Alert archive / Wisconsin / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1987

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 3, NWS Milwaukee, WI

May 11, 1987Milwaukee County, Wisconsin

NWS Milwaukee, WI issued this severe thunderstorm warning at May 11, 1987, 12:29 PM CDT for Milwaukee County, Wisconsin. It was in force for 19 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 11, 1987, 12:29 PM CDT (17:29 UTC)
Expired
May 11, 1987, 12:48 PM CDT
In force
19 min
Issued by
NWS Milwaukee, WI
Area
Whole counties

County Milwaukee 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 11, 12:35 PM CDTHail 0.75Milwaukee, 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, 5.5 hours before the alert went out and 163 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 1987-05-11Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 27 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 1987-05-11The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 123 square meters per square second.193958Sfc1 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
27 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-309 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1171 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
27 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
123 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
259 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 KMKE 111729
SVRMKE
WIC079-111815-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM AND SPECIAL MARINE WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MILWAUKEE WI
1229 PM CDT MON MAY 11 1987

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM AND 
SPECIAL MARINE WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 115 PM CDT FOR PEOPLE IN THE 
FOLLOWING COUNTY OF

SOUTHEAST WISCONSIN...MILWAUKEE
...INCLUDING THE ADJACENT COASTAL WATERS OF                      
..LAKE MICHIGAN      

AT 1225 PM HALF INCH TO 3/4 INCH HAIL WAS REPORTED NEAR 93RD
AND SILVER SPRING IN MILWAUKEE.

HAIL WAS ALSO REPORTED AT TIMMERMAN FIELD.

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

HENTZ

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 11, 11:56 AM CDT, 33 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MILWAUKEE WI
1155 AM CDT MON MAY 11 1987

...THUNDERSTORM DEVELOPING WEST OF MILWAUKEE...

AT 1155 AM WEATHER RADAR INDICATED A RAPIDLY DEVELOPING THUNDERSTORM
25 MILES WEST OF MILWAUKEE IN NORTHWEST WAUKESHA COUNTY JUST TO THE
NORTHWEST OF THE CITY OF WAUKESHA.  THE THUNDERSTORM WAS MOVING TO THE
EAST AT 25 MILES AN HOUR.

CONDITIONS ARE FAVORABLE FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF STRONG THUNDERSTORMS
THIS AFTERNOON AHEAD OF A COLD FRONT WHICH WILL MOVE THROUGH
SOUTHEAST WISCONSIN BY EVENING.

HENTZ
Special weather statement, May 11, 12:00 PM CDT, 29 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MILWAUKEE WI
1159 AM CDT MON MAY 11 1987

...THUNDERSTORM DEVELOPING WEST OF MILWAUKEE...

AT 1157 AM THE WAUKESHA COUNTY SHERIFF REPORTED MARBLE SIZED HAIL
JUST NORTH OF PEAWUAKEE NEAR HIGHWAY 16.

WEATHER RADAR CONTINUED TO INDICATE A RAPIDLY DEVELOPING THUNDERSTORM
25 MILES WEST OF MILWAUKEE IN NORTHWEST WAUKESHA COUNTY JUST TO THE
NORTHWEST OF THE CITY OF WAUKESHA.  THE THUNDERSTORM WAS MOVING TO THE
EAST AT 25 MILES AN HOUR.

CONDITIONS ARE FAVORABLE FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF STRONG THUNDERSTORMS
THIS AFTERNOON AHEAD OF A COLD FRONT WHICH WILL MOVE THROUGH
SOUTHEAST WISCONSIN BY EVENING.

HENTZ
Special weather statement, May 11, 12:15 PM CDT, 14 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MILWAUKEE WI
1215 PM CDT MON MAY 11 1987

...STRONG THUNDERSTORM MOVING INTO MILWAUKEE...

AT 1215 PM WEATHER RADAR INDICATED A STRONG THUNDERSTORM MOVING
INTO THE MILWAUKEE METROPLOITAN AREA.

AT NOON PEA TO MARBLE SIZED HAIL WAS REPORTED IN PEAWAUKEE. THE
STORM WAS MOVING EAST AT 25 MILES AN HOUR AND WILL REACH THE
SHORE OF LAKE MICHIGAN AFTER 1230 PM.  BOATERS SHOULD BE AWARE
OF THIS APPROACHING STORM AND TAKE THE NECESSARY PRECAUTIONS.

CONDITIONS ARE FAVORABLE FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF STRONG THUNDERSTORMS
THIS AFTERNOON. OTHER SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS WERE DEVELOPING TO THE
SOUTHWEST IN SOUTHWEST WAUKESHA AND WESTERN WALWORTH COUNTIES.

HENTZ

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 10, 7:12 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMKXPrice48 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.