Alert archive / Wisconsin / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1991

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 37, NWS Twin Cities, MN

May 28, 1991Polk County, Wisconsin

NWS Twin Cities, MN issued this severe thunderstorm warning at May 28, 1991, 10:08 PM CDT for Polk County, Wisconsin. It was in force for 52 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 28, 1991, 10:08 PM CDT (03:08 UTC)
Expired
May 28, 1991, 11:00 PM CDT
In force
52 min
Issued by
NWS Twin Cities, MN
Area
Whole counties

County Polk County, WI

What was reported inside it

TimeReportWhereRemark
May 28, 10:10 PM CDTHail 0.75Polk, 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, 3.1 hours before the alert went out and 113 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 1991-05-29Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 674 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 1991-05-29The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 31 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
674 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-182 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
903 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
48 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
31 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
244 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.4

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KMSP 290307
SVRMSP
WIC095-290400-
 
BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MINNEAPOLIS MN
1008 PM CDT TUE MAY 28 1991
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN MINNEAPOLIS HAS ISSUED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 1045 PM CDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...
 
IN WEST CENTRAL WISCONSIN
 
   ...NORTHERN POLK COUNTY
 
AT 1005 PM WEATHER RADAR INDICATED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM LOCATED ALONG
THE ST CROIX RIVER NEAR TAYLORS FALLS. THIS THUNDERSTORM WAS 25 MILES
SOUTH OF GRANTSBURG WISCONSIN.
 
THIS SEVERE THUNDERSTORM HAS A HISTORY OF PRODUCING DAMAGING HAIL AND WAMOVING EAST-NORTHEAST AT 25 MILES AN HOUR. SOME CITIES IN THE PATH OF
THIS STORM INCLUDE BALSAM LAKE AND LUCK.
 
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, May 28, 6:22 PM CDT, 3 hours 46 minutes before
MNZ013-290030-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ST CLOUD MINNESOTA
622 PM CDT TUE MAY 28 1991

...TORNADO WATCH UNTIL 11 PM...

AT 620 PM CDT THUNDERSTORMS WERE IN EAST CENTRAL SOUTH DAKOTA EAST OF
HURON. THE STORMS WERE MOVING RAPIDLY TO THE EAST NORTHEAST AT 50 MPH.

PEOPLE IN WEST CENTRAL MINNESOTA IN THE COUNTIES OF LAC QUI PARLE AND
YELLOW MEDICINE SHOULD STAY ALERT TO THE POSSIBILTY OF SEVERE WEATHER
ENTERING THE COUNTIES BY 7 PM CDT.

SOME CITIES IN THE PATH OF THESE STORMS ARE CANBY...MARIETTA...MADISON
...DAWSON...AND ST LEO.

KRUSE

NNNN
Special weather statement, May 28, 8:14 PM CDT, 1 hour 54 minutes before
MNZ014-290215-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ST CLOUD MINNESOTA
814 PM CDT TUE MAY 28 1991

...A TORNADO WATCH CONTINUES IN EFFECT UNTIL 11 PM...

AT 815 PM THUNDERSTORMS WITH HEAVY RAIN...POSSIBLE SMALL HAIL...AND
FREQUENT LIGHTNING WERE LOCATED 20 MILES SOUTHWEST OF WILLMAR NEAR
CLARA CITY.  ALSO OTHER THUNDERSTORMS EXTENDED FROM LITCHFIELD IN
MEEKER COUNTY TO BECKER IN SHERBURNE COUNTY.

THESE STORMS WERE MOVING NORTHGEAST AT 40 MPH AND WILL BE IN THE
CITIES OF ANNANDALE...MONTICELLO..AND BIG LAKE BY 845 PM.

KRUSE

NNNN

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 28, 11:35 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMPXBarron, Saint Croix55 min
May 28, 11:35 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMPXPierce55 min
May 29, 12:06 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMPXDunn54 min
May 29, 12:31 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMPXBarron44 min
May 29, 12:37 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMPXChippewa, Eau Claire, Rusk68 min

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Wisconsin, 1991Every severe thunderstorm warning in 1991

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.