Alert archive / Wisconsin / Tornado Warnings in 1990

Tornado Warning 1, NWS Duluth, MN

June 12, 1990Ashland County, Wisconsin

NWS Duluth, MN issued this tornado warning at Jun 12, 1990, 6:50 PM CDT for Ashland County, Wisconsin. It was in force for 25 min.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Jun 12, 1990, 6:50 PM CDT (23:50 UTC)
Expired
Jun 12, 1990, 7:15 PM CDT
In force
25 min
Issued by
NWS Duluth, MN
Area
Whole counties

County Ashland 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, 11.8 hours before the alert went out and 290 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 1990-06-12Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 966 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 1990-06-12The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 187 square meters per square second.1939587897Sfc1 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
966 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-164 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
781 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
48 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
187 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
191 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.9

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KDLH 122349
TORDLH
WIC003-130015-
 
BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DULUTH MN
650 PM CDT TUE JUN 12 1990
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN DULUTH HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  715 PM CDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTY...
 
IN NORTHWEST WISCONSIN
          ...SOUTHERN ASHLAND
 
AT 6 47 PM CDT COUNTY LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFOCERS REPORTED A TORNADO ON
THE GROUND 1 1/2 MILE NORTH OF BUTTERNUT IN SOUTHERN WISCONSIN.
 
 
IF YOU ARE IN THE PATH OF A TORNADO...THE SAFEST PLACE IS A
BASEMENT.  GET UNDER A WORKBENCH OR PIECE OF STURDY FURNITURE.
IF NO BASEMENT IS AVAILABLE...SEEK SHELTER IN AN INTERIOR ROOM
SUCH AS A CLOSET ON THE LOWEST FLOOR.  USE BLANKETS...PILLOWS...
OR CUSHIONS TO COVER YOUR BODY.  AVOID WINDOWS.

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 12, 1:02 PM CDT, 5 hours 48 minutes before
WIZ001>004-061900-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DULUTH MN
 100 PM CDT TUE JUN 12 1990

...TORNADO WATCH NUMBER 446 IN EFFECT UNTIL 8 PM CDT...
AT 1255 PM CDT STRONG THUNDERSTORMS WERE LOCATED OVER EXTREME SOUTHERN
WASHBURN COUNTY WISCONSIN 10 MILES SOUTHEAST OF SHELL LAKE OR 80 MILES
SOUTH SOUTHEAST OF DULUTH MINNESOTA..AND OVER THE SOUTHWEST CORNER
OF SAWYER COUNTY WISCONSIN JUST SOUTHWEST OF RADDISON. THESE STORMS
WERE INTENSIFYING AND MOVING RAPIDILY TO THE EAST AT 50 MILES AN HOUR.

PERSONS IN EXTREME SOUTHERN WASHBURN COUNTY AND SOUTHERN SAYWER COUNTY
MAY EXPERIENCE SEVERE WEATHER DURING THE NEXT HOUR. PREPARE TO TAKE
SHELTER IF THREATENING WEATHER APPROACHES AND LISTEN FOR POSSIBLE
WARNINGS WHICH MAY BE ISSUED IN TIME.

OLSON
Special weather statement, Jun 12, 1:24 PM CDT, 5 hours 26 minutes before
WIZ001>004-061920-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DULUTH MN
120 PM CDT TUE JUN 12 1990

...TORNADO WATCH NUMBER 446 IN EFFECT UNTIL 8 PM CDT...
AT 115 PM CDT STRONG THUNDERSTORMS WERE LOCATED OVER SOUTHERN SAWYER
COUNTY WISCONSIN NEAR RADDISON..20 MILES SOUTHEAST OF HAYWARD. THESE
STORMS WERE MOVING RAPIDILY EAST NORTHEAST AT 50 TO 60 MILES AN HOUR
AND WILL BE EFFECTING THE FOLLOWING TOWNS DURING THE NEXT HOUR..LORETTA
IN EASTERN SAWYER COUNTY..PARK FALLS AND FIFIELD IN NORTHERN PRICE
COUNTY..GLIDDEN IN SOUTHERN ASHLAND COUNTY..AND LASTLY MERCER IN
SOUTHERN IRON COUNTY WISCONSIN.
PERSONS WITHIN THESE AFORMENTIONED AREAS MAY EXPERIENCE SEVERE WEATHER
DURING THE NEXT HOUR $AND SHOULD PREPARE TO TAKE COVER IF THREATENING
WEATHER APPROACHES AND LISTEN FOR POSSIBLE WARNINGS WHICH MAY BE ISSUE
IN TIME TO TAKE COVER.

OLSON
Special weather statement, Jun 12, 2:43 PM CDT, 4 hours 7 minutes before
WIZ001>004-062040-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DULUTH MN
240 PM CDT TUE JUN 12 1990

...TORNADO WATCH NUMBER 446 IN EFFECT UNTIL 8 PM CDT...
AT 235 PM CDT A LINE OF STRONG THUNDERSTORMS WAS LOCATED JUST TO THE
EAST OF DULUTH MINNESOTA. THE LINE OF THUNDERSTORMS EXTENDED FROM 50
MILES NORTHEAST OF DULUTH MINNESOTA OVER WESTERN LAKE SUPERIOR SOUTHWEST
INTO DOUGLAS COUNTY WISCONSIN THRU THE POPLAR AREA AND JUST NORTHWEST
OF THE SOLON SPRINGS AREA. THE LINE OF THUNDERSTORMS CONTINUED SOUTHWEST
INTO EASTERN PINE COUNTY MINNESOTA TO 10 MILES EAST OF SANDSTONE AND
HINCKLEY. THE LINE OF STORMS WAS MOVING NORTHEAST AT 50 MILES AN HOUR.

TO THE EAST OF THIS LINE OF STORMS SHOULD BE ON THE LOOKOUT FOR THE
POSSIBLE APPROACH OF THUNDERSTORMS DURING THE NEXT HOUR..THAT IS..
PERSONS IN THE BRULE..SOLON SPRINGS..AND GORDON AREAS OF DOUGLAS
COUNTY..AND PERSONS IN THE IRON RIVER AND PORT WING AREAS OF BAYFIELD
COUNTY WISCONSIN. BE PREPARED TO TAKE COVER IF THREATENING WEATHER
APPROACHES.
OLSON

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jun 12, 1:48 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDLHAshland, Iron, Price42 min
Jun 12, 2:26 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDLHVilas49 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Wisconsin, 1990Every tornado warning in 1990Tornadoes 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.