Alert archive / Wisconsin / Tornado Warnings in 1988

Tornado Warning 6, NWS Green Bay, WI

August 4, 1988Manitowoc County, Wisconsin

NWS Green Bay, WI issued this tornado warning at Aug 4, 1988, 3:55 PM CDT for Manitowoc County, Wisconsin. It was in force for 35 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 4, 1988, 3:55 PM CDT (20:55 UTC)
Expired: Aug 4, 1988, 4:30 PM CDT
In force: 35 min
Issued by: NWS Green Bay, WI
Area: Whole counties

County Manitowoc 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 4, 4:05 PM CDT	Thunderstorm Wind 0	Manitowoc, 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, 8.9 hours before the alert went out and 54 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: 595 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -155 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 985 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 26 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 105 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 72 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.0
Supercell composite: 1.1

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KGRB 042055
TORGRB
WIC071-042130-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED/EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED 
TORNADO AND SPECIAL MARINE WARNING 
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREEN BAY WI
355 PM CDT THU AUG 4 1988

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A TORNADO AND SPECIAL 
MARINE WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 430 PM CDT FOR PEOPLE IN THE 
FOLLOWING COUNTY

   IN THE EAST CENTRAL PART OF WISCONSIN
      EASTERN MANITOWOC

...THIS WARNING ALSO INCLUDES THE ADJACENT COASTAL WATERS FOR THE
COUNTY JUST MENTIONED

AT 345 PM CDT THE SHERIFFS DEPARTMENT CONFIRMED A EARLIER REPORT
OF TORNADO NEAR THE CITY OF WHITELAW ABOUT 10 MILES WEST NORTHWEST
OF MANITOWOC. THE TORNADO IS MOVING EAST NORTHEAST..PERSONS IN
THE CITY OF MANITOWOC AND TWO RIVER AND AREA SHOULD SEEK SHELTER
NOW.

THIS IS A DANGEROUS STORM SITUATION.  ACT QUICKLY.  IF YOU ARE
IN THE PATH OF THIS TORNADO MOVE TO A SHELTER BELOW GROUND IF
AVAILABLE.  OTHERWISE...GO TO A SMALL INTERIOR ROOM ON THE LOWEST
FLOOR POSSIBLE.  AVOID WINDOWS.  ABANDON CARS AND MOBILE HOMES...
TAKE COVER IN A REINFORCED BUILDING OR GET INTO A DITCH OR CULVERT.

 TH

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 4, 12:42 PM CDT, 3 hours 13 minutes before

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREEN BAY WI
1240 PM CDT THU AUG 4 1988

 .....STRONG THUNDERSTORMS HAVE DEVELOPED IN SOUTHWEST SHAWANO COUNTY....

AT 1230 PM CDT TWO STRONG THUNDERSTORMS WERE LOCATED IN SOUTHWEST
SHAWANO COUNTY IN THE WITTENBURG AREA OR ABOUIT 25 MILES WEST OF
THE CITY OF SHAWANO. THIS STORM APPEAR TO BE INTENSIFING AND ARE
MOVING NORTHEAST AT AROUND 35 MPH. THIS MOVEMENT WILL TAKE THE STORMS
BETWEEN KESHENA IN MENOMINEE COUNTY AND THE CITY OF SHAWANO IN SHAWANO
COUNTY BY 130 OR 2 PM THIS AFTERNOON.
PERSONS IN THE PATH OF THESE STORMS ARE ADVISED THAT THESE STORMS MAY
BRING VERY HEAVY DOWNPOURS...DANGEROUS LIGHTNING AND POSSIBLE HAIL AND
THAT THEY SHOULD" BE PREPARED TO MOVE TO SAFE SHELTER.

WWI

Special weather statement, Aug 4, 1:33 PM CDT, 2 hours 22 minutes before

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREEN BAY WI
130 PM CDT THU AUG 4 1988

 .....THUNDERSTORM MOVING TOWARD EAA CONVENTION...

AT 130 PM CDT A THUNDERSTORM WAS ABOUT 25 MILES SOUTHWEST OF OSHKOSH
JUST ENTERING SOUTHWESTERN WINNEBAGO COUNTY. THIS STORM IS MOVING
NORTHEAST AT 35 MPH AND WILL BE IN THE OSHKOSH AREA INCLUDING THE
EAA CONVENTION BY AROUND 2 PM. PEOPLE IN WINNEBAGO COUNTY ALONG WITH
PERSONS CONCERNED WITH THE EAA CONVENTTION SHOULD LISTEN TO POSSIBLE
LATER STATEMENTS.

HELMAN

Special weather statement, Aug 4, 1:47 PM CDT, 2 hours 8 minutes before

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREEN BAY WI
145 PM CDT THU AUG 4 1988

 .....THUNDERSTORM IN NORTHERN WAUPACA COUNTY...

AT 140 PM CDT RADAR SHOWS A STRONG THUNDERSTORM IN NORTHERN WAUPACA
COUNTY ABOUT 10 MILES WEST OF CLINTONVILLE..45 MILES WEST OF GREEN
BAY. THIS STORM IS MOVING EAST TO NORTHEAST AT 35 MPH AND WILL BE IN
THE CLINTONVILLE AREA BY 155 PM CDT.

AT 135 PM CDT THE WAUPACA COUNTY SHERIFF DEPARTMENT REPORTED HEAVY RAINS
AND WIND GUSTS TO 30 MPH WITH THIS STORM IN THE NORTHWEST PART OF THE
COUNTY NEAR IOLA.

THIS STORM IS CAPABLE OF PRODUCING HEAVY DOWNPOURS..STRONG WINDS AND
FREQUENT LIGHTNING. PERSONS IN NORTHERN WAUPACA COUNTY AND SOUTH CENTRAL
SHAWANO CbOUNTY SHOULD LISTEN TO POSSIBLE LATER STATEMENTS.
HELMAN

Special weather statement, Aug 4, 2:18 PM CDT, 1 hour 37 minutes before

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREEN BAY WI
215 PM CDT THU AUG 4 1988

 .....STRONG THUNDERSTORM IN CENTRAL SHAWANO COUNTY...

AT 215 PM CDT RADAR SHOWS A STRONG THUNDERSTORM IN CENTRAL SHAWANO
COUNTY JUST ENTERING THE CITY OF SHAWANO..40 MILES NORTHWEST OF GREEN
BAY. THIS STORM IS MOVING NORTHEAST AT 35 MPH AND WILL BE IN CENTRAL
OCONTO BY 245 PM CDT.

THIS STORM IS CAPABLE OF PRODUCING HEAVY DOWNPOURS..STRONG WINDS AND
FREQvUENT LIGHTNING. PERSONS IN SHAWANO COUNTY..AND OCONTO OCONTO IN THE
NEAR FUTURE SHOULD LISTEN TO POSSIBLE LATER STATEMENTS.
HELMAN

Special weather statement, Aug 4, 2:21 PM CDT, 1 hour 34 minutes before

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREEN BAY WI
215 PM CDT THU AUG 4 1988

 .....STRONG THUNDERSTORM IN CENTRAL SHAWANO COUNTY...

AT 215 PM CDT RADAR SHOWS A STRONG THUNDERSTORM IN CENTRAL SHAWANO
COUNTY JUST ENTERING THE CITY OF SHAWANO..40 MILES NORTHWEST OF GREEN
BAY. THIS STORM IS MOVING NORTHEAST AT 35 MPH AND WILL BE IN CENTRAL
OCONTO COUNTY BY 245 PM CDT.

THIS STORM IS CAPABLE OF PRODUCING HEAVY DOWNPOURS..STRONG WINDS ANyD
FREQUENT LIGHTNING. PERSONS IN SHAWANO COUNTY..AND OCONTO COUNTY IN THE
NEAR FUTURE SHOULD LISTEN TO POSSIBLE LATER STATEMENTS.
HELMAN

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Aug 4, 2:45 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	GRB	Winnebago	60 min
Aug 4, 3:03 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	GRB	Brown, Outagamie	57 min
Aug 4, 3:30 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	GRB	Marinette	60 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Wisconsin, 1988 Every tornado warning in 1988 Tornadoes 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.