Alert archive / Wisconsin / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1988
Severe Thunderstorm Warning 44, NWS Twin Cities, MN
NWS Twin Cities, MN issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Aug 3, 1988, 8:33 PM CDT for Chippewa County, Eau Claire County, Wisconsin. It was in force for 42 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, 8:33 PM CDT (01:33 UTC)
- Expired
- Aug 3, 1988, 9:15 PM CDT
- In force
- 42 min
- Issued by
- NWS Twin Cities, MN
- Area
- Whole counties
Counties Chippewa County, WI, Eau Claire 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 3, 9:20 PM CDT | Thunderstorm Wind 0 | Chippewa, 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
Minneapolis, MN (KSTC), launched 00:00Z, 1.6 hours before the alert went out and 183 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
- 2209 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -25 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 1025 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 24 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 80 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 146 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.9
- Supercell composite
- 4.7
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
000
TTAA00 KMSP 040133
SVRMSP
WIC017-035-040215-
BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MINNEAPOLIS MN
833 PM CDT WED AUG 3 1988
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN MINNEAPOLIS HAS ISSUED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 915 PM CDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTIES...
IN WEST CENTRAL WISCONSIN
...WESTERN CHIPPEWA...WESTERN EAU CLAIRE
AT 830 PM...SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WERE MOVING THROUGH EASTERN DUNN
COUNTY OF WEST CENTRAL WISCONSIN. THESE STORMS HAVE PRODUCED GOLFBALL
SIZED HAIL ...POWER LINES DOWN...AND SEVERAL REPORTS OF FUNNEL CLOUDS.
THESE STORMS WERE 10 MILES WEST OF EAU CLAIRE MOVING TO THE NORTHEAST
AT 35 MILES AN HOUR. CITIES INCLUDED IN THIS WARNING ARE EAU
CLAIRE...CHIPPEWA FALLS...AND BLOOMER.
WHEN THUNDERSTORMS ARE OCCURRING..MOVE INSIDE A STRONG BUILDING
DO NOT STAND BY WINDOWS. DON'T USE TELEPHONES OR ELECTRICAL
APPLIANCES UNLESS IN AN EMERGENCY. REMEMBER SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS
CAN AND OCCASIONALLY DO PRODUCE TORNADOS WITH LITTLE OR NO WARNING.
SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS PRODUCE DAMAGING WIND IN EXCESS OF 55
MPH...DESTRUCTIVE HAIL...DEADLY LIGHTNING...AND VERY HEAVY RAIN.
FOR YOUR PROTECTION MOVE TO AN INTERIOR ROOM ON THE LOWEST FLOOR
OF YOUR HOME OR BUSINESS. HEAVY RAINS FLOOD ROADS QUICKLY SO
DON'T DRIVE INTO AREAS WHERE WATER COVERS THE ROAD.
MILLERWhat 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, Aug 3, 2:41 PM CDT, 5 hours 52 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ST CLOUD MN 240 PM CDT WED AUG 3 1988 ...THUNDERSTORMS WITH HEAVY RAINFALL FAILED TO MOVE INTO EASTERN STEARNS COUNTY AT 230 PM... AT 238 PM CDT RADAR SHOWED AN AREA OF THUNDERSTORMS IN POPE...DOUGLAS AND TODD COUNTY. THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE THUNDERSTORMS HAS BEEN MORE NORTH INSTEAD OF EAST...THEREFORE THE THE THUNDERSTORMS WHICH WERE EXPECTED TO MOVE IN THE ST CLOUD AREA DID NOT DEVELOPE AT THE ANTICIPATED TIME. NISTLER
Special weather statement, Aug 3, 7:45 PM CDT, 48 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MINNEAPOLIS/ST PAUL MN 745 PM CDT WED AUG 3 1988 A STRONG THUNDERSTORM WITH SMALL HAIL HAS MOVED INTO PIERCE COUNTY IN WESTCENTRAL WISCONSIN. FREQUENT LIGHTNING STRIKES CAN ALSO BE EXPECTED WITH THIS THUNDERSTORM. THE STRONGEST THUNDERSTORM WAS JUST EAST OF RED WING MINNESOTA MOVING NORTHEAST AT 35 MPH TOWARD ELLSWORTH WISCONSIN...35 MILES SOUTHEAST OF THE TWIN CITIES. OTHER STRONG THUNDEURSTORMS WITH HEAVY RAIN EXTEND EASTWARD INTO SOUTHERN DUNN COUNTY IN THE AREA OF MENOMONIE. BRANCH
The office that day
Everything else NWS Twin Cities, MN issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aug 3, 8:15 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MPX | Dunn | 45 min |
| Aug 3, 10:33 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MPX | Polk | 42 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.