After almost a year at KPLC, I took my first vacation home to Pennsylvania. My parents live in a town called Trucksville, a small town outside of the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton metro, in an area called the “Back Mountain”. Yeah sounds kind of weird when I write that, but it is still considered home to me. Regardless, that’s just some background information on what I am about to write.
I accepted the job at KPLC in July 2008 and had about a month until I moved in August of 2008. I spent much of that time visiting family and friends and saying goodbye as I prepared for my 1,400 mile trek to Lake Charles, Louisiana; admittedly a town I had never heard of before July last year. (I only learned about Baton Rouge, New Orleans, and Shreveport through the Dallas Area School System. Yes, another odd note for SWLA, I lived near an area named Dallas, PA which was actually established before the more widely known and more populated Dallas, TX). After packing the U-haul, it was the last night with family and friends and we decided to head out to a popular pizza place about ten minutes from my parents' house in a town called Harveys Lake. Harveys Lake itself is the largest natural lake in Pennsylvania; surrounded by boathouses almost all the way along its shoreline. As I traveled down highway 415 in the back seat of my parents' car, I gazed out the passenger’s side window, absorbing the scenery for one last time. Everything was in place, as it had been for nearly twenty years of my life. Then as we were about to arrive at Grotto Pizza, I caught a quick glimpse of a sign that shocked me. I thought I saw “Welcome to Lake Charles”. It was high atop a shed that houses electrical bucket trucks along the side of the road, in a fenced in area. I clearly thought it was just my mind playing tricks. I shook it off as just being nostalgic of leaving home and hunger creeping into my thoughts.
So finally, as I said earlier, I took my first trip home since September last year. I made it a point to travel route 415 and check out that sign again to see if I was crazy or seeing things. Sure enough, my mind was not playing tricks on me. To prove it I took a picture. It was a sign that clear as day said “Welcome to Lake Charles”. It sits atop a roadway sign from Texas reading “Farm Road 39”. Now how it got there, I don’t know, I can only speculate. How long has it been there? Still, I have no answer. I must have traveled past that sign fifty times in my life and never noticed it. My best guess is that living in such a wonderful country as we do; the sign may have made its way back to Pennsylvania after a hurricane. I say it’s a wonderful country because in times of disaster people from all over this nation reach out and lend a helping hand, no matter where they live or how far they may travel. I would assume the electric company sent a crew to SWLA during Hurricane Rita in 2005. While working long hours, they may have found this sign laying on the roadway or in a pile of debris and brought it with them to remind them of the time and effort put into getting Lake Charles back on its feet. Of course, as I said it’s only speculation and my imagination running wild. I hope no one feels angered by this discovery of a missing sign. I just find it amazing how no matter where you go, you’d be amazed to find how interconnected we are in this small world! Maybe it was there for me, welcoming me to my new home and helping me realize that no matter how far I may travel, home is only as far away as I want it to be.
-Meteorologist Jeff Jumper
The rain began yesterday evening but the heaviest of it is happening this morning. A storm over DeQuincy has dumped upwards of 5 inches of rain so far since 3 am Tuesday morning and it is still pouring. A flood advisory has been posted for the southern part of Beauregard parish. That means that there could be some minor flooding issues especially along roadways. Northern parts of Acadia parish have already gotten more than 6 inches and are also under a flood advisory this morning.
All of this rain is because of a front just north of Lake Charles. This front will be slowing moving southward bringing numerous showers and thunderstorms through the day. Most of the rain should come to an end later tonight with just a few lingering showers.
Stay tuned for the latest.
The tropical wave being watched over the weekend in the northwestern Caribbean has dissipated over the Yucatan. It is no longer a threat to develop into a tropical system. All is quiet for now as we head into the second month of the hurricane season.
As time continues to pass, this tropical wave of showers and thunderstorms is looking increasingly less impressive. The rains associated with this wave are impacting the Yucatan peninsula and northern Cuba. As of 7pm CDT, the Tropical Prediction Center is not anticipating much tropical development over the next several days as the wave meanders in the southern Gulf. They wave continues to have a less than 30% chance of development in the next forty-eight hours. Below is the 8PM EDT (7PM CDT) graphic from the TPC:
-Meteorologist Jeff Jumper
Not much has changed with this disorganized area of showers and storms overnight. The low is moving over the Yucatan today and will bring heavy rainfall to that area. The system has a slight chance of becoming a tropical depression over the next couple of days as it enters the southern gulf. It will be drifting west or northwest.
Stay tuned for updates.
As of 7pm CDT, the Tropical Prediction Center has dropped the probability of development down to low for the tropical wave sitting between the Yucatan and Cuba. Although the cluster of storms is dumping heavy rains on the Yucatan and islands in the northwestern Caribbean, the system still remains disorganized. It looks to emerge into the southern Gulf of Mexico by Sunday where conditions are still slightly favorable for development. Again, we’ll be watching to see if this cluster of storms turns out to be anything over the next few days. For more on the track if it develops, see the blog below “Remembering Audrey”. Below is the 8PM EDT (7PM CDT) graphic from the TPC showing the <30% potential for tropical development within the 48 hour range:
-Meteorologist Jeff Jumper
It’s been fifty-two years since Hurricane Audrey slammed into the coast of Louisiana. Hurricane Audrey was a rapidly developed devastating storm that destroyed life for just about all of Cameron Parish, and caused problems across Southwest Louisiana. Audrey formed in the southern Gulf of Mexico on June 25, 1957. She barreled basically due north and strengthened to a category four major hurricane with winds reported at 145 miles per hour. By early on the 27th around 9am, Audrey made landfall near the LA/TX border. Audrey was responsible for an estimated 500 deaths, primarily in Cameron and Vermilion parishes. Parts of Cameron parish suffered from twelve foot of storm surge, while wind gusts exceeding 100 miles per hour ripped apart whatever was left. Farther inland, areas like Lake Charles saw storm surge nearing six feet along the river and rainfall across the area totaled nearly 8” for many.
Hurricane Audrey was a fast moving storm and its strength for early in the season was impressive. Audrey was not only the strongest June hurricane to make US landfall, it also was only one of two major hurricanes to make landfall in the month of June. Many of the deaths due to Audrey came due to lack of warning. Thanks to the advancements in meteorology and remote sensing, we can now get the information out much quicker to avoid such a large loss of life. Audrey was the hurricane of talk in recent history for Southwest Louisiana until Rita in 2005 and then Ike in 2008. The resolve of Cameron parish residents remains strong after a half a decade. They still prove to be strong and steadfast in their efforts to rebuild their community, no matter how devastating the tropics can be along their coastline. This positive spirit from 1957 has not changed to this day.
Much of the information in this blog has come from the research of the NWS office in Lake Charles. A link to this information can be found below:
http://www.srh.noaa.gov/lch/tropical/Audrey@50.php
-Meteorologist Jeff Jumper
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