Alert archive / Wisconsin / Tornado Warnings in 1996

Tornado Warning 3, NWS Green Bay, WI

July 18, 1996Portage County, Wisconsin

NWS Green Bay, WI issued this tornado warning at Jul 18, 1996, 4:32 PM CDT for Portage County, Wisconsin. It was in force for 48 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
Jul 18, 1996, 4:32 PM CDT (21:32 UTC)
Expired
Jul 18, 1996, 5:20 PM CDT
In force
48 min
Issued by
NWS Green Bay, WI
Area
Whole counties

County Portage County, WI

The radar

The Green Bay radar (KGRB), 110 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 21:32 UTC, the scan nearest the moment this went out.

Open the radar archive at this moment

The archived warnings, watches and discussions in force at that minute are drawn over the scan, this one among them.

What was reported inside it

TimeReportWhereRemark
Jul 18, 4:40 PM CDTHail 0.75Stevens Point, 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.

The nearest sounding before it

Green Bay/Straub, WI (KGRB), launched 12:00Z, 9.5 hours before the alert went out and 111 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 1996-07-18Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 74 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°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 1996-07-18The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 147 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
74 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-283 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
548 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
37 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
147 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
152 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.2

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KGRB 182133
TORGRB
WIC097-182220-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREEN BAY WI
432 PM CDT THU JUL 18 1996

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN GREEN BAY WI HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 520 PM CDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...

IN CENTRAL WISCONSIN

   ...NORTHERN PORTAGE COUNTY
 
AT 430 PM...DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A DEVELOPING TORNADO ABOUT 5 MILES
NORTH OF JUNCTION CITY.  A SPOTTER IN THE AREA CONFIRMS THAT A TORNADO
MAY BE DEVELOPING IN THAT AREA.

THE STORM WAS MOVING EAST-SOUTHEAST AT 35 MPH ACROSS RURAL COMMUNITIES
IN THE NORTHERN PART OF THE COUNTY.  THE STORM WILL CROSS HIGHWAY 51
NORTH OF STEVENS POINT BY 445 PM.

THIS WARNING UPGRADES THE PREVIOUS SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING.
 
MOBILE HOMES ARE EASILY DAMAGED BY TORNADO WINDS.  IF YOU ARE
CAUGHT IN THE PATH OF A TORNADO...GO TO A STRONG BUILDING.

J K LAST/BRUSKY
&

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jul 18, 9:35 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGRBLanglade, Lincoln, Marathon55 min
Jul 18, 3:35 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGRBMarathon55 min
Jul 18, 4:00 PM CDTTornado WarningGRBMarathon30 min
Jul 18, 4:25 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGRBPortage50 min
Jul 18, 5:06 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGRBLincoln, Oneida64 min
Jul 18, 5:21 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGRBPortage, Waupaca64 min
Jul 18, 5:38 PM CDTTornado WarningGRBLanglade, Lincoln47 min
Jul 18, 5:45 PM CDTTornado WarningGRBWaupaca45 min
Jul 18, 6:02 PM CDTTornado WarningGRBOutagamie, Winnebago48 min
Jul 18, 6:29 PM CDTTornado WarningGRBCalumet46 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Wisconsin, 1996Every tornado warning in 1996Tornadoes in 1996

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; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.