Alert archive / Wisconsin / Tornado Warnings in 1988
Tornado Warning 3, NWS Green Bay, WI
NWS Green Bay, WI issued this tornado warning at May 8, 1988, 5:05 PM CDT for Dane County, Green County, Wisconsin. It was in force for 40 min. 4 reports 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 8, 1988, 5:05 PM CDT (22:05 UTC)
- Expired
- May 8, 1988, 5:45 PM CDT
- In force
- 40 min
- Issued by
- NWS Green Bay, WI
- Area
- Whole counties
Counties Dane County, WI, Green 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| May 8, 5:05 PM CDT | Thunderstorm Wind 0 | Dane, WI | |
| May 8, 5:10 PM CDT | Thunderstorm Wind 0 | Green, WI | |
| May 8, 5:38 PM CDT | Tornado F2 | Dane, WI | |
| May 8, 5:50 PM CDT | Thunderstorm Wind 0 | Dane, 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, 10.1 hours before the alert went out and 212 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.
- Mixed-layer CAPE
- 0 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- No buoyant parcel
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 1662 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 50 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 91 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 141 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 0.0
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
000
TTAA00 KMSN 082207
TORMSN
WIC025-045-082245-
BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MADISON WI
505 PM CDT SUN MAY 8 1988
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN MADISON WIHAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 545 PM CDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTIES...
IN SOUTH CENTRAL WISCONSIN
...DANE...GREEN
AT 501 PM CDT TREES WERE DOWN ABOUT 10 MILES WEST OF MONROE AND A
FUNNEL CLOUD WAS SIGHTED IN THE AREA. THIS IS OVER EXTREME
SOUTHWESTERN GREEN COUNTY AND WAS INDICATED TO BE MOVING NORTHEAST AT
45 MPH. SOME SHEDS REPORTED DOWN IN THE AREA ALSO.
IF YOU ARE IN THE PATH OF A TORNADO...THE SAFEST PLACE IS A
BASEMENT. GET UNDER A WORKBENCH OR PIECE OF STURDY FURNITURE.
IF NO BASEMENT IS AVAILABLE...SEEK SHELTER IN AN INTERIOR ROOM
SUCH AS A CLOSET ON THE LOWEST FLOOR. USE BLANKETS...PILLOWS...
OR CUSHIONS TO COVER YOUR BODY. AVOID WINDOWS.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, May 8, 3:28 PM CDT, 1 hour 37 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREEN BAY WI 330 PM CDT SUN MAY 8 1988 ...TORNADO WATCH REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 9PM CDT... RADAR INDICATED AT 330 PM CDT STRONG THUNDERSTORMS WITH VERY HEAVY RAIN...STRONG WINDS AND DANGEROUS LIGHTNING MOVING INTO THE CENTRAL PORTIONS OF WISCONSIN. NORTHEAST AND EAST CENTRAL WISCONSIN CAN EXPECT THESE THUNDERSTORMS TO MOVE IN FROM THE WEST AS THE AFTERNOON WEARS ON. LATE AFTERNOON AND EVENING SHOULD SHOW SCATTERED SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS OVER NORTHEAST AND EAST CENTRAL WISCONSIN. SOME OF THESE STORMS WILL PRODUCE DAMANAGING WINDS...HEAVY RAINS AND DANGEROUS LIGHTNING. PERSONS SHOULD REMAIN ON THE ALERT FOR SEVERE WEATHER AND LISTENING FORT LATER STATEMENTS AND POSSIBLE WARNINGS. PLH
The office that day
Everything else NWS Green Bay, WI issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 8, 4:15 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | GRB | Richland | 45 min |
| May 8, 4:21 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | GRB | Iowa | 39 min |
| May 8, 4:30 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | GRB | Iowa | 45 min |
| May 8, 4:42 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | GRB | Sauk | 48 min |
| May 8, 5:01 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | GRB | Juneau, Sauk | 29 min |
| May 8, 5:26 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | GRB | Columbia | 49 min |
| May 8, 5:37 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | GRB | Green Lake, Marquette | 68 min |
| May 8, 5:37 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | GRB | Adams | 68 min |
| May 8, 6:11 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | GRB | Waushara | 34 min |
| May 8, 6:28 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | GRB | Waupaca | 62 min |
| May 8, 6:41 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | GRB | Outagamie, Winnebago | 64 min |
Nearby
Tornado Warnings in Wisconsin, 1988Every tornado warning in 1988Tornadoes 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.