Alert archive / Wisconsin / Tornado Warnings in 1989

Tornado Warning 8, NWS Milwaukee, WI

June 26, 1989Dodge County, Fond du Lac County, Jefferson County, Wisconsin

NWS Milwaukee, WI issued this tornado warning at Jun 26, 1989, 12:39 PM CDT for Dodge County, Fond du Lac County, Jefferson County, Wisconsin. It was in force for 66 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
Jun 26, 1989, 12:39 PM CDT (17:39 UTC)
Expired
Jun 26, 1989, 1:45 PM CDT
In force
66 min
Issued by
NWS Milwaukee, WI
Area
Whole counties

Counties Dodge County, WI, Fond du Lac County, WI, Jefferson 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
Jun 26, 1:25 PM CDTThunderstorm Wind 0Fond Du Lac, 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, 5.7 hours before the alert went out and 128 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 1989-06-26Temperature 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 1989-06-26The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity -29 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
940 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
21 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
-29 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
-32 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 261747
TORMKE
WIC039-027-055-261845-
 
BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MILWAUKEE WI
1239 PM CDT MON JUN 26 1989
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN MILWAUKEE HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  145 PM CDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTIES...
 
IN EAST CENTRAL WISCONSIN
          ...FOND DU LAC
IN SOUTHEAST WISCONSIN
          ...DODGE...JEFFERSON
 
DAMAGING TORNADOES HAVE BEEN REPORTED WITH A LINE OF SEVERE
THUNDERSTORMS THAT WAS IN EASTERN DANE AND COLUMBIA COUNTIES AT 1245
PM. THE LINE WAS FROM ABOUT 15 MILES SOUTHEAST TO 20 MILES NORTHEAST
OF MADISON. THE STORMS ARE MOVING TOWARD THE EAST NORTHEAST AT AROUND
40 MPH.
 
THIS IS A DANGEROUS STORM SITUATION.  ACT QUICKLY.  IF YOU ARE
IN THE PATH OF THIS TORNADO MOVE TO A SHELTER BELOW GROUND IF
AVAILABLE.  OTHERWISE...GO TO A SMALL INTERIOR ROOM ON THE LOWEST
FLOOR POSSIBLE.  AVOID WINDOWS.  ABANDON CARS AND MOBILE HOMES
FOR A REINFORCED BUILDING OR GET INTO A DITCH OR CULVERT.

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, Jun 26, 6:43 AM CDT, 5 hours 56 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MILWAUKEE WI
642 AM CDT MON JUN 26 1989

..WISCONSIN PORTION OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH NUMBER 536 CANCELLED..

THE WISCONSIN PORTION OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH NUMBER 536...WHICH HAD
BEEN IN EFFECT FOR POLK...ST. CROIX...AND PIERCE COUNTIES IN WEST CENTRAL
WISCONSIN UNTIL 9 AM...HAS BEEN CANCELLED.

THUNDERSTORMS WILL CONTINUE THIS MORNING BUT THE THREAT OF SEVERE
WEATHER HAS DIMIN^ISHED.

HOWEVER...LATER TODAY CONDITIONS FAVOR THE REDEVELOPMENT OF
THUNDERSTORMS...SOME OF WHICH MAY BE STRONG. SO PERSONS IN WEST CENTRAL
WISCONSIN SHOULD KEEP INFORMED OF THE LATEST WEATHER REPORTS.

FIELD
Special weather statement, Jun 26, 11:19 AM CDT, 1 hour 20 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MILWAUKEE WI
1115 AM CDT MON JUN 26 1989

...A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH HAS BEEN ISSUED FOR SOUTHERN AND EASTERN
   WISCONSIN UNTIL 6 PM CDT...

THE NATIONAL SEVERE STORMS FORECAST CENTER HAS ISSUED A SEVERE THUNDER-
STORM WATCH FOR SOUTHERN AND EASTERN WISCONSIN UNTIL 6 PM CDT.

AT 1110 AM...MOST THUNDERSTORMS WERE STILL IN WESTERN WISCONSIN EAST OF
LA CROSSE AND DOWN TO AROUND LONE ROCK.  THESE STORMS WERE MOVING EAST-
NORTHEAST AT 30 TO 35 MPH.

SOME OF THESE STORMS SHOULD START TO ENTER EASTERN WISCONSIN AFTER
12 NOON.

PERSONS IN EASTERN WISCONSIN SHOULD BE ALERT TO RAPIDLY CHANING WEATHER
CONDITIONS THIS AFTERNOON AND BE PREPARED TO SEEK SAFE SHELTER IF
NECESSARY.
STUREY
Special weather statement, Jun 26, 12:10 PM CDT, 29 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MILWAUKEE WI
1210 AM CDT MON JUN 26 1989

...INTENSE THUNDERSTORMS APPROACHING FOND DU LAC DODGE AND JEFFERSON
   COUNTIES...

AT 1200 NOON CDT WEATHER RADAR DEPICTED A LINE OF INTENSE THUNDERSTORMS
THAT EXTENDED FROM NEAR WISCONSIN DELLS THROUGH WESTERN COLUMBIA COUNTY
AND THROUGH NORTHWEST DANE COUNTY 20 MILES WEST OF MADISON TO NEAR
DARLINGTON IN CENTRAL LAFAYETTE COUNTY. THERE WERE NUMEROUS REPORTS
OF TORNADO TOUCHDOWNS WHEN THE STORMS MOVED THROUGH SAUK COUNTY BETWEEN
1100 AM AND NOON.  THE STORMS WERE MOVING TO THE EASTNORTHEAST AT 30 TO
40 MPH AND SHOULD BE ENTERING FOND DU LAC DODGE AND JEFFERSON COUNTIES
NEAR 100 PM CDT. PERSONS IN THESE COUNTIES SHOULD BE ALERT FOR RAPIDLY
CHANGING AND DEVELOPING CONDITIONS AND BE PREPARED TO SEEK SAFE SHELTER
IF NECESSARY.   THE SITUATION  IS BEING MONITORED CLOSELY AND SUBSEQUENT
STATEMENTS AND WARNINGS WILL BE ISSUED AS THE SIUTU]ATION WARRANTS.

SCAFFIDI

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jun 26, 1:35 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMKXOzaukee, Sheboygan, Washington55 min
Jun 26, 2:02 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMKXMilwaukee, Waukesha43 min
Jun 26, 2:18 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMKXKenosha, Racine42 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Wisconsin, 1989Every tornado warning in 1989Tornadoes 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.