Alert archive / Wisconsin / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1989

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 4, NWS Milwaukee, WI

May 24, 1989Wood County, Wisconsin

NWS Milwaukee, WI issued this severe thunderstorm warning at May 24, 1989, 6:02 PM CDT for Wood County, Wisconsin. It was in force for 43 min. 2 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 24, 1989, 6:02 PM CDT (23:02 UTC)
Expired
May 24, 1989, 6:45 PM CDT
In force
43 min
Issued by
NWS Milwaukee, WI
Area
Whole counties

County 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

TimeReportWhereRemark
May 24, 6:25 PM CDTThunderstorm Wind 0Wood, WI
May 24, 6:30 PM CDTHail 1.75Wood, 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, 11.0 hours before the alert went out and 154 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 1989-05-24Temperature 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 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 1989-05-24The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 52 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
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
No buoyant parcel
Mixed-layer LCL
1412 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
22 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
52 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
73 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 242303 RRA
SVRMKE
WIC141-242345-
 
BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MILWAUKEE WI
602 PM CDT WED MAY 24 1989
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN MILWAUKEE HAS ISSUED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  645 PM CDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTY...
 
IN CENTRAL WISCONSIN
          ...WOOD
 
AT 600 PM 50 TO 60 MPH WINDS WERE REPORTED FROM AT BABCOCK IN SOUTHERN
WOOD COUNTY 35 MILES SOUTHWEST OF WAUSAU. THE STORM WAS MOVING
NORTHEAST AT 35 MPH.
 
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.
HENTZ

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 24, 3:44 PM CDT, 2 hours 18 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MILWAUKEE WI
343 PM CDT WED MAY 24 1989

...TORNADO WATCH IN EFFECT FOR NORTH CENTRAL WISCONSIN UNTIL 10 PM...

AT 340 PM WEATHER RADAR SHOWED SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS OVER MUCH
OF TAYLOR AND CLARK COUNTIES. NO SEVERE WEATHER HAS BEEN REPORTED WITH
THESE STORMS AS YET...BUT CONDITIONS FAVOR THE STRENGTHENING OF
STORMS THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING.

THE STORMS WERE MOVING EAST AT 30 MPH AND WILL BE ENTERING LINCOLN..
MARATHON..AND WOOD COUNTIES BETWEEN 345 AND 445 PM.

A TORNADO WATCH REMAINS IN EFFECT FOR THESE AREAS UNTIL 10 PM. PERSONS
SHOULD BE ON THE LOOKOUT FOR THREATENING WEATHER CONDITIONS AND BE
PREPARED TO SEEK A PLACE OF SAFETY.

FIELD
Special weather statement, May 24, 5:06 PM CDT, 56 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MILWAUKEE WI
505 PM CDT WED MAY 24 1989

...TORNADO WATCH IN EFFECT FOR NORTH CENTRAL WISCONSIN UNTIL 10 PM...

AT 503 PM WEATHER RADAR SHOWED A CLUSTER OF THUNDERSTORMS WITH HEAVY
RAIN OVER WESTERN AND NORTHERN WOOD COUNTY. OTHER THUNDERSTORMS WERE
NOTED IN CENTRAL LINCOLN COUNTY.

AT 455 PM THE WOOD COUNTY SHERIFFS OFFICE REPORTED PEA SIZE HAIL
IN THE PITTSVILLE AREA...ABOUT 45 MILES SOUTHWEST OF WAUSAU.

THE STORMS WERE MOVING EASTWARD AT 25 TO 30 MPH. SHOWERS AND
THUNDERSTORMS WILL BE AFFECTING PARTS OF EASTERN WOOD...WESTERN PORTAGE
...EASTERN MARATHON...AND EASTERN LINCOLN COUNTIES BETWEEN NOW AND
615 PM.

PERSONS SHOULD CONTtINUE TO BE ON THE OOKOUT FOR THREATENING WEATHER
AND BE PREPARED TO MOVE TO A PLACE OF SAFETY.

FIELD
Special weather statement, May 24, 5:45 PM CDT, 17 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MILWAUKEE WI
545 PM CDT WED MAY 24 1989

...TORNADO WATCH IN EFFECT FOR NORTH CENTRAL WISCONSIN UNTIL 10 PM...

AT 543 PM WEATHER RADAR SHOWED A THUNDERSTORM WITH VERY HEAVY RAINFALL
IN SOUTHEAST JACKSON COUNTY. PEA SIZED HAIL AND WIND GUSTS TO NEAR
40 MPH HAVE BEEN REPORTED WITH THIS STORM.

THE STORM WAS MOVING NORTHEAST AT 30 MPH AND WILL BE AFFECTING SOUTHWEST
WOOD COUNTY AND EXTREME SOUTHEAST CLARK COUNTIES BETWEEN 550 PM AND
630 PM.

A TORNADO WATCH REMAINS IN EFFECT FOR THIS AREA. PERSONS SHOULD CONTINUE
TO BE ON THE LOOKOUT FOR THREATENING WEATHER AND BE PREPARED TO SEEK
A PLACE OF SAFETY.

FIELD

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 24, 6:24 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMKXPortage66 min

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Wisconsin, 1989Every severe thunderstorm warning in 1989

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.