Alert archive / Wisconsin / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1987

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 53, NWS Green Bay, WI

August 16, 1987Dane County, Wisconsin

NWS Green Bay, WI issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Aug 16, 1987, 6:02 PM CDT for Dane County, Wisconsin. It was in force for 43 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
Aug 16, 1987, 6:02 PM CDT (23:02 UTC)
Expired
Aug 16, 1987, 6:45 PM CDT
In force
43 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
Aug 16, 6:20 PM CDTThunderstorm Wind 64Dane, 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, 11.0 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 1987-08-16Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 1791 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 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 1987-08-16The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 56 square meters per square second.1939Sfc1 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
1791 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-10 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
577 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
21 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
56 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
79 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 162302
SVRMSN
WIC025-162345-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MADISON WI
602 PM CDT SUN AUG 16 1987

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM 
WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 645 PM CDT FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING 
COUNTY OF

SOUTH CENTRAL WISCONSIN...EASTERN DANE

AT 555 PM CDT RADAR DETECTED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM 1 MILE EAST OF
MADISON MOVING TOWARD THE EAST AT 30 MPH. THIS WARNING INCLUDES THE
CITY OF MADISON.

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

REMEMBER..SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS CAN AND OCCASIONALLY DO PRODUCE
A TORNADO WITH LITTLE OR NO ADVANCE WARNING..SO BE ON THE LOOKOUT.

PRZEKURAT

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, Aug 16, 12:21 PM CDT, 5 hours 41 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER AND MARINE STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREEN BAY WI
1220 PM CDT SUN AUG 16 1987

...STRONG THUNDERSTORMS WITH HEAVY RAIN MOVING TOWARD THE WEST
   SHORE OF LAKE MICHIGAN...

AT 1215 PM CDT RADAR SHOWS A LINE OF STRONG THUNDERSTORMS WITH HEAVY
RAIN IN SOUTHERN DOOR COUNTY EXTENDING SOUTH THRU KEWAUNEE AND MANITOWOC
COUNTIES. THESE STORMS ARE MOVING EAST AT 40 MPH AND WILL BE MOVING OUT
OVER LAKE MICHIGAN BY 1230 PM CDT.

HEAVY RAIN...GUSTY WINDS AND FREQUENT DANGEROUS LIGHTNING CAN BE
EXPECTED WITH THESE STORMS.

BOATERS ALONG THE WEST SHORE OF LAKE MICHIGAN...SEEK SAFE HARBOR AT ONCE.
HELMAN

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Aug 16, 5:42 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGRBColumbia33 min
Aug 16, 6:22 PM CDTFlash Flood WarningGRBDane98 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.