Alert archive / Wisconsin / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1989

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 15, NWS Twin Cities, MN

May 23, 1989Chippewa County, Dunn County, Eau Claire County, Wisconsin

NWS Twin Cities, MN issued this severe thunderstorm warning at May 23, 1989, 9:55 PM CDT for Chippewa County, Dunn County, Eau Claire County, Wisconsin. It was in force for 50 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
May 23, 1989, 9:55 PM CDT (02:55 UTC)
Expired
May 23, 1989, 10:45 PM CDT
In force
50 min
Issued by
NWS Twin Cities, MN
Area
Whole counties

Counties Chippewa County, WI, Dunn 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

TimeReportWhereRemark
May 23, 10:25 PM CDTHail 1.75Chippewa, 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, 2.9 hours before the alert went out and 167 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, Minneapolis, MN at 00:00Z on 1989-05-24Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 1041 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, Minneapolis, MN at 00:00Z on 1989-05-24The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 88 square meters per square second.19395878Sfc1 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
1041 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-74 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1374 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
50 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
88 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
267 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.4
Supercell composite
6.8

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KMSP 240257
SVRMSP
WIC017-033-035-240345-
 
BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MINNEAPOLIS MN
955 PM CDT TUE MAY 23 1989
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN MINNEAPOLIS HAS ISSUED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 1045 PM CDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTIES...
 
IN WEST CENTRAL WISCONSIN
          ...CHIPPEWA...EASTERN DUNN...EAU CLAIRE
 
AT 10 50 PM RADAR INDICATED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM JUST EAST OF THE
CITY OF MENOMONIE OR 20 MILES WEST OF THE CITY OF EAU CLAIRE.
GOLF BALL SIZE HAIL WAS REPORTED AT 1045 PM JUST EAST OF MENOMONIE.
 
THE SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WAS MOVING EAST AT 25 MILES AN HOUR AND SOME
CITIES IN THE PATH OF THE STORM WOULD BE EAU CLAIRE..CHIPPEWA FALLS
AND STANLEY.
 
 
IF YOU ARE CAUGHT OUTSIDE...SEEK SHELTER FROM THE WEATHER IN A
STRONG BUILDING.  DAMAGING WIND...LARGE HAIL...VERY HEAVY RAIN...
AND DEADLY LIGHTNING ARE ALL POSSIBLE. REMEMBER SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS
CAN AND OCCASIONALLY DO PRODUCE TORNADOES WITH LITTLE ADVANCE WARNING
BRANCH

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 23, 4:47 PM CDT, 5 hours 8 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT AND RADAR SUMMARY
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MINNEAPOLIS/ST PAUL MN
445 PM CDT TUE MAY 23 1989

AT 435 PM CDT...A LINE OF THUNDERSTORMS WITH HAIL AND INTENSE RAINFALL
WAS LOCATED ALONG THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER BETWEEN WABASHA AND WINONA.

THE LINE WAS 20 MILES WIDE WITH THE MOST INTENSE STORM LOCATED JUST
SOUTH OF ALMA WISCONSIN.

OTHER SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WERE WIDELY SCATTERED FROM NORTHWEST
AND WEST CENTRAL WISCONSIN ACROSS SOUTHERN MINNESOTA.

MOVEMENT WAS EAST SPEED WAS NOT DETERMINED.
 CARLYON
Special weather statement, May 23, 5:47 PM CDT, 4 hours 8 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT AND RADAR SUMMARY
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MINNEAPOLIS/ST PAUL MN
540 PM CDT TUE MAY 23 1989

..INTENSE THUNDERSTORM DEVELOPS OVER SOUTHERN MINNESOTA..

AN INTENSE THUNDERSTORM BUILDING RAPIDLY ACROSS NORTHEAST LE SEUER
AND NORTHERN RICE COUNTIES OF SOUTH CENTRAL MINNESOTA. THIS THUNDERSTORM
WAS LOCATED JUST SOUTH OF NEW PRAGUE OR ABOUT 10 MILES WEST OF
NORTHFIELD.

VERY HEAVY RAINS..FREQUENT LIGHTNING STRIKES..STRONG GUSTY WINDS ALONG
WITH THE POTENTIAL FOR HAIL CAN BE EXPECTED AS THIS STORM MOVES EAST
AT 35 MILES AN HOUR.

ELSEWHERE..INTENSE THUNDERSTORMS CONTINUED OVER FAR WESTERN WISCONSIN
IN AREAS JUST NORTH AND NORTHEAST OF LA CROSSE. SOME OF THESE
THUNDERSTORMS HAVE HAD A HISTORY OF PRODUCING HAIL UP TO GOLFBALL
SIZE.
<
THESE STORMS WERE MOVING EAST AT 35 TO 40 MILES AN HOUR ACROSS
PORTIONS OF BUFFALO..TREMPEALEAU AND MONROE COUNTIES.

FURTHER WEST..A NEW AREA OF THUNDERSTORMS WAS FORMING OVER THE FAR
SOUTHWEST CORNER OF MINNESOTA.

THE MOVEMENT ON THIS NEW DEVELOPMENT HAD NOT YET BEEN DETERMINED.

CONDITIONS REMAIN VERY UNSTABLE ACROSS MINNESOTA AND WISCONSIN SO
PERSONS SHOULD KEEP ABREAST OF RAPIDLY CHANGING WEATHER SITUATION.
SWANBERG
Special weather statement, May 23, 7:22 PM CDT, 2 hours 33 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ST CLOUD MN
72O PM CDT TUE MAY 23 1989

...SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH UNTIL 11PM CDT THIS EVENING...

AT 715PM CDT THUNDERSTORMS WERE OCCURRING IN SOUTHWEST...SOUTHEAST
AND EAST CENTRAL MINNESOTA. NO THUNDERSTORMS WERE OCCURRING IN
CENTRAL MINNESOTA...HOWEVER THE POTENTIAL FOR SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS
WILL EXIST UNTIL LATE THIS EVENING AND A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH
IS IN EFFECT FOR PARTS OF CENTRAL MINNESOTA UNTIL 11PM CDT.

WDV

The office that day

Everything else NWS Twin Cities, MN issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 23, 7:53 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMPXEau Claire37 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.