Alert archive / Wisconsin / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1989

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 95, NWS Twin Cities, MN

August 31, 1989Dunn County, Pepin County, Wisconsin

NWS Twin Cities, MN issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Aug 31, 1989, 5:58 PM CDT for Dunn County, Pepin County, Wisconsin. It was in force for 32 min.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Aug 31, 1989, 5:58 PM CDT (22:58 UTC)
Expired
Aug 31, 1989, 6:30 PM CDT
In force
32 min
Issued by
NWS Twin Cities, MN
Area
Whole counties

Counties Dunn County, WI, Pepin County, WI

The radar

The WSR-88D network and its archive begin in 1991, so there is no radar volume for this alert.

The nearest sounding before it

Minneapolis, MN (KSTC), launched 12:00Z, 11.0 hours before the alert went out and 125 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 12:00Z on 1989-08-31Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 856 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 12:00Z on 1989-08-31The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 248 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
856 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-162 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
599 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
46 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
248 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
247 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
3.7

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KMSP 312300 RRA
SVRMSP
WIC033-091-010000-
 
BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MINNEAPOLIS MN
558 PM CDT THU AUG 31 1989
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN MINNEAPOLIS HAS ISSUED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  700 PM CDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTIES...
 
IN WEST CENTRAL WISCONSIN
          ...SOUTHERN DUNN...NORTHERN PEPIN
 
AT 555 PM RADAR INDICARTED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM ENTERING WEST CENTRAL
DUNN COUNTY WISCONSIN ABOUT 25 MILES WEST OF DOWNTOWN EAU CLAIRE.
CITIES IN THE PATH OF THIS THUNDERSTORM ARE
MENOMONIE..DOWNSVILLE..MERIDEAN AND ROCK FALLS. THESE THUNDERSTORMS HAVEAND GUSTY WINDS.
 
 
 
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.

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

Local storm report, Aug 31, 2:03 PM CDT, 3 hours 55 minutes before
LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ST CLOUD MN
200 PM CDT THU AUG 31 1989

...ATTN SELS...

PRELIMINARY STORM DATA REPORT FOR CENTRAL MINNESOTA FOR AUG 31:

1015 AM CDT    GOLF BALL HAIL     SOUTHERN TODD COUNTY...6 MILES
                                  NORTH OF SAUK CENTRE...40 MILES
                                  NORTHWEST OF ST CLOUD.

1034 AM CDT    ONE INCH HAIL      STEARNS COUNTY...ST ROSA...
                                  25 MILES NORTHWEST OF ST CLOUD.

1213 PM CDT    3/4 INCH HAIL      POPE COUNTY...LOWRY...12 MILES
                                  SOUTH OF ALEXANDRIA.

NISTLER
Special weather statement, Aug 31, 3:00 PM CDT, 2 hours 58 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT AND RADAR SUMMARY
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MINNEAPOLIS/ST PAUL MN
250 PM CDT THU AUG 31 1989

STRONG AND IN SOME CASES SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS HAVE REGENERATED FROM
NEAR ST CLOUD TO JUST NORTH OF ANNANDALE ACROSS EASTERN STEARNS AND
FAR NORTHERN WRIGHT COUNTY.

A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT FOR PARTS OF STEARNS..
SHERBURNE AND BENTON COUNTIES UNTIL 330 PM.

AT 245 PM..THUNDERSTORMS EXTENDED FROM NEAR LITCHFIELD AND ANNANDALE TO
ST CLOUD AND ON FURTHER EAST TOWARD CAMBRIDGE.

THE STORMS WERE MOVING EAST AT 30 MILES AN HOUR BUT THE MOST RECENT
DEVELOPMENT HAS BEEN ALONG THE SOUTHWEST PORTION OF THE AREA ACROSS
WRIGHT AND MEEKER COUNTIES OR IN ARE[AS NORTHWEST OF MINNEAPOLIS.

PERSONS IN EAST CENTRAL MINNESOTA SHOULD KEEP ABREAST OF THIS DEVELOPING
WEATHER SITUATION AND LISTEN FOR LATER STATEMENTS AND POSSIBLE WARNINGS.
Local storm report, Aug 31, 5:34 PM CDT, 24 minutes before
STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MINNEAPOLIS, MN
534 PM CDT THU AUG 31 1989

3:47 PM  TREES DOWN IN BUFFALO MINNESOTA
3:54 PM  1-11/2 HAIL IN HANOVER MINNESOTA
3:55 PM  BASEBALL HAIL NEAR ST. MICHEAL MINNESOTA
4:01 PM  PUBLIC REPORT OF FUNNEL CLOUD FOREST LAKE MINNESOTA
4:15 PM  GOLFBALL HAIL TWIN CITIES SUBURB OFMAPLE GROVE MINNESOTA
4:20 PM  PING PONG HAIL MAPLE GROVE MINNESOTA
4:24 PM  1 INCH HAIL MEDINA MINNESOTA
4:25 PM  POSSIBLE TORNADO BROOKLYN PARK MINNESOTA BY SHERIFF
4:25 PM  GOLFBALL HAIL HIGHWAY 94 AND 694 MINNEAPOLIS
4:28 PM  1-11/2 HAIL OSSEO AND MAPLE GROVE AREAS OF THE TWIN CITIES
4:32 PM  11/2 HAIL NEW HOPE MINNESOTA
4:34 PM  11/2 HAIL 49TH AND BOOIN IN THE TWIN CITIES SUBURB OF NEW HOPE
4:52 PM  11/2 HAIL BROOKLYN PARK MINNESOTA
5:00 PM  1/2 HAIL ST ANTHONY MINNESOTA
5:00 PM  DIME SIZE HAIL UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA
5:12 PM  1 INCH HAIL DOWNTOWN ST PAUL
5:11 PM  3/4 HAIL ST PAUL AIRPORT
5:14 PM  1-11/2 OF GOLF BgALL HAIL ON GROUND AREA OF STATE FAIR IN
         ST PAUL MINNESOTA

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Aug 31, 4:08 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMPXPolk67 min
Aug 31, 5:19 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMPXSaint Croix56 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; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive.