Alert archive / Wisconsin / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1988

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 2, NWS Green Bay, WI

April 5, 1988Dane County, Rock County, Wisconsin

NWS Green Bay, WI issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Apr 5, 1988, 8:12 PM CDT for Dane County, Rock County, Wisconsin. It was in force for 33 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
Apr 5, 1988, 8:12 PM CDT (01:12 UTC)
Expired
Apr 5, 1988, 8:45 PM CDT
In force
33 min
Issued by
NWS Green Bay, WI
Area
Whole counties

Counties Dane County, WI, Rock 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
Apr 5, 8:32 PM CDTHail 1.5Rock, 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, 1.2 hours before the alert went out and 201 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 1988-04-06Temperature 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 00:00Z on 1988-04-06The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 205 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
749 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
55 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
205 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
295 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 060112
SVRMSN
WIC025-105-060145-
 
BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MADISON WI
812 PM CDT TUE APR 5 1988
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN MADISON WIHAS ISSUED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  845 PM CDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTIES...
 
IN SOUTH CENTRAL WISCONSIN
          ...EASTERN DANE...NORTHEASTERN ROCK
 
AT 805 PM CDT A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WAS REPORTED AT EVANSVILLE OR
ABOUT 15 MILES SOUTH OF MADISON. THIS STORM SHOULD PASS NEAR EDGERTON
AND CAMBRIDGE BY ABOUT 830 PM CDT.
 
 
A TORNADO WATCH IS ALSO IN EFFECT FOR THE WARNED AREA.  REMEMBER
SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS CAN AND OCCASIONALLY DO PRODUCE TORNADOES
WITH LITTLE OR NO ADVANCE WARNING.  REMAIN CALM BUT BE ALERT TO
RAPIDLY CHANGING WEATHER CONDITIONS.
 
THIS IS A DANGEROUS STORM.  IF YOU ARE IN ITS PATH YOU SHOULD
PREPARE FOR DAMAGING WIND IN EXCESS OF 55 MPH...LARGE HAIL...AND
DEADLY LIGHTNING.  JPEOPLE OUTSIDE SHOULD MOVE TO A SHELTER...
PREFERABLY INSIDE A STRONG BUILDING BUT STAY AWAY FROM WINDOWS.
 
ADDISON

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, Apr 5, 7:41 PM CDT, 31 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREEN BAY WI
740 PM CDT TUE APR 5 1988

 ....VERY STRONG THUNDERSTORMS MOVING ACROSS NORTHEAST WISONSIN...

A VERY STRONG THUNDERSTORM WAS INDICATED BY RADAR AT 735 PM OVER EXTREME
EASTERN SHAWANO COUNTY. THIS STORM SHOULD MOVE OVER EXTREME SOUTHERN
OCONTO COUNTY NEAR ABRAMS ABOUT 20 MILES NORTH OF GREEN BAY BY 8 PM.
PEA SIZE HAIL HAS BEEN REPORTED NEAR PULASKI..15 MILES NORTHWEST OF
GREEN BAY.

ANOTHER VERY STRONG THUNDERSTORM WAS LOCATED OVER SOUTH CENTRAL MANITOWOC
COUNTY AND WILL MOVE OVER THE CITY OF MANITOWOC BY ABOUT 8 PM.

EITHER OF THESE STORMS MAY PRODUCE STRONG GUSTY WINDS...LOCALLY HEAVY RAINS
AND SMALL HAIL. THEY ARE MOVING NORTHEAST AT ABOUT 45 MILES AN HOUR.

WWI
Special weather statement, Apr 5, 8:03 PM CDT, 9 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREEN BAY WI
800PM CDT TUE APR 5 1988

 ....ANOTHER STRONG THUNDERSTORM IS MOVING INTO DOOR COUNTY....

NUMEROUS SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS ARE MOVING OVER NORTHEAST WISCONSIN
THIS EVENING. THE STRONGEST STORMS AT 8 PM WERE LOCATED OVER MANITOWOC
AND ANOTHER IS OVER THE BAY OF GREEN BAY AND WILL MOVE OVER DOOR COUNTY
NEAR BRUSSELS. THIS STORM IS MOVING NORTHEAST AND SHOULD PASS NEAR
STURGEON BAY BY: ABOUT 830 PM THIS EVENING.

SO FAR THESE STORMS HAVE ONLY PRODUCED LOCALLY HEAVY RAIN AND SMALL
HAIL. STRONG GUSTY WINDS AND DANGEROUS LIGHTNING IS ALSO POSSIBLE.

WWI

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Wisconsin, 1988Every severe thunderstorm warning in 1988

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.