Alert archive / Wisconsin / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1988

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 10, NWS Milwaukee, WI

May 8, 1988Milwaukee County, Wisconsin

NWS Milwaukee, WI issued this severe thunderstorm warning at May 8, 1988, 7:17 PM CDT for Milwaukee County, Wisconsin. It was in force for 23 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
May 8, 1988, 7:17 PM CDT (00:17 UTC)
Expired
May 8, 1988, 7:40 PM CDT
In force
23 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
May 8, 7:35 PM CDTThunderstorm Wind 0Milwaukee, 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, 0.3 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 1988-05-09Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 264 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 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 1988-05-09The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 182 square meters per square second.193958Sfc1 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
264 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-284 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1901 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
39 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
182 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
237 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.3

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

The text of this product is not in the archive. The NWS text archive before 2002 is incomplete.

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, May 8, 5:01 PM CDT, 2 hours 16 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MILWAUKEE WI
500 PM CDT SUN MAY 8 1988

        ...STRONG WINDS MOVING INTO SOUTHEAST WISCONSIN...

DURING THE PAST HOUR STRONG SURFACE WINDS GUSTING TO 60 MPH HAVE BEEN
OCCURING OVER PORTIONS OF NORTHEAST ILLINOIS. IN ADDITION...VISIBILITIES
ARE BEING REDUCED DUE TO BLOWING DUST.

WHILE THESE WINDS ARE NOT ASSOCIATED WITH ANY THUNDERSTORM ACTIVITY...
PERSONS OVER SOUTHEAST WISCONSIN WILL BE EXPERIENCING STRONG WINDS
...POSSIBLY BETWEEN 50 AND 65 MPH DURING THE EVENING HOURS.

MOTORISTS IN HIGH PROFILE VEHICLES ARE URGED TO USE CAUTION...AND PEOPLE
WITH RESPIRATORY AILMENTS SHOULD CURTAIL OUTSIDE ACITIVIES DUE TO
THE BLOWING DUST. THE WINDS SHOULD BEGIN TO SUBSIDE A FEW HOURS AFTER
SUNSET.

ZAJDEL
Special weather statement, May 8, 5:31 PM CDT, 1 hour 46 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MILWAUKEE WI
530 PM CDT SUN MAY 8 1988

...STRONG THUNDERSTORM HEADING TOWARD WALOWRTH AND JEFFERSON COUNTIES...

AT 525 PM CDT A STRONG THUNDERSTORM WAS LOCATED NEAR THE ROCK/WALWORTH
BORDER MOVING NORTHEAST AT 45 MPH.

THE STORM WILL BE MOVING TOWARD THE WHITEWATER/FORT ATKINSON AREAS
ABOUT 45 MILES WEST SOUTHWEST OF MILWAUKEE BETWEEN NOW AND 545 PM CDT.

THIS STORM MAY BE CAPABLE OF STRONG WINDS..HAIL AND HEAVY RAIN.
ZAJDEL
Special weather statement, May 8, 5:44 PM CDT, 1 hour 33 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MILWAUKEE WI
543 PM CDT SUN MAY 8 1988

..STRONG THUNDERSTORMS HEADING TOWARD WALWORTH..JEFFERSON AND DODGE
  COUNTIES..

AT 535 PM CDT A LINE OF VERY STRONG THUNDERSTORMS WAS LOCATED FROM
EASTERN DANE AND ROCK COUNTIES. THE STORMS WERE MOVING NORTHEAST
AT ABOUT 45 MPH.

AT 525 PM CDT 50 MPH WINDS WERE REPORTED JUST EAST OF BELOIT IN ROCK
COUNTY.

THE LINE OF STORMS WILL BE MOVING INTO WESTERN WALWORTH AND WESTERN
JEFFERSON COUNTIES BETWEEN NOW AND 6PM CDT AND WILL BE AFFECTING THE
TOWNS OF LAKE MILLS..JEFFERSON..FORT ATKINSON AND WHITEWATER ABOUT
40 TO 45 MILES WEST TO SOUTHWEST OF MILWAUKEE.

SOME OF THESE STORMS MAY BE CAPABLE OF ST/RONG WINDS..HAIL AND HEAVY RAIN.
ZAJDEL
Special weather statement, May 8, 6:45 PM CDT, 32 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MILWAUKEE WI
645 PM CDT SUN MAY 8 1988

..TORNADO WARNING FOR FOND DU LAC COUNTY UNTIL 715 PM CDT...

AT 642 PM CDT WEATHER RADAR DETECTED AN INTENSE STORM BETWEEN OAKFIELD
AND BRANDON...ABOUT 23 MILES SSW OF OSHKOSH MOVING NORTHEAST AT
ABOUT 45 MPH.

NO REPORTS OF A TORNADO OR SEVERE WEATHER HAVE BEEN REPORTED WITH THIS
STORM.

ANOTHER INTENSE STORM WAS LOCATED OVER NORTHEAST DODGE COUNTY NEAR
LOMIRA AND WILL BE MOVING TOWARD THE CITY OF FOND DU LAC BY 700 PM.

ZAJDEL
Special weather statement, May 8, 6:54 PM CDT, 23 minutes before
SPECISL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MADISON WI
655 PM CDT SUN MAY 8 1988

...SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNINGS FOR SOUTH-CENTRAL WISCONSIN HAVE ALL
EXPIRED...

...A TORNADO WATCH REMAINS IN EFFECT FOR MUCH OF THE SOUTHERN TWO-THIRDS
OF WISCONSIN UNTIL 9 PM CDT...

AT 645 PM CDT AN AREA THUNDERSTORMS WERE NOTED FROM FON DU LAC TO
12 MILES NORTHEAST OF WHITEWATER OR ABOUT 55 MILES NORTHWEST OF
MILWAUKEE TO 30 MILES WEST OF MILWAUKEE.  THE AREA WAS MOVING TO THE
EAST AT ABOUT 20 MPH WHILE THE THUNDERSTORMS IN THE AREA WERE MOVING TO
THE NORTHEAST AT ABOUT 35 MPH.  THIS AREA IS THE MOST ACTIVE OF THE
TOTAL RAINFALL NOTED ON THE RADAR.  SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS COVER
ABOUT A 150 MILE WIDE AREA CENTERED FROM 10 MILES NORTH OF WAUSAU TO
40 MILES SOUTH OF ROCKFORD, ILLINOIS.

ADDISON
Special weather statement, May 8, 7:13 PM CDT, 4 minutes before
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The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 8, 7:01 PM CDTTornado WarningMKXWashington, Waukesha34 min
May 8, 7:27 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMKXOzaukee, Sheboygan33 min
May 8, 7:34 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMKXForest26 min

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.