Alert archive / Wisconsin / Tornado Warnings in 1994

Tornado Warning 26, NWS Green Bay, WI

August 3, 1994Dane County, Wisconsin

NWS Green Bay, WI issued this tornado warning at Aug 3, 1994, 5:06 PM CDT for Dane County, Wisconsin. It was in force for 54 min.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Aug 3, 1994, 5:06 PM CDT (22:06 UTC)
Expired
Aug 3, 1994, 6:00 PM CDT
In force
54 min
Issued by
NWS Green Bay, WI
Area
Whole counties

County Dane County, WI

The nearest sounding before it

Green Bay/Straub, WI (KGRB), launched 12:00Z, 10.1 hours before the alert went out and 189 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 12:00Z on 1994-08-03Temperature 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 12:00Z on 1994-08-03The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 39 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
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
No buoyant parcel
Mixed-layer LCL
993 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
26 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
39 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
36 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 032208 RRA
TORMSN
WIC025-032300-
 
BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MADISON WI
506 PM CDT WED AUG 3 1994
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN MADISON HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  600 PM CDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...
 
IN SOUTH CENTRAL WISCONSIN
 
   ...DANE COUNTY
 
AT 505 PM CDT SPOTTERS REPORTED NUMEROUS FUNNEL CLOUDS AT THE
INTERSECTION OF FISH HATCHERY ROAD AND THE BELTLINE ON THE SOUTHERN SIDE
OF MADISON.
 
SOME CITIES IN THE PATH OF THIS TORNADO ARE MADISON...SUN
PRAIRIE...BURKE...AND MARSHALL
 
 
THIS IS A DANGEROUS STORM SITUATION.  ACT QUICKLY.  IF YOU ARE
IN THE PATH OF THIS TORNADO MOVE TO A SHELTER BELOW GROUND IF
AV@AILABLE.  OTHERWISE...GO TO A SMALL INTERIOR ROOM ON THE LOWEST
FLOOR POSSIBLE.  AVOID WINDOWS.  ABANDON CARS AND MOBILE HOMES
FOR A REINFORCED BUILDING OR GET INTO A DITCH OR CULVERT.
 
PIERCE
 
 
&

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, Aug 3, 11:26 AM CDT, 5 hours 40 minutes before
WIZ048-049-031730-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREEN BAY WI
1126 AM CDT WED AUG 3 1994

AT 1120 AM CDT...WEATHER RADAR INDICATED A STRONG THUNDERSTORM MOVING
THROUGH THE TOWN OF NEENAH...INTO NORTHERN LAKE WINNEBAGO.  THE
NEENAH RADAR OPERATOR REPORTED DANGEROUS LIGHTNING AND 1/2 INCH OF
RAIN IN 30 MINUTES AS THE STORM MOVED THROUGH THE NEENAH AREA.  THIS
STORM WAS MOVING EAST AT 30 MPH AND WILL MOVE ACROSS NORTHERN CALUMET
>COUNTY BY 1145 AM CDT. OTHER STRONG THUNDERSTORMS EXTENDED
SOUTHWESTWARD ACROSS LAKE WINNEBAGO TO NEAR OSHKOSH.  THESE STORMS WERE
ALSO MOVING EAST AT 30 MPH.

EB
Special weather statement, Aug 3, 11:26 AM CDT, 5 hours 40 minutes before
WIZ048-049-031730-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREEN BAY WI
1126 AM CDT WED AUG 3 1994

AT 1120 AM CDT...WEATHER RADAR INDICATED A STRONG THUNDERSTORM MOVING
THROUGH THE TOWN OF NEENAH...INTO NORTHERN LAKE WINNEBAGO.  THE
NEENAH RADAR OPERATOR REPORTED DANGEROUS LIGHTNING AND 1/2 INCH OF
RAIN IN 30 MINUTES AS THE STORM MOVED THROUGH THE NEENAH AREA.  THIS
STORM WAS MOVING EAST AT 30 MPH AND WILL MOVE ACROSS NORTHERN CALUMET
>COUNTY BY 1145 AM CDT. OTHER STRONG THUNDERSTORMS EXTENDED
SOUTHWESTWARD ACROSS LAKE WINNEBAGO TO NEAR OSHKOSH.  THESE STORMS WERE
ALSO MOVING EAST AT 30 MPH.

EB
Special weather statement, Aug 3, 11:48 AM CDT, 5 hours 18 minutes before
WIZ049-050-503-031750-

SPECIAL WEATHER AND MARINE WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREEN BAY WI
1148 AM CDT WED AUG 3 1994

...STRONG THUNDERSTORMS OVER CALUMET COUNTY...

AT 1145 AM WEATHER RADAR SHOWED STRONG THUNDERSTORMS OVER CALUMET
COUNTY ABOUT 25 MILES WEST OF THE CITY OF MANITOWOC.  THESE STORMS
WERE MOVING EAST AT 25 MILES AN HOUR AND WILL REACH THE NEARSHORE
FROM KEWAUNEE TO SHEBOYGAN BETWEEN 1230 AND 1245 PM.

THESE STORMS CONTAIN VERY HEAVY RAINS...DANGEROUS LIGHTNING...
GUSTY WINDS...AND POSSIBLY SMALL HAIL.

BOATERS ON LAKE MICHIGAN FROM KEWAUNEE TO SHEBOYGAN SHOULD BE ALERT
FOR THUNDERSTORMS AND SEEK PORT BEFORE THESE STORMS ARRIVE.

THE SAFEST PLACE TO BE DURING A THUNDERSTORM IS IN A STURDY BUILDING.
IF POSSIBLE...MOVE TO SHELTER BEFORE THE STORM ARRIVES.  IF YOU ARE
CAUGHT IN AN OPEN FIELD...STAY AWAY FROM TALL OBJECTS SUCH AS LONE
TREES.
Special weather statement, Aug 3, 2:09 PM CDT, 2 hours 57 minutes before
WIZ039-040-050-503-032010-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREEN BAY WI
209 PM CDT WED AUG 3 1994

...STRONG THUNDERSTORMS OVER NORTHEAST WISCONSIN...

AT 205 PM WEATHER RADAR SHOWED STRONG THUNDERSTORMS EXTENDING FROM
5 MILES SOUTHEAST OF GREEN BAY TO 15 MILES WEST OF THE CITY OF
MANITOWOC.  THESE STORMS WERE MOVING EAST AT 30 MILES AN HOUR
AND WILL MOVE ACROSS EASTERN BROWN...KEWAUNEE AND MANITOWOC
COUNTIES BY 245 PM.

THESE STORMS CONTAIN VERY HEAVY RAINS...DANGEROUS LIGHTNING...
GUSTY WINDS...AND POSSIBLY SMALL HAIL.  BOATERS ON LAKE MICHIGAN
FROM KEWAUNEE TO CLEVELAND SHOULD BE ALERT FOR THUNDERSTORMS
APPROACHING THE NEARSHORE WATERS.

DC

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Aug 3, 3:03 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGRBRock57 min
Aug 3, 3:48 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGRBMarquette57 min
Aug 3, 3:59 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGRBGreen Lake61 min
Aug 3, 4:46 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGRBDane59 min
Aug 3, 4:57 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGRBIowa63 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Wisconsin, 1994Every tornado warning in 1994Tornadoes in 1994

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.