Alert archive / Wisconsin / Tornado Warnings in 1987

Tornado Warning 7, NWS Milwaukee, WI

August 15, 1987Milwaukee County, Wisconsin

NWS Milwaukee, WI issued this tornado warning at Aug 15, 1987, 8:08 PM CDT for Milwaukee County, Wisconsin. It was in force for 37 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 15, 1987, 8:08 PM CDT (01:08 UTC)
Expired
Aug 15, 1987, 8:45 PM CDT
In force
37 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
Aug 15, 8:25 PM CDTThunderstorm Wind 52Milwaukee, 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 00:00Z, 1.1 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 00:00Z on 1987-08-16Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 1726 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.
HodographHodograph, Green Bay/Straub, WI at 00:00Z on 1987-08-16The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity -2 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
1726 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-4 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
938 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
3 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
-2 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
14 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 160112 COR
TORMKE
WIC079-160145-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED/EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO AND SPECIAL MARINE WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MILWAUKEE WI
808 PM CDT SAT AUG 15 1987

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A TORNADO AND SPECIAL
MARINE WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 845 PM CDT FOR PEOPLE IN THE
FOLLOWING COUNTY OF

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

A FUNNEL CLOUD HAS BEN REPIRTED BY THE WAUKESHA COUNTY SHERIFF
NEAR THE CITY OF NEW BERLIN IN EXTREME EASTERN WAUKESHA COUNTY.
THE FUNNEL WAS OBSERVED TO BE MOVING TO THE SOUTHEAST.

WEATHER RADAR INDICATES SEVERE THUNDERTORMS MOVVING THROUGH
MILWAUKEE COUNTY. THIS IS A DANGEROUS STORM TAKE COVER
IMMEDIATELY.

IF THREATENING WEATHER APPROACHES YOU..TAKE COVER IMMEDIATELY.
IF IN A MOBILE HOME OR VEHICLES..LEAVE THEM AND GO TO MORE
SUBSTANTIAL SHELTER.  IF OUTDOORS WITH NO SHELTER AVAILABLE..LIE
FLAT IN A NEARBY DITCH AND SHIELD YOUR HEAD WITH YOUR ARMS.

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before this tornado 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 15, 7:36 PM CDT, 32 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MILWAUKEE WI
730 PM CDT SAT AUG 15 1987

AT 730 PM CDT...A CLUSTER OF THUNDERSTORMS..PRODUCING VERY HEAVY RAIN..
WAS LOCATED OVER WAUKESHA AND MILWAUKEE COUNTY.

SMALL HAIL AND FREQUENT LIGHTNING STRIKES WERE REPORTED WITH THESE
STORMS AROUND 715 PM NEAR THE CITY OF WAUKESHA...WITH SOME REPORTED
POWER OUTAGES.

THESE THUNDERSTORMS WILL MOVE OUT OF WAUKESHA COUNTY BY 800 PM AND
THROUGH MILWAUKEE COUNTY BETWEEN 800 PM AND 830 PM.

DUE TO THE INTENSE RAINFALL...SOME URBAN STREET FLOODING IS POSSIBLE.

SCAFFIDI

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Aug 16, 1:03 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMKXKenosha, Racine57 min
Aug 16, 6:48 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMKXDodge, Jefferson57 min
Aug 16, 6:48 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMKXFond du Lac57 min
Aug 16, 6:54 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMKXSheboygan51 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Wisconsin, 1987Every tornado warning in 1987Tornadoes 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.