Lightning struck an oil tank near Erath.
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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.
Lightning struck an oil tank near Erath.
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 May 17, 9:15 AM CST, 1 hour earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES LA 1015 AM CDT FRI MAY 17 2013 .UPDATE... HIGH PRES RIDGING WEST ACRS THE NRN GULF OF MEXICO CONTINUES TO BRING INCREASING LOW LVL MOISTURE AND WARMER AIR OVER THE AREA. ABUNDANT STRATUS ACRS THE FCST AREA IS BEGINNING TO LIFT AND CLOUDS SHOULD BECOME SCT BY THIS AFTN. BEEN WATCHING AN ISOLATED STORM MOVING SE OUT OF N CNTL TX EARLY THIS MORNING...BUT LAST FEW RADAR SCANS SHOW A WEAKENING TREND. RAISED POPS SLIGHTLY TO LOWER TEENS FOR SE TX...BUT EXPECT THIS STORM WILL DISSIPATE BEFORE REACHING OUR AREA. OTHERWISE...JUST MADE SOME MINOR TWEAKS TO HOURLY SKY...WIND...AND TEMP/DEWPOINT GRIDS WHICH RESULTED IN SOME ADJUSTMENTS TO WORDING IN ZONES...BUT FCST IS GENERALLY ON TRACK. 24 && .PREV DISCUSSION... /ISSUED 712 AM CDT FRI MAY 17 2013/ DISCUSSION... A DOME OF HIGH PRESSURE...LOCATED OFFSHORE JACKSONVILLE...RIDGES WESTWARD INTO THE GULF OF MEXICO. ITS CLOCKWISE CIRCULATION (ON THE WARM SIDE OF DOME) IS TRANSPORTING CARIBBEAN AIR INTO THE WESTERN UPPER GULF COAST STATES. THE CONSEQUENT MORNING MARINE STRATUS WILL BREAK UP BY MID MORNING. 21 PREV DISCUSSION... /ISSUED 358 AM CDT FRI MAY 17 2013/ DISCUSSION...SATELLITE IMAGERY/SURFACE OBS DEPICTING CONSIDERABLE STRATOCU ACROSS THE FORECAST AREA. LOW LEVEL MOISTURE AND ASSOCIATED CLOUDINESS RESULTING FROM A LONG FETCH OF SOUTHERLIES INCOMING FROM THE BAY OF CAMPECHE. AFOREMENTIONED ALSO MAINTAINING TEMPERATURES ABOVE THE NORM...RANGING FROM THE UPPER 60S NORTH TO LOW 70S SOUTH...WITH LITTLE ADDITIONAL FALL EXPECTED THROUGH THE REMAINDER OF TONIGHT. SURFACE ANALYSIS SHOWING HIGH PRESSURE RIDGING ACROSS THE SOUTHEAST CONUS/NORTHERN GULF TO LOW PRESSURE OVER MID-TEXAS. ALOFT...OPENING LOW NOW ADVANCING THROUGH THE MID-MISSISSIPPI VALLEY FOLLOWED BY AN AMPLIFYING RIDGE ADVANCING INTO THE PLAINS. NEXT TROF AND POTENTIAL RAIN MAKER FOR US NOW MOVING INTO THE WESTERN CONUS. ANY SIGNIFICANT MOISTURE WILL REMAINED CONFINED TO ONLY THE LOWER LEVELS AS A DRY WEST TO NORTHWEST FLOW IS MAINTAINED ALOFT. WITH ATMOSPHERE ESSENTIALLY CAPPED...RAIN CHANCES WILL REMAIN NEAR NIL WHILE TEMPERATURES TREND TOWARD THE NORM AND HUMIDITY LEVELS REMAIN MODERATE THROUGH THE FORECAST. WILL MAINTAIN A LOW END CHANCE OF A FEW SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS IN THE WEDNESDAY AND THURSDAY TIME-FRAME AS THE PREVIOUSLY MENTIONED WEST COAST TROF ADVANCES SLOWLY INTO AND THROUGH THE MISSISSIPPI VALLEY. MARINE...STRONG FAIR WEATHER HIGH PRESSURE RIDGING ACROSS THE SOUTHEAST CONUS AND NORTHERN GULF WILL MAINTAIN A STEADY SOUTHERLY FLOW. 23 && .PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS... KLCH 84 70 86 70 / 10 0 0 10 KBPT 83 71 84 71 / 10 0 0 10 KAEX 87 70 89 69 / 10 0 0 10 KLFT 84 71 85 71 / 10 0 0 10 && .LCH WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... LA...NONE. TX...NONE. GM...NONE. &&
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES LA 418 AM CDT FRI MAY 17 2013 GMZ430-432-435-450-452-455-470-472-475-LAZ027>033-041>045-052>055- 073-074-TXZ180-201-215-216-259>262-180930- 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 FROM 20 TO 60 NM- WATERS FROM INTRACOASTAL CITY TO CAMERON LA FROM 20 TO 60 NM- WATERS FROM LOWER ATCHAFALAYA RIVER TO INTRACOASTAL CITY LA FROM 20 TO 60 NM-VERNON-RAPIDES-AVOYELLES-BEAUREGARD-ALLEN-EVANGELINE- ST. LANDRY-CALCASIEU-JEFFERSON DAVIS-ACADIA-LAFAYETTE- UPPER ST. MARTIN-VERMILION-IBERIA-ST. MARY-LOWER ST. MARTIN- WEST CAMERON-EAST CAMERON-TYLER-HARDIN-JEFFERSON-ORANGE- NORTHERN JASPER-NORTHERN NEWTON-SOUTHERN JASPER-SOUTHERN NEWTON- 418 AM CDT FRI MAY 17 2013 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 NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...SATURDAY THROUGH THURSDAY NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION WILL NOT BE NEEDED.
The Lake Charles radar (KLCH), 113 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 16:10 UTC.
1 lightning. Local standard time, as filed.
Lightning struck an oil storage tank on Albert Road near Erath seting the tank on fire. The fire burned through the afternoon.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Louisiana in 2013Every state in 2013This day in weather historyWarnings in Louisiana, May 2013
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: 452534.