Alert archive / Wisconsin / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1988
Severe Thunderstorm Warning 7, NWS Milwaukee, WI
NWS Milwaukee, WI issued this severe thunderstorm warning at May 8, 1988, 5:27 PM CDT for Marathon County, Wood County, Wisconsin. It was in force for 63 min. 3 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, 5:27 PM CDT (22:27 UTC)
- Expired
- May 8, 1988, 6:30 PM CDT
- In force
- 63 min
- Issued by
- NWS Milwaukee, WI
- Area
- Whole counties
Counties Marathon County, WI, Wood 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, 5:30 PM CDT | Thunderstorm Wind 52 | Wood, WI | |
| May 8, 5:34 PM CDT | Hail 1.75 | Wood, WI | |
| May 8, 6:10 PM CDT | Tornado F2 | Marathon, 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, 10.5 hours before the alert went out and 144 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
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, 3:08 PM CDT, 2 hours 19 minutes before
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</html>Special weather statement, May 8, 3:08 PM CDT, 2 hours 19 minutes before
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<div class="status" id="status">Temporary Notice</div>
<h1 id="headline">This service is currently unavailable.</h1>
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</html>Special weather statement, May 8, 3:13 PM CDT, 2 hours 14 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MILWAUKEE WI 310 PM CDT SUN MAY 8 1988 ...STRONG THUNDERSTORMS IN NORTH CENTRAL WISCONSIN... AT 305 PM RADAR INDICATE STRONG THUNDERSTORMS MOVING INTO NORTH CENTRAL WISCONSIN. AT 3 PM THORP IN CLARK COUNTY REPORTED MARBLE SIZED HAIL. SEVERAL STRONG STORMS WERE LOCATED 35 MILES NORTHEAST OF EAU CLAIRE AND 20 MILES SOUTHEAST OF EAU CLAIRE NEAR THE TOWNS OF HANNIBAL AND JUST NORTHWEST OF FAIRCHILD IN WESTERN TAYLOR AND WESTERN CLARK COUNTY. THESE STORMS WERE MOVING NORTHEAST AT 45 MPH. EXPECT STRONG WINDS AND HAIL FROM THESE STORMS. IN ADDITION A TORNADO WATCH COVERS MUCH OF WISCONSIN EXCEPT THE FAR NORTH UNTIL 9 PM. PERSONS IN WISDCONSIN SHOULD BE ALET TO SEVERE WEATHER THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING. HENTZ
Special weather statement, May 8, 3:45 PM CDT, 1 hour 42 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MILWAUKEE WI 343 PM CDT SUN MAY 8 1988 ...STRONG THUNDERSTORMS APPROCHING NORTH CENTRAL WISCONSIN... AT 340 PM RADAR INDICATED A STRONG THUNDERSTORM 30 MILES EAST OF EAU CLAIRE IN FAR WESTERN CLARK COUNTY. THE STORM WAS MOVING NORTHEAST AT 40 MPH AND SHOULD AFFECT THE THORP AND OWEN AREA OF CLARK COUNTY BY 4PM. EXPECT HAIL AND STRONG WINDS FROM THIS STORM. THIS STORM WILL THEN HEAD INTO pSOUTHERN TAYLOR COUNTY AFTER 4PM. A TORNADO WATCH COVERS MUCH OF WISCONSIN EXCEPT THE FAR NORTH UNTIL 9PM. PERSONS IN WISCONSIN SHOULD BE ALERT TO SEVERE WEATHER THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING. HENTZ
Special weather statement, May 8, 4:47 PM CDT, 40 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MILWAUKEE WI 440 PM CDT SUN MAY 8 1988 ...TORNADO WATCHES REMAIN IN EFFECT FOR ABOUT THE SOUTHERN TWO THIRDS OF WISCONSIN THIS EVENING... AT 435 PM RADAR INDICATED A LINE OF INTENSE THUNDERSTORMS OVER WESTERN WISCONSIN FROM GREENWOOD IN CLARK COUNTY..OR ABOUT 45 MILES EAST OF EAU CLAIRE..SOUTHWARD THRU RICHLAND CENTER IN RICHLAND COUNTY TO GRATIOT IN LAFAYETTE COUNTY..ABOUT 40 MILES SOUTHWEST OF MADISON. STORMS IN THE LINE ARE MOVING NORTH ABOUT 40 MPH WHILE THE LINE ITSELF DRIFTS EASTWARD ABOUT 10 MPH. THE LINE WILL BE MOVING INTO CENTRAL AND SOUTH CENTRAL WISCONSIN DURING THE NEXT 1 TO 3 HOURS. BUT THERE ARE NO STORMS IN OR CLOSE TO SOUTHEAST WISCONSIN AT THIS TIME. JOHNSTON
Special weather statement, May 8, 5:01 PM CDT, 26 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.
ZAJDELThe office that day
Everything else NWS Milwaukee, WI issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 8, 3:49 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MKX | Taylor | 56 min |
| May 8, 5:52 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | MKX | Jefferson | 38 min |
| May 8, 5:59 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MKX | Portage | 61 min |
| May 8, 6:04 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | MKX | Dodge | 41 min |
| May 8, 6:09 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | MKX | Marathon, Portage | 36 min |
| May 8, 6:24 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | MKX | Fond du Lac | 51 min |
| May 8, 6:54 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MKX | Langlade | 66 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.