Alert archive / Wisconsin / Tornado Warnings in 1988

Tornado Warning 8, NWS Milwaukee, WI

August 3, 1988Sheboygan County, Wisconsin

NWS Milwaukee, WI issued this tornado warning at Aug 3, 1988, 4:11 PM CDT for Sheboygan County, Wisconsin. It was in force for 34 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 3, 1988, 4:11 PM CDT (21:11 UTC)
Expired
Aug 3, 1988, 4:45 PM CDT
In force
34 min
Issued by
NWS Milwaukee, WI
Area
Whole counties

County Sheboygan 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
Aug 3, 4:15 PM CDTThunderstorm Wind 0Sheboygan, 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, 9.2 hours before the alert went out and 84 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 1988-08-03Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 357 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 12:00Z on 1988-08-03The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 20 square meters per square second.1939Sfc1 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
357 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-224 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1395 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
26 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
20 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
33 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.9

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KMKE 032119 COR
TORMKE
WIC117-032145-

BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED ...CORRECTED TO ADD SPECIAL MARINE
TORNADO AND SPECIAL MARINE WARNING     WARNING...
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MILWAUKEE WI
411 PM CDT WED AUG 3 1988

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN MILWAUKEE HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO AND SPECIAL MARINE WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  445 PM CDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTY

IN EAST CENTRAL WISCONSIN
          ...SHEBOYGAN  AND ADJOINING COASTAL WATERS OF LAKE MICHIGAN.

AT 400 PM A FIRE CHIEF IN SILVER CREEK...NEAR RANDOM CREEK IN THE
SOUTHERN PART OF SHEBOYGAN COUNTY...OR 36 MILES NORTH OF THE CITY OF
MILWAUKEE REPORTED A POSSIBLE TORNADO.  TREES WERE REPORTED BLOWN DOWN
AND CARS BLOWN AROUND.  STORMS WERE MOVING NORTHEAST AT 25 MPH.
SOME CITIES IN THE PATH OF THE STORM ARE CEDEAR GROVE AND OOSTBURG.

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, Aug 3, 1:08 PM CDT, 3 hours 3 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MILWAUKEE WI
105 PM CDT WED AUG 3 1988

...THUNDERSTORMS DEVELOPING RAPIDLY IN SOUTHERN WISCONSIN...

AT 100 PM...THUNDERSTORMS DEVELOPED RAPIDLY IN WESTERN JEFFERSON
COUNTY NEAR FORT ATKINSON...OR 30 MILES EAST SOUTHEAST OF MADISON.

GUSTY WINDS AND VERY HEAVY RAIN WERE REPORTED IN FAR WESTERN JEFFERSON
COUNTY AS THE STORMS DEVELOPED.

THE STORMS WERE MOVING NORTHEAST AT 20 MPH.

THUNDERSTORMS WILL CONTINUE IN PARTS OF JEFFERSON COUNTY THROUGH
2 PM.  OTHER STORMS WILL MOVE INTO PARTS OF DODGE AND WAUKESHA
COUNTIES AFTER 130 PM CDT.

WINDS TO 40 MPH .. VERY HEAVY RAIN .. FREQUENT AND DANGEROUS LIGHTNING
STRIKES AND SMALL HAIL WILL BE POSSIBLE IN THE VICINITY OF THE STORMS.
^
IF THREATNING WEATHER APPROACHES YOUR AREA...SEEK SAFE SHELTER
IMMEDIATELY.

STUREY
Special weather statement, Aug 3, 3:15 PM CDT, 56 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MILWAUKEE WI
316 PM CDT WED AUG 3 1988

...THUNDERSTORMS IN SOUTHEAST WISCONSIN...

AT 300 PM...THUNDERSTORMS CONTOINUE IN PARTS OF SOUTHEASTERN AND
SOUTHERN WISCONSIN GENERALLY TO THE NORTH OF LINE FROM MILWAUKEE TO NEAR
MADISON.  SEVERAL STRONG CELLS WERE REPORTED NEAR PORT WASHINGTON IN
OZAUKEE COUNTY...BETWEEN WEST BEND AND HARTFORD IN WASHINGTON COUNTY
AND NEAR JUNEAU IN DODGE COUNTY.

THE STORMS WERE MOVING TO THE EAST NORTHEAST AT 20 MPH. GUSTY WINDS
..PEA SIZE HAIL AND BRIEF HEAVY DOWNPOURS ARE POSSIBLE WITH THESE
STORMS.  AN OBSERVER NEAR JACKSON (25 MILES NORTH NORTHWEST OF
MILWAUKEE) IN WASHINGTON COUNTY REPORTED PEA SIZE HAIL AND GUSTS
TO 50 MPH AT 305 PM CDT.

GUSTY WINDS...BRIEF HEAVY RAIN .. FREQUENT AND DANGEROUS LIGHTNING
STRIKES AND SMALL HAIL WILL BE POSSIBLE IN THE VICINITY OF THE STORMS.
^
IF THREATNING WEATHER APPROACHES YOUR AREA...SEEK SAFE SHELTER
IMMEDIATELY.

SCAFFIDI
Special weather statement, Aug 3, 3:42 PM CDT, 29 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MADISON WI
345PM CDT WED AUG 3 1988

....THUNDERSTORMS RUMBLE IN SOUTH..CENTRAL WISCONSIN....

SEVERAL GROUPS OF THUNDERSTORMS IN THE SOUTH..CENTAL WISCONSIN
WERE REPORTED TO CONTAIN BRIEF HEAVY RAINS...INTENSE LIGHTNING...
AND GUSTY WINDS UP TO 40 MPH.  ONE THUNERSTORM IN EAST..CENTRAL
COLUMBIA COUNTY HAD PEA SIZE HAIL.

THESE STORMS WERE MOVING TOWARDS THE NORTHEAST AT 15 MPH.

SHOULD SEVERE WEATHER THREATEN SEEK SHELTER IMMEDIATELY AND IF
POSSIBLE RELAY YOUR REPORT TO THE LOCAL LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICE.
STIMACH
Special weather statement, Aug 3, 3:57 PM CDT, 14 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MILWAUKEE WI
400 PM CDT WED AUG 3 1988

...STRONG THUNDERSTORMS IN SHEBOYGAN COUNTY...

AT 350 PM...STRONG THUNDERSTORMS HAD MOVED INTO SOUTHERN SHEBOYGAN.
THE MOST INTENSE STORM WAS LOCATED NEAR RANDOM LAKE IN SOUTHERN
SHEBOYGAN COUNTY...ABOUT 36 MILES NORTH OF MILWAUKEE.

OTHER INTENSE STORMS EXTENDED WEST THROUGH FOND DU LAC COUNTY NEAR THE
CITY OF BRANDON...OR 23 MILES SOUTH SOUTHWEST OF OSHKOSH.

THE STORM WAS MOVING NORTHEAST AT 25 MILES AND HOUR AND WILL CONTINUE
IN PARTS OF SHEBOYGAN AND FOND DU LAC COUNTIES THROUGH 445 PM CDT.

GUSTY WINDS UP TO 40 MPH...VERY HEAVY RAIN...FREQUENT AND DANGEROUS
LIGHTNING STRIKES AND SOME SMALL HAIL WILL BE POSSIBLE WITH THIS
STORM.
^
STUREY

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.