Alert archive / Wisconsin / Tornado Warnings in 1996

Tornado Warning 6, NWS Green Bay, WI

July 18, 1996Outagamie County, Winnebago County, Wisconsin

NWS Green Bay, WI issued this tornado warning at Jul 18, 1996, 6:02 PM CDT for Outagamie County, Winnebago County, Wisconsin. It was in force for 48 min. 4 reports 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, 6:02 PM CDT (23:02 UTC)
Expired: Jul 18, 1996, 6:50 PM CDT
In force: 48 min
Issued by: NWS Green Bay, WI
Area: Whole counties

Counties Outagamie County, WI, Winnebago County, WI

The radar

The Green Bay radar (KGRB), 45 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 23:02 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

Time	Report	Where
Jul 18, 6:23 PM CDT	Thunderstorm Wind	Appleton, WI
Jul 18, 6:25 PM CDT	Thunderstorm Wind 52	Neenah, WI
Jul 18, 6:25 PM CDT	Hail 0.75	Neenah, WI
Jul 18, 6:40 PM CDT	Thunderstorm Wind	Oshkosh, 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, 11.0 hours before the alert went out and 45 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-p

Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.

Hodograph

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 182303
TORGRB
WIC087-139-182350-

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

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN GREEN BAY WI HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 650 PM CDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...

IN EAST-CENTRAL WISCONSIN

   ...SOUTHERN OUTAGAMIE COUNTY

   ...NORTHERN WINNEBAGO COUNTY

 
AT 600 PM...DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WITH A
TORNADO NEAR THE TOWNS OF WEYAUWEGA AND READFIELD.  THE STORM WAS
MOVING EAST-SOUTHEAST AT 30 MPH TOWARD DALE...HORTONVILLE...AND
WINCHESTER. THE STORM WILL HIT APPLETON AND NEENAH-MENASHA BETWEEN 615
AND 630 PM.
 
IF YOU ARE IN THE PROJECTED PATH OF THE TORNADO YOU SHOULD TAKE
SHELTER IMMEDIATELY.  GO TO A BASEMENT...OR A SMALL INTERIOR ROOM
ON THE LOWEST FLOOR OF YOUR HOUSE.

J K LAST/BRUSKY

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

Local storm report, Jul 18, 4:38 PM CDT, 1 hour 24 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREEN BAY WI
437 PM CDT THU JUL 18 1996

TIME(CDT)  .....CITY LOCATION.....STATE   ...EVENT/REMARKS...
           ....COUNTY LOCATION....

0400 PM    STRATFORD                 WI   .75 INCH HAIL
07/18/96   MARATHON

MG

Local storm report, Jul 18, 4:49 PM CDT, 1 hour 13 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREEN BAY WI
447 PM CDT THU JUL 18 1996

TIME(CDT)  .....CITY LOCATION.....STATE   ...EVENT/REMARKS...
           ....COUNTY LOCATION....           

0440 PM    9 N STEVENS POINT         WI   .75 INCH HAIL
07/18/96   PORTAGE

MG

Local storm report, Jul 18, 5:40 PM CDT, 22 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREEN BAY WI
543 PM CDT THU JUL 18 1996

TIME(CDT)  .....CITY LOCATION.....STATE   ...EVENT/REMARKS...
           ....COUNTY LOCATION....           R

0533 PM    3 MILES NORTH OF IRMA     WI   TORNADO
07/18/96   LINCOLN                        TORNADO BY PUBLIC

PLH

Local storm report, Jul 18, 5:59 PM CDT, 3 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREEN BAY WI
602 PM CDT THU JUL 18 1996

TIME(CDT)  .....CITY LOCATION.....STATE   ...EVENT/REMARKS...
           ....COUNTY LOCATION....

0553 PM    EAST SIDE OF WAUPACA      WI   WIND DAMAGE
07/18/96   WAUPACA                        3 FT DIAMETER TREES DOWN

PLH

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Jul 18, 9:35 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	GRB	Langlade, Lincoln, Marathon	55 min
Jul 18, 3:35 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	GRB	Marathon	55 min
Jul 18, 4:00 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	GRB	Marathon	30 min
Jul 18, 4:25 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	GRB	Portage	50 min
Jul 18, 4:32 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	GRB	Portage	48 min
Jul 18, 5:06 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	GRB	Lincoln, Oneida	64 min
Jul 18, 5:21 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	GRB	Portage, Waupaca	64 min
Jul 18, 5:38 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	GRB	Langlade, Lincoln	47 min
Jul 18, 5:45 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	GRB	Waupaca	45 min
Jul 18, 6:29 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	GRB	Calumet	46 min

Nearby

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