Alert archive / Wisconsin / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1987

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 2, NWS Green Bay, WI

May 21, 1987Dane County, Wisconsin

NWS Green Bay, WI issued this severe thunderstorm warning at May 21, 1987, 6:06 PM CDT for Dane County, Wisconsin. It was in force for 24 min. 1 report came from inside the area while it was in force.

The area

The counties it named, with what was reported inside it.

The facts

Issued
May 21, 1987, 6:06 PM CDT (23:06 UTC)
Expired
May 21, 1987, 6:30 PM CDT
In force
24 min
Issued by
NWS Green Bay, WI
Area
Whole counties

County Dane County, WI

The radar

The WSR-88D network and its archive begin in 1991, so there is no radar volume for this alert.

What was reported inside it

TimeReportWhereRemark
May 21, 6:10 PM CDTHail 1.75Dane, WI

NCEI Storm Data entries that began inside the alert's area while it was in force. Before 2003 the local storm report archive is thin, so this is the record of what happened rather than what was phoned in. Storm Data before 1996 records only tornadoes, thunderstorm wind and hail.

The nearest sounding before it

Green Bay/Straub, WI (KGRB), launched 12:00Z, 11.1 hours before the alert went out and 189 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, Green Bay/Straub, WI at 12:00Z on 1987-05-21Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 0 joules per kilogram.LCL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°0°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.
HodographHodograph, Green Bay/Straub, WI at 12:00Z on 1987-05-21The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 58 square meters per square second.19395878Sfc1 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
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
No buoyant parcel
Mixed-layer LCL
949 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
33 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
58 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
105 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.0

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KMSN 212306
SVRMSN
WIC025-212330-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MADISON WI
606 PM CDT THU MAY 21 1987

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM 
WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 630 PM CDT FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING 
COUNTY OF

SOUTH CENTRAL WISCONSIN...SOUTHEAST DANE

AT 600PM CDT RADAR INDICATED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM 20 MILES
SOUTH OF MAIDSON MOVING TOWARDS THE NORTHEAST AT 404 MPH.

SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS PRODUCE DAMAGING WINDS..LARGE HAIL AND DANGEROUS
LIGHTNING. IF THREATENING WEATHER APPROACHES TAKE SHELTER.

STIMACH

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.

In the hours before

Special weather statement, May 21, 2:22 PM CDT, 3 hours 44 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREEN BAY WI
215 PM CDT THU MAY 21 1987

 ...THUNDERSTORMS DEVELOPING RAPIDLY OVER NORTHEAST WISCONSIN...

AT 2PM THE WEATHER SERVICE RADAR INDICATED A LINE OF STRONG
THUNDERSTORMS OVER WESTERN MARINETTE COUNTY SOUTH THRU CENTRAL
OCONTO COUNTY...WESTERN SHAWANO COUNTY AND INTO NORTHCENTRAL
OUTAGAMIE COUNTY. MOVEMENT OF THIS LINE APPEARS TO BE TO THE EAST.

STRONG WINDS...DANGEROUS LIGHTNING...BRIMEF HEAVY RAINS AND HAIL ARE
LIKELY WITH THE PASSAGE OF THESE THUNDERSTORMS.

PERSONS ON AREA LAKES AND THE BAY OF GREEN BAY SHOULD SEEK SAFE HARBOR
AND OTHER INTERESTS SHOULD LISTEN FOR LATER STATEMENTS AND POSSIBLE
WARNINGS.
PLH
Special weather statement, May 21, 3:19 PM CDT, 2 hours 47 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREEN BAY WI
315 PM CDT THU MAY 21 1987

...STRONG THUNDERSTORMS CONTINUE OVER NORTHEAST WISCONSIN...

AT 315PM CDT THE WEATHER SERVICE RADAR INDICATED STRONG THUNDERSTORMS
OVER NORTHERN OCONTO COUNTY NORTHEAST OF MOUNTAIN EXTENDING NORTHEAST
INTO CENTRAL AND NORTHERN MARINETTE COUNTY.
ANOTHER STRONG THUNDERSTORM HAD DEVELOPED IN CENTRAL WAUPACA COUNTY
NEAR MANAWA. THESE THUNDERSTORMS WERE MOVING TO THE NORTHEAST AT
30 MPH.

THESE THUNDERSTORMS SHOULD PRODUCE SOME HAIL BRIEF HEAVY RAINS AND
DANGEROUS LIGHTNING.

PERSONS IN NORTHEAST WISCONSIN SHOULD BE ALERT FOR THREATNING WEATHER
CONDITIONS AND BE PREPARED TO TAKE COVER IF NECESSARY.
PLH
Special weather statement, May 21, 3:55 PM CDT, 2 hours 11 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREEN BAY WI
350 PM CDT THU MAY 21 1987

...STRONG THUNDERSTORMS CONTINUE OVER NORTHEAST WISCONSIN...

AT 345 PM CDT RADAR SHOWS A STRONG THUNDERSTORM JUST SOUTHEAST
OF THE CITY OF SHAWANO IN SHAWANO COUNTY...30 MILES NORTHWEST OF
GREEN BAY. THIS STORM IS MOVING NORTHEAST AT 30 MILES AN HOUR AND
WILL AFFECT EASTERN SHAWANO AND SOUTHERN OCONTO COUNTY WITHIN THE
NEXT HOUR.  PERSONS IN THIS AREA SHOULD LISTEN TO LATER STATEMENTS.

HELMAN
Special weather statement, May 21, 4:13 PM CDT, 1 hour 53 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREEN BAY WI
410 PM CDT THU MAY 21 1987

...STRONG THUNDERSTORMS CONTINUE OVER NORTHEAST WISCONSIN...

AT 400 PM CDT RADAR SHOWS SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS THROUGHOUT
NORTHEAST WISCONSIN. THE STRONG STORM IN WESTERN SHAWANO COUNTY
HAS DECREASED IN INTENSITY.

AT 345 PM CDT PEA SIZE HAIL WAS REPORTED BY A HAM OPERATOR IN THE
CITY OF OSHKOSH...AT 400 PM CDT PEA SIZE HAIL WAS ALSO REPORTED BY
A HAM OPERATOR IN THE CITY OF DEPERE...JUST SOUTH OF GREEN BAY.
ALL THUNDERSTORMS IN NORTHEAST WISCONSIN ARE MOVING NORTHEAST
AT 30 MPH.

PERSONS IN NORTHEAST WISCONSIN SHOULD LISTEN TO LATER STATEMENTS.
HELMAN

The office that day

Everything else NWS Green Bay, WI issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 21, 6:48 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGRBRock22 min

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Wisconsin, 1987Every severe thunderstorm warning in 1987

Sources

The product and its follow-ups from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service and Storm Prediction Center text; verification from NCEI's Storm Data; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive.