Name: Flood in Louisiana, August 23, 2002
Start: 2002-08-23T14:00
End: 2002-08-23T16:00
Location: Louisiana

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 1 filed by county or forecast zone are drawn at its center, in a lighter ring. Tap one for its entry below.

Tornadoes
Tropical storms and surge
Floods
Wind
Hail
Winter weather
Heat and drought
Cold
Fire, smoke and dust
Marine and coastal
Other

Open the live radar over this ground

The toll

Deaths: 0
Injuries: 0
Property damage: $25,000
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 1

Deaths and injuries are direct and indirect together, as the offices filed them. Damage is property and crops in the dollars of the year, not adjusted for inflation, and only where an office estimated it.

What happened

The episode as NWS LCH wrote it up.

Heavy rains flooded Prien Lake Road, resulting in stalled vehicles.

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before the first event, 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 the first event at Aug 23, 1:50 PM CST, 10 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Aug 23, 1:50 PM CST, 10 minutes before

SOUTHWEST LOUISIANA AND SOUTHEAST TEXAS FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES LA
250 PM CDT FRI AUG 23 2002

SHWRS/TSTMS MOVG SLOWLY TO THE NORTH THIS AFTN. TEMPS ARE RUNNING
FROM THE MID 80S (RAIN COOLED AREAS) TO THE LWR 90S. ONCE AGAIN
PRECIP IS EXPECTED TO SHUT OFF TWRDS THE EVE HRS ENDING AROUND
9 PM.

WILL GO WITH PERSISTENCE FOR THE OVRNGHT HRS. HEY...WITH THE SAME WX
PATTERN...THIS STRAIGHT FORWARD. TEMPS AGAIN TO BOTTOM OUT IN THE
LWR 70S ACRS THE LAKES REGION OF SE TX AND CNTRL LA. DOWN AT THE
COAST PRETTY MUCH THE SAME IDEA WITH TEMPS NEAR 80 AT SR. AREAS OF
FOG ONCE AGAIN DRG THE MRNG INLD LCTNS...NOT EXPECTING TO SEE
ANYTHING AT THE COAST.

VORT AXIS OVR CNTRL TX WILL GET STRETCHED FM CSTL TX ACRS LA TWRDS
THE NE. AS A RESULT WILL CONT PRECIP INTO SAT. IT WILL BE A BIT LESS
THAN TDY. FINALLY ON SUNDAY UPR LVL RDG FM THE DESERT SW WILL BEGIN
TO BUILD EAST INTO THE AREA.

ON MONDAY A FRNT TO OUR NORTH WILL SAG INTO LA. THIS WILL ALLOW
VERTICAL MSTR TO POOL AND WILL CONT WITH CHC OF PRECIP THRU THE
WEEK. FRONT WILL NOT MAKE IT THRU THE AREA.

FOR THOSE OUT THERE THAT ARE HOPING FOR COOLER WEATHER (A FRONT)...
TAKE SOLACE (COMFORT) WITH THE IDEA THAT 30 YR CLIMATE RECORDS INDC
THAT AVERAGE DAYTIME HIGH TEMPS PEAKED ON THE
13TH OF AUGUST AT 92 DEGREES FOR LCH
 7TH OF AUGUST AT 94 DEGREES FOR AEX
22TH OF AUGUST AT 92 DEGREES FOR BPT
AND WILL BEGIN FALLING ON THE 29TH OF AUG FOR LFT AFTER AVERAGING 91
DEGREES.

.LCH...NONE.

.PRELIM NUMBERS...
    SA    SU    MO    TU  S S M
BPT 75/92/73/93/75/93/75  -40213
LCH 74/92/73/92/75/92/75  140213
LFT 74/92/74/93/75/93/74  140213
AEX 71/92/72/93/72/94/72  14-213

K. KUYPER

The radar

The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

1 flood. Local standard time, as filed.

Flood, Calcasieu

When: August 23, 2:00 PM CST to 4:00 PM CST
Where: Calcasieu County, Lake Charles
Property damage: $25,000
Reported by: NEWSPAPER
Coordinates: 30.229, -93.358 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

What these are

Flood: Flooding that develops more slowly than a flash flood: rivers leaving their banks, or water standing over land for an extended time.

After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.

The same day elsewhere

More

Every storm in Louisiana in 2002 Every state in 2002 This day in weather history Warnings in Louisiana, August 2002

Sources

NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database, compiled from the National Weather Service’s monthly Storm Data. Complete through 2026-06; NCEI adds each month about 75 days after it ends and revises past years a few times a year. Rebuilt 2026-09-24. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 5317314.