Alert archive / Wisconsin / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1988

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 2, NWS Milwaukee, WI

April 5, 1988Washington County, Wisconsin

NWS Milwaukee, WI issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Apr 5, 1988, 6:04 PM CDT for Washington County, Wisconsin. It was in force for 26 min.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Apr 5, 1988, 6:04 PM CDT (23:04 UTC)
Expired
Apr 5, 1988, 6:30 PM CDT
In force
26 min
Issued by
NWS Milwaukee, WI
Area
Whole counties

County Washington County, WI

The radar

The WSR-88D network and its archive begin in 1991, so there is no radar volume for this alert.

The nearest sounding before it

Green Bay/Straub, WI (KGRB), launched 12:00Z, 11.1 hours before the alert went out and 124 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 12:00Z on 1988-04-05Temperature 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 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 12:00Z on 1988-04-05The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 10 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
957 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
31 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
10 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
7 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 KMKE 052304
SVRMKE
WIC131-052330-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING 
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MILWAUKEE WI
604 PM CDT TUE APR 5 1988

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM 
WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 630 PM CDT FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING 
COUNTY

   IN THE SOUTHEAST PART OF WISCONSIN
      WASHINGTON

AT 6 PM A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WAS OVER WAHSINGTON COUNTY NEAR
SLINGER.  AT 555 PM THREE QUARTER INCH HAIL WAS REPORTED WITH
THE STORM.  IT WILL MOVE NORTH NORTHEAST AT ABOUT 40 MPH AND WILL
AFFECT MAINLY CENTRAL AND NORTHERN PARTS OF THE COUNTY.  THE MAIN
STORM WAS ABOUT 30 MILES NORTHWEST OF MILWAUKEE.

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.

OSTER

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, 5:42 PM CDT, 22 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MILWAUKEE WI
540 PM CST TUE APR 5 1988

...STRONG THUNDERSTORM HEADING FOR DODGE COUNTY...

AT 540 PM AN INTENSE THUNDERSTORM WAS OVER EASTERN COLUMBIA
COUNTY..ABOUT 25 MILES NORTHEAST OF MADISON.  THIS STORM DEVELOPED
RAPIDLY AND IS MOVING NORTHEAST AND WILL PASS THROUGH NORTHWESTERN
DODGE COUNTY NEAR FOX LAKE BETWEEN NOW AND 615 PM.  THIS STORM IS
CAPABLE OF PRODUCING STRONG GUSTY WINDS AND HAIL.  IF IT HOLDS
TOGETHER IT MAY THEN MOVE INTO FOND DU LAC COUNTY.  PERSONS IN
NORTHWEST DODGE COUNTY SHOULD BE ON THE LOOKOUT AND MOVE TO A PLACE
OF SAFETY SHOULD CONDITIONS BECOME THREATENING.

A TORNADO WATCH IS IN EFFECT FOR SOUTH CENTRAL AND SOUTHEAST WISCONSIN
FROM 6 PM TIL 11 PM.
OSTER
Special weather statement, Apr 5, 5:47 PM CDT, 17 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MADISON WI
550 PM CDT TUESDAY APRIL 4 1988

..TORNADO WATCH IN EFFECT FROM 6 PM CDT UNTIL 11 PM CDT...

AT 535 PM CDT WEATHER RADAR INDICATED SEVERAL T

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Apr 5, 6:17 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMKXFond du Lac43 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; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive.