Scattered thunderstorms across southwest Louisiana during the afternoon hours on August 13 produced a lightning strike that started a large oil fire in Jefferson Davis Parish.
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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.
The episode as NWS LCH wrote it up.
Scattered thunderstorms across southwest Louisiana during the afternoon hours on August 13 produced a lightning strike that started a large oil fire in Jefferson Davis Parish.
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 13, 12:44 PM CST, 1 hour 31 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES LA 144 PM CDT FRI AUG 13 2010 .DISCUSSION... FOR 18Z TAF ISSUANCE. && .AVIATION... REGIONAL 88DS SHOW THAT MAJORITY OF THE CONVECTION ASSOCIATED WITH THE REMNANTS OF TD5 CONTINUE TO FLARE UP OVER THE ERN ZONES EARLY THIS AFTERNOON...IN CLOSER PROXIMITY TO THE REMNANT LOW WHICH IS LOCATED OVER SRN MS. MEANWHILE RIDGING ALOFT OVER THE SWRN CONUS APPEARS TO BE EXERTING ENOUGH OF AN INFLUENCE TO KEEP MUCH IF ANY CONVECTION FROM DEVELOPING OVER THE WRN 1/2 OF THE AREA. THEREFORE TEMPO GROUPS FOR SHRA/TSRA HAVE BEEN INCLUDED FOR AT LEAST THE EARLY/MIDDLE PART OF THE AFTERNOON AT KARA/KLFT/KAEX WHILE ONLY A VICINITY MENTION IS INCLUDED AT KLCH/KBPT. MOST CONVECTION SHOULD DIE OFF WITH SUNSET WITH VFR CONDITIONS EXPECTED ATTM...THIS COULD CHANGE WITH LATER TAF ISSUANCES DEPENDING ON WHICH SITES GET RAIN TODAY. REMNANT LOW PROGGED TO DRIFT TO THE NE THROUGH TOMORROW BUT COULD REMAIN CLOSE ENOUGH TO SPARK SOME SHOWERS OVER THE ERN ZONES TOMORROW SO VCSH HAS BEEN INCLUDED FOR THIS TIME FRAME AT THE 3 ERN SITES. 25 && .PREV DISCUSSION... /ISSUED 1133 AM CDT FRI AUG 13 2010/ DISCUSSION... UPDATED MOST SENSIBLE WEATHER GRIDS BASED ON LATEST SFC/RADAR/SATELLITE OBSERVATIONS. BIGGEST CHANGES WERE MADE TO EAST CENTRAL LOUISIANA...WHERE PERSISTENT CLOUD COVER HAS/WILL HOLD DOWN TEMPERATURES. POP/WX GRIDS WERE ALSO ADJUSTED TO INCREASE RAIN CHANCES IN THIS AREA...BUT OTHERWISE THE RANGE OF A SLIGHT CHANCE OVER THE TEXAS LAKES TO LIKELY OVER EASTERN ZONES STILL LOOKS VALID. 13 PREV DISCUSSION... /ISSUED 645 AM CDT FRI AUG 13 2010/ AVIATION... SFC LOW EAST OF NEW HAS STORMS OVER EAST CENTRAL LOUISIANA MOVING TOWARDS THE WEST AND INTO AEX AREA OF OPERATIONS WHILE DOWN AT THE COAST STORMS ARE MOVING TOWARDS THE EAST NORTHEAST. THIS GENERAL OVER ALL MOVE WILL CONTINUE AS LONG AS THE SFC LOW HANGS AROUND TO THE EAST. CEILINGS WILL DROP IN THE VCNTY OF STORMS. STORMS WILL INCREASE IN AREA COVERAGE THRU THE DAY. PREV DISCUSSION... /ISSUED 303 AM CDT FRI AUG 13 2010/ DISCUSSION...WATER VAPOR SHOWS AREA OF SUBSIDENCE MOVING INTO THE NORTHWEST GULF WHICH HAS QUICKLY DISSIPATED SHOWER AND THUNDERSTORM ACTIVITY DURING THE EARLY EVENING. ENERGY ROTATING AROUND UPPER ANTICYCLONE OVER THE SE STATES WILL SLIGHTLY ENHANCE SHOWER AND THUNDERSTORM ACTIVITY TODAY ESPECIALLY OVER EASTERN AREAS. CHANCE POPS FOR TODAY LOOKS GOOD FOR MOST AREA...WILL CARRY SLIGHT CHANCE OVER SE TX LAKES REGION. WILL MAINTAIN A SIMILAR POP FORECAST FOR SATURDAY. AFTER SATURDAY...POPS FORECAST BECOMES CHALLENGING. WHILE CORE OF UPPER ANTICYCLNE SHIFTS WESTWARD...MODELS CONTINUE TO MEANDER REMNANTS OF TD5 OVER THE SOUTHEAST STATES. FOR NOW...THINK THAT SCATTERED DIURNAL THUNDERSTORMS SHOULD CONTINUE THROUGH MUCH OF NEXT WEEK. THEREFORE...NO SIGNIFICANT ADJUSTMENTS TO CURRENT POP FORECAST EXPECTED. FOR TODAY...MAXIMUM HEAT INDICIES SHOULD BE BETWEEN 100 AND 105 OVER MOST OF THE AREA. A FEW SPOTS MAY EXCEEED THIS...BUT DO NOT EXPECT HEAT ADVISORY CRITERIA TO BE REACHED. MARINE...HIGH PRESSURE WILL GRADUALLY BUILD OVER THE GULF THROUGH THE WEEKEND. THIS COMBINED WITH THE REMNANTS OF TD5 WILL MAINTAIN SOUTHWESTERLY FLOW ALONG WITH SCATTERED SHOWER AND THUNDERSTORM ACTIVITY. GFS AND ECMWF SHIFT THESE REMNANTS WESTWARD EARLY NEXT WEEK. THIS MAY ENHANCE GRADIENT AND PRODUCE MORE NUMEROUS SHOWERS AND STORMS BY THE MIDDLE OF NEXT WEEK. && .PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS... KLCH 94 79 95 79 95 / 40 20 20 10 30 KBPT 94 79 95 79 95 / 30 20 20 10 30 KAEX 91 77 98 77 97 / 40 20 30 10 30 KLFT 93 79 94 79 95 / 60 30 40 10 40 && .LCH WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... LA...NONE. TX...NONE. GM...NONE. &&
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES LA 337 AM CDT FRI AUG 13 2010 GMZ430-432-435-450-452-455-470-472-475-LAZ027>033-041>045-051>055- TXZ180>182-201-215-216-140845- SABINE LAKE-CALCASIEU LAKE-VERMILION BAY- COASTAL WATERS FROM CAMERON, LA TO HIGH ISLAND, TX OUT 20 NM- COASTAL WATERS FROM INTRACOASTAL CITY TO CAMERON, LA OUT 20 NM- COASTAL WATERS FROM LOWER ATCHAFALAYA RIVER TO INTRACOASTAL CITY, LA OUT 20 NM- WATERS FROM CAMERON, LA TO HIGH ISLAND, TX EXTENDING FROM 20 NM TO 60 NM- WATERS FROM INTRACOASTAL CITY, LA TO CAMERON, LA EXTENDING FROM 20 NM TO 60 NM- WATERS FROM LOWER ATCHAFALAYA RIVER TO INTRACOASTAL CITY, LA EXTENDING FROM 20 NM TO 60 NM-VERNON-RAPIDES-AVOYELLES-BEAUREGARD- ALLEN-EVANGELINE-ST. LANDRY-CALCASIEU-JEFFERSON DAVIS-ACADIA- LAFAYETTE-UPPER ST. MARTIN-CAMERON-VERMILION-IBERIA-ST. MARY- LOWER ST. MARTIN-TYLER-JASPER-NEWTON-HARDIN-JEFFERSON-ORANGE- 337 AM CDT FRI AUG 13 2010 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF THE NORTHWEST GULF OF MEXICO...CENTRAL LOUISIANA...SOUTH CENTRAL LOUISIANA... SOUTHWEST LOUISIANA...WEST CENTRAL LOUISIANA AND SOUTHEAST TEXAS. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT NUMEROUS SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED TODAY ACROSS ACADIANA. SCATTERED SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED ACROSS THE REMAINDER OF SOUTHWEST LOUISIANA AND SOUTHEAST TEXAS. LOCALLY HEAVY RAIN AND FREQUENT LIGHTNING CAN BE EXPECTED WITH SOME STORMS...BUT NO SEVERE WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. MAXIMUM HEAT INDICES WILL RANGE FROM 100 TO 107 TODAY. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...SATURDAY THROUGH THURSDAY SCATTERED DAILY AFTERNOON AND EVENING THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED THROUGH THE MIDDLE OF NEXT WEEK. ALSO...HEAT INDICIES THIS WEEKEND MAY APPROACH 110 ESPECIALLY ACROSS PARTS OF SOUTHEAST TEXAS. OTHERWISE NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION WILL NOT BE NEEDED.
The Lake Charles radar (KLCH), 53 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 20:13 UTC.
1 lightning. Local standard time, as filed.
KPLC-TV and Jennings Daily News reported lightning struck three large oil storage tanks at the intersection of Highway 26 and Highway 1126 south of Jennings and set them on fire. Three fire departments responded and put out the blaze.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Louisiana in 2010Every state in 2010This day in weather historyWarnings in Louisiana, August 2010
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: 257899.