Alert archive / Wisconsin / Tornado Warnings in 1987

Tornado Warning 9, NWS Milwaukee, WI

August 16, 1987Racine County, Wisconsin

NWS Milwaukee, WI issued this tornado warning at Aug 16, 1987, 7:45 PM CDT for Racine County, Wisconsin. It was in force for 60 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, 7:45 PM CDT (00:45 UTC)
Expired: Aug 16, 1987, 8:45 PM CDT
In force: 60 min
Issued by: NWS Milwaukee, WI
Area: Whole counties

County Racine 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

Time	Report	Where	Remark
Aug 16, 8:10 PM CDT	Tornado F0	Racine, 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, 0.8 hours before the alert went out and 196 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-p

Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.

Hodograph

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: 1376 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -33 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 750 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 43 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 148 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 175 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 1.0
Supercell composite: 5.5

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KMKE 170045
TORMKE
WIC079-101-133-170145-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED/EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED 
TORNADO AND SPECIAL MARINE WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MILWAUKEE WI
745 PM CDT SUN AUG 16 1987

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

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

AT 745 PM CDT A TORNADO WAS REPORTED NEAR WALES IN WAUKESHA
COUNTY WITH DAMAGE REPORTED.  ANOTHER TORNADO HAS OCCURRED IN
WATERFORD AREA OF RACINE COUNTY. DAMAGE HAS OCCURRED WITH THIS
TORNADO.  THE LINE OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WAS MOVING EAST AT
30 MPH.

IF THREATENING WEATHER APPROACHES YOU..TAKE COVER IMMEDIATELY.
A BASEMENT..INTERIOR HALLWAY OR ROOM ON THE LOWEST FLOOR IS THE
SAFEST PLACE IN MOST BUILDINGS.  GET UNDER SOMETHING STURDY.

HNAASE

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Aug 16, 7:03 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MKX	Walworth, Washington, Waukesha	72 min
Aug 16, 7:11 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MKX	Ozaukee	64 min
Aug 16, 7:15 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MKX	Kenosha, Milwaukee, Racine	60 min
Aug 16, 7:45 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	MKX	Milwaukee, Waukesha	50 min
Aug 16, 8:12 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	MKX	Kenosha	33 min

Nearby

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