Alert archive / Wisconsin / Flash Flood Warnings in 1990

Flash Flood Warning 4, NWS La Crosse, WI

August 18, 1990Monroe County, Wisconsin

NWS La Crosse, WI issued this flash flood warning at Aug 18, 1990, 2:41 AM CDT for Monroe County, Wisconsin. It was in force for 6 hr.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Aug 18, 1990, 2:41 AM CDT (07:41 UTC)
Expired
Aug 18, 1990, 8:45 AM CDT
In force
6 hr
Issued by
NWS La Crosse, WI
Area
Whole counties

County Monroe 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

Green Bay/Straub, WI (KGRB), launched 00:00Z, 7.7 hours before the alert went out and 209 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 00:00Z on 1990-08-18Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 729 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, Green Bay/Straub, WI at 00:00Z on 1990-08-18The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 28 square meters per square second.1939Sfc1 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
729 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-6 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
740 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
13 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
28 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
47 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 KMSN 180741
FFWLSE
WIC081-181345-
 
BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
FLASH FLOOD WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LA CROSSE WI
ISSUED BY MADISON WI
241 AM CDT SAT AUG 18 1990
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A
FLASH FLOOD WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  845 AM CDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTY...
 
IN WEST CENTRAL WISCONSIN
          ...MONROE
 
MONROE COUNTY SHERIFFS REPORTS FLOODING AND MUD SLIDES ALONG I90 NEAR
JACKSON PASS. THE INTERSTATE IS TEMPORARILY CLOSED
 BETWEEN TOMAH AND SPARTA.
 
MOST DEATHS IN FLASH FLOODING OCCUR IN AUTOMOBILES.  DO NOT
ATTEMPT TO CROSS BRIDGES...DIPS...OR LOW SPOTS IF WATER COVERS
THE ROADWAY.  NEVER TRY TO CROSS A FLOWING STREAM...EVEN A
SMALL ONE...ON FOOT.

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before this flash flood 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 17, 8:51 PM CDT, 5 hours 50 minutes before
MNZ0019-190300-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ROCHESTER MN
845 PM CDT FRI AUG 17 1990

...STRONG THUNDERSTORMS DEVELOPING IN SOUTHEASTERN MINNESOTA...

STRONG THUNDERSTORMS WITH HEAVY RAIN HAVE DEVELOPED IN SOUTHEASTERN
MINNESOTA IN NORTHERN WINONA COUNTY.

AT 845 PM CDT THE THUNDERSTORMS WERE LOCATED 18 MILES NORTHWEST OF THE
TOWN OF WINONA.  THE THUNDERSTORMS WERE MOVING EAST AT 15 MPH AND
SHOULD CROSS THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER INTO WISCONSIN BY 930 P.M.

THE THUNDERSTORMS WILL PRODUCE HEAVY RAINS...DANGEROUS LIGHTNING...
AND POSSIBLY SOME SMALL HAIL.

SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS...SOME WITH LOCALLY HEAVY RAIN WILL CONTINUE
TO DEVELOP IN SOUTHERN AND SOUTHEASTERN MINNES1OTA THROUGH THE NIGHT.
BECHTOLD
Special weather statement, Aug 17, 9:13 PM CDT, 5 hours 28 minutes before
WIZ010-014-180300-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT AND AREA WEATHER UPDATE
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LA CROSSE WI
913 PM CDT FRI AUG 17 1990

...STRONG THUNDERSTORMS MOVING THROUGH CRAWFORD COUNTY AND INTO
NORTHWEST BUFFALO COUNTY...

AT 910 PM CDT...RADAR INDICATED STRONG THUNDERSTORMS IN CRAWFORD
COUNTY FROM NEAR DE SOTA 30 MILES SOUTH OF LA CROSSE TO NEAR BOSCOBEL
IN GRANT COUNTY.

ANOTHER AREA OF STRONG THUNDERSTORMS WAS MOVING INTO BUFFALO COUNTY
NEAR MAXVILLE 60 MILES NORTHWEST OF LA CROSSE.

ALL THUNDERSTORMS WERE MOVING EAST AT 10 TO 15 MILES AN HOUR.

STRONG THUNDERSTORMS WILL CONTINUETO AFFECT BUFFALO AND CRAWFORD
COUNTIES UNTIL 1000 PM. HEAVY RAIN...DANGEROUS LIGHTNING...SMALL HAIL
AND SOME URBAN AND SMALL STREAM FLOODING IS POSSIBLE WITH THESE
STORMS.

IF YOU ARE IN THE PATH OF THESE STORMS PLEASE REMAIN ALERT FOR
CHANGING WEATHER CONDITIONS AND BE PREPARED TO GO INDOORS IF
AND STAY THERE IF A THUNDERSTORM APPROACHES YOUR LOCATION.

COUCH

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Aug 18, 3:38 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningARXTrempealeau37 min
Aug 18, 6:18 PM CDTFlash Flood WarningARXMonroe92 min

Nearby

Flash Flood Warnings in Wisconsin, 1990Every flash flood warning in 1990

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.