND CONSIDERING HOW MUCH RAIN IS ALREADY
FALLING THESE VALUES MAY NOT BE OVERDONE. THEREFORE WILL ISSUE A
FLOOD WATCH ACROSS THE ENTIRE AREA FOR TDY & TNGT. BIGGEST THREAT
WILL BE TDY FOR THE WRN 1/2...MOVING TO THE ERN 1/2 FOR TNGT.
TRAJECTORY OF BEST MOISTURE & LIFT WOULD LEAVE THE SERN-MOST ZONES
LIKELY OUT OF HARMS WAY...BUT WILL INCLUDE THEM IN THE WATCH FOR
NOW. LIKE SPCS THINKING ON LIMITED SVR THREAT W/ TRW INTO TNGT.

NOT MANY CHANGES PLANNED BEYOND THE 1ST 2 PERIODS. WILL HOLD ONTO
DECREASING POPS BEGINNING THU NGT. UPR & SFC TROFS PROGGED TO HANG
NEARBY INTO THE WEEKEND ALTHOUGH PWAT & MEAN RH VALUES WILL BE ON
THE DECLINE. WILL KEEP HIGHER POPS E. AVN STILL HOLDING ONTO IDEA OF
PUSHING STRONG CDFNT ACROSS THE REGION ON SUN. ITLL BE MID-OCT BY
THEN SO I GUESS ITS POSSIBLE.

.LCH...FLOOD WATCH ENTIRE AREA TODAY AND TNGT.

.PRELIMINARY NUMBERS...
    WE    TH    FR    W T F
BPT 80 71/81 66/83 69 +84222
LCH 79 70/80 66/83 69 +85222
LFT 81 72/80 67/82 69 8+7433
AEX 77 67/78 64/80 67 896333

LGE
Hazardous weather outlook, Oct 8, 7:00 AM CDT, 20 hours 15 minutes before
LAZ027>033-041>045-051>055-TXZ180>182-201-215-216-091100-

HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES LA
700 AM CDT TUE OCT 8 2002

THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR SOUTHEAST TEXAS...CENTRAL
AND SOUTH CENTRAL AND SOUTHWEST LOUISIANA.

...THUNDERSTORMS WITH LOCALLY HEAVY RAINFALL EXPECTED ON THURSDAY...

.TODAY AND TONIGHT....AN UPPER LEVEL DISTURBANCE OVER CENTRAL
TEXAS WILL APPROACH THE AREA...PRODUCING SCATTERED MAINLY
AFTERNOON SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WITH SHOWERS LINGERING INTO
THE EVENING HOURS. BETTER CHANCES FOR RAIN WILL BE OVER INTERIOR
SOUTHEAST TEXAS.

.FLOODING...
THE CALCASIEU RIVER WILL REMAIN IN FLOOD. SEE LATEST STATEMENTS.
FLOOD WATCHES ARE NOT ANTICIPATED.

HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS NOT EXPECTED TODAY OR TONIGHT.

.WEDNESDAY THROUGH MONDAY...
A VIGOROUS UPPER LEVEL TROUGH MOVING EAST THROUGH TEXAS...ALONG WITH
ABUNDANT MOISTURE AND FAVORABLE UPPER LEVEL WINDS WILL SET THE STAGE
FOR HEAVY RAINS ON THURSDAY. SOME STORMS ASSOCIATED WITH A SQUALL
LINE MAY REACH SEVERE LEVELS. 1 TO 3 INCHES OF RAIN OVER GROUND CLOSE
TO SATURATION AND COMPROMISED DRAINAGE SYSTEMS FROM RECENT HURRICANE
LILI COULD RESULT IN SOME FLOODING. ALSO...SQUALL LINE WIND GUSTS
COULD KNOCK DOWN ALREADY WEAKENED TREES AND CAUSE FURTHER DAMAGE TO
STRUCTURES IN SOUTH CENTRAL AND CENTRAL LOUISIANA.

OTHER THAN THE POSSIBILITY FOR HAZARDOUS WEATHER ON THURSDAY...
HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS NOT EXPECTED ON WEDNESDAY AND FOR THE PERIOD
FROM FRIDAY THROUGH MONDAY.

ACTIVATION OF SPOTTERS MAY BE REQUIRED AHEAD OF THE WEATHER ON
THURSDAY.

SWEENEY

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Oct 9, 12:38 AM CDTSpecial Marine WarningLCH52 min
Oct 9, 12:38 AM CDTSpecial Marine WarningLCH52 min
Oct 9, 1:30 AM CDTSpecial Marine WarningLCH60 min
Oct 9, 8:47 AM CDTFlash Flood WarningLCHSt. Mary5 hr
Oct 9, 3:07 PM CDTFlash Flood WarningLCHSt. Mary4 hr

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.