Alert archive / Wisconsin / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1994

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 4, NWS Milwaukee, WI

April 18, 1994Waukesha County, Wisconsin

NWS Milwaukee, WI issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Apr 18, 1994, 7:22 PM CDT for Waukesha County, Wisconsin. It was in force for 48 min.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Apr 18, 1994, 7:22 PM CDT (00:22 UTC)
Expired
Apr 18, 1994, 8:10 PM CDT
In force
48 min
Issued by
NWS Milwaukee, WI
Area
Whole counties

County Waukesha County, WI

The nearest sounding before it

Green Bay/Straub, WI (KGRB), launched 00:00Z, 0.4 hours before the alert went out and 163 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 1994-04-19Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 48 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 1994-04-19The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 77 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
48 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-28 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
2802 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
39 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
77 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
105 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
1.0

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KMKE 190022
SVRMKE
WIC133-190130-
 
BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MILWAUKEE/SULLIVAN WI
722 PM CDT MON APR 18 1994
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN MILWAUKEE/SULLIVAN HAS ISSUED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  830 PM CDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...
 
IN SOUTHEAST WISCONSIN
 
   ...WAUKESHA COUNTY
 
AT 720 PM CDT DOPPLER WEATHER RADAR SHOWED A LINE OF SEVERE
THUNDERSTORMS MOVING THROUGH JEFFERSON COUNTY...RACING EAST TOWARD
WAUKESHA COUNTY.  THE LINE OF STORMS EXTENDS FROM 5 MILES NORTHEAST
OF THE CITY OF JEFFERSON THROUGH WHITEWATER TO JANESVILLE.
 
THESE STORMS ARE MOVING EAST AT 50 MPH AND WILL MOVE INTO WAUKESHA
COUNTY...ESPECIALLY THE SOUTHERN PORTION DURING THE NEXT HOUR.
 
WHEN THUNDERSTORMS ARE OCCURRING...PEOPLE SHOULD MOVE INSIDE A
STRONG BUILDING.  DO NOT STAND BY WINDOWS.  DON'T USE TELEPHONES
UNLESS IN AN EMERGENCY UNTIL THE STORM HAS PASSED.
 ~
DAVIS

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, Apr 18, 5:53 PM CDT, 1 hour 29 minutes before
WIZ043>047-055>057-062-063-068-069-182355-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MADISON WI
552 PM CDT MON APR 18 1994

...STRONG THUNDERSTORMS IN WESTERN WISCONSIN...

A FEW ISOLATED STRONG THUNDERSTORMS HAVE DEVELOPED IN CRAWFORD
AND GRANT COUNTIES IN WESTERN WISCONSIN WITHIN THE LAST HOUR.
THERE HAVE BEEN UNOFFICIAL REPORTS OF STRONG WINDS AND HEAVY
DOWNPOURS WITH THESE STORMS WHICH ARE LOCATED NEAR MT STERLING
...37 MILES SOUTH-SOUTHEAST OF LA CROSSE...AND MUSCODA IN GRANT
COUNTY...50 MILES NORTH-NORTHEAST OF DUBUQUE.

THE THUNDERSTORMS WERE MOVING TO THE EAST AT 40 MILES AN HOUR.
PERSONS IN RICHLAND AND IOWA COUNTIES SHOULD BE ON THE ALERT FOR THE
APPROACH OF THESE STORMLS AND BE PREPARED TO TAKE SHELTER

MC MAHON
Special weather statement, Apr 18, 6:05 PM CDT, 1 hour 17 minutes before
WIZ051-052-058>060-064>066-070>072-502-190200-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MILWAUKEE/SULLIVAN WI
600 PM CDT MON APR 18 1994

...SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS APPROACHING SOUTHEAST WISCONSIN...

AT 600 PM WEATHER RADAR SHOWED SCATTERED SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS MOVING
FROM SOUTHWEST INTO SOUTH CENTRAL WISCONSIN.  THE LEADING EDGE OF THE
STORMS WAS EAST OF LONE ROCK RACING EAST AT 45 TO 50 MPH.

THE SCATTERED STORMS ARE EXPECTED TO MOVE INTO FAR SOUTHERN DODGE...
JEFFERSON AND WALWORTH COUNTIES AROUND 7 PM...AND THEN INTO WAUKESHA
...MILWAUKEE...RACINE AND KENOSHA COUNTIES BY 8 PM.

THESE STORMS CONTAIN BRIEF VERY HEAVY RAIN AND STRONG GUSTY WINDS.
IF YOU SEE THESE STORMS APPROACHING FROM THE WEST TAKE SHELTER.

SANDLER

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Apr 18, 7:29 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMKXKenosha, Racine61 min
Apr 18, 7:29 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMKXMilwaukee61 min
Apr 18, 7:42 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMKXWalworth18 min

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Wisconsin, 1994Every severe thunderstorm warning 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.