Alert archive / Wisconsin / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1990

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 7, NWS Milwaukee, WI

March 13, 1990Dodge County, Wisconsin

NWS Milwaukee, WI issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Mar 13, 1990, 6:58 PM CST for Dodge County, Wisconsin. It was in force for 62 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
Mar 13, 1990, 6:58 PM CST (00:58 UTC)
Expired
Mar 13, 1990, 8:00 PM CST
In force
62 min
Issued by
NWS Milwaukee, WI
Area
Whole counties

County Dodge 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
Mar 13, 7:20 PM CSTHail 1.75Dodge, 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 00:00Z, 1.0 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 00:00Z on 1990-03-14Temperature 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 00:00Z on 1990-03-14The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 284 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
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
No buoyant parcel
Mixed-layer LCL
NaN m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
55 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
284 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
293 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.1

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KMKE 140101
SVRMKE
WIC027-140200-
 
BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MILWAUKEE/SULLIVAN WI
658 PM CST TUE MAR 13 1990
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN MILWAUKEE/SULLIVAN HAS EXTENDED THE
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  800 PM CST
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTY...
 
IN SOUTHEAST WISCONSIN
          ...DODGE
 
AT 700 PM WEATHER RADAR INDICATED A CLUSTER OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS
OVER DODGE COUNTY. ONE CLUSTER OF STORMS WAS NEAR THE BEAVER DAM AREA
...51 MILES NORTHWEST OF MILWAUKEE AND ANOTHER NEAR THE HUSTIFORD AREA
ABOUT 39 MILES NORTHWEST OF MILWAUKEE. THESE STORMS ARE MOVING
NORTHEAST AT 40 MPH AND WILL BE AFFECTING THE TOWNS OF
ATWATER..MAYVILLE...AND IRON RIDGE. SOME TREE DAMAGE AND DIME SIZE
HAIL HAS BEEN REPORTED WITH THESE STORMS.
 
 
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

Special weather statement, Mar 13, 1:33 PM CST, 5 hours 25 minutes before
WIZ016-017-019-020-132200-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MILWAUKEE/SULLIVAN WI
125 PM CST TUE MAR 13 1990

...THUNDERSTORMS APPROACHING SOUTHEAST WISCONSIN...

AT 120 PM..RADAR SHOWED A CLUSTER OF STRONG THUNDERSTORMS NEAR HARVARD
IN NORTHERN MCHENRY COUNTY ILLINOIS.  THIS IS ABOUT 20 MILES SOUTH OF
DELAVAN IN WALWORTH COUNTY.  THE STORMS WILL MOVE INTO SOUTHERN WALWORTH
COUNTY BEFORE 2 PM...WITH THE STRONGEST STORM PASSING NEAR LAKE GENEVA.
THEY WILL THEN CONTINUE ON INTO RACINE AND KENOSHA COUNTY.

SMALL HAIL HAS BEEN REPORTED WITH SOME OF THESE STORMS.  GUSTY WINDS
AND HEAVY RAINS ARE ALSO POSSIBLE.  RESIDENTS AND TRAVELERS IN THE
SOUTHEAST CORNER OF WISCONSIN SHOULD BE ON THE ALERT FOR THREATENING
WEATHER.

JOHNSTON
Special weather statement, Mar 13, 2:14 PM CST, 4 hours 44 minutes before
WIZ012-013-016-017-019-020-132200-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MILWAUKEE/SULLIVAN WI
210 PM CST TUE MAR 13 1990

...THUNDERSTORMS SPREADING NORTHWARD ACROSS SOUTHEAST WISCONSIN...

AT 200 PM...RADAR SHOWED NUMEROUS THUNDERSTORMS OVER SOUTHEAST WISCONSIN
...GENERALLY SOUTH OF A LINE FROM PORT WASHINGTON TO JANESVILLE.  THESE
STORMS CONTINUE TO SPREAD NORTHWARD NEAR 30 MPH.

HAIL UP TO 1/2 INCH IN DIAMETER HAS BEEN REPORTED WITH SOME OF THESE
STORMS.  GUSTY WINDS AND HEAVY RAINS ARE ALSO POSSIBLE.  RESIDENTS AND
TRAVELERS IN SOUTHEAST WISCONSIN SHOULD BE ON THE ALERT FOR THREATENING
WEATHER.

JOHNSTON
Special weather statement, Mar 13, 2:25 PM CST, 4 hours 33 minutes before
WIZ010-011-014-015-018-019-140000-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MADISON WI
220 PM CST TUE MAR 13 1990

...THUNDERSTORMS APPROACHING SOUTHERN WISCONSIN...

AT 220 PM..RADAR SHOWED STRONG THUNDERSTORMS IN EXTREME SOUTHEAST
ROCK COUNTY. PEA SIZE HAIL WAS REPORTED BY THE ROCK COUNTY SHERIFF JUST
EAST OF THE CITY OF BELOIT. GUSTY WINDS AND HEAVY RAINS ARE ALSO POSSIBLE.

PEOPLE AND TRAVELERS IN  SOUTHERN WISCONSIN NEAR THE WISCONSIN..ILLINOIS
BORDER SHOULD BE ON THE ALERT FOR THREATENING WEATHER.

PRZEKURAT

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Mar 13, 6:49 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMKXWashington56 min
Mar 13, 7:18 PM CSTFlash Flood WarningMKXDodge3 hr
Mar 13, 7:44 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMKXWashington51 min

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Wisconsin, 1990Every severe thunderstorm 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; verification from NCEI's Storm Data; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive.