Alert archive / Wisconsin / Tornado Warnings in 1996

Tornado Warning 15, NWS Milwaukee, WI

July 18, 1996Ozaukee County, Washington County, Wisconsin

NWS Milwaukee, WI issued this tornado warning at Jul 18, 1996, 8:53 PM CDT for Ozaukee County, Washington County, Wisconsin. It was in force for 47 min. 3 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, 8:53 PM CDT (01:53 UTC)
Expired
Jul 18, 1996, 9:40 PM CDT
In force
47 min
Issued by
NWS Milwaukee, WI
Area
Whole counties

Counties Ozaukee County, WI, Washington County, WI

The radar

The Milwaukee radar (KMKX), 61 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 02:06 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, 8:56 PM CDTThunderstorm WindWaubeka, WI
Jul 18, 8:58 PM CDTThunderstorm WindKewaskum, WI
Jul 18, 9:25 PM CDTThunderstorm WindHartford, 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 00:00Z, 1.9 hours before the alert went out and 122 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 1996-07-19Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 2604 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 1996-07-19The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 137 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
2604 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-9 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
773 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
51 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
137 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
181 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
2.5
Supercell composite
9.9

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KMKE 190155
TORMKE
WIC089-131-190240-

BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MILWAUKEE/SULLIVAN WI
853 PM CDT THU JUL 18 1996

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN MILWAUKEE/SULLIVAN HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 940 PM CDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...

IN SOUTHEAST WISCONSIN

   ...NORTHERN WASHINGTON COUNTY
   ...OZAUKEE COUNTY

 
AT 849 PM CDT...A TORNADO WAS DETECTED BY MILWAUKEE/SULLIVAN DOPPLER
RADAR 22 MILES SOUTHEAST OF FOND DU LAC OR JUST NORTHEAST OF KEWASKUM
IN NORTHEAST WASHINGTON COUNTY MOVING EAST SOUTHEAST AT 46 MPH.

THIS TORNADO WILL BE NEAR...
 ST MICHAELS              BY 850 PM CDT
 BOLTONVILLE              BY 853 PM CDT
 FILLMORE                 BY 856 PM CDT
 YOUNG AMERICA            BY 856 PM CDT
 BARTON                   BY 857 PM CDT
 MYRA                     BY 859 PM CDT
 NEWBURG                  BY 900 PM CDT
 WAUBEKA                  BY 902 PM CDT
 FREDONI@A                 BY 904 PM CDT

THIS TORNADIC STORM WILL MOVE INTO OZAUKEE COUNTY.

GO TO THE BASEMENT OR A SMALL INTERIOR ROOM ON THE LOWEST FLOOR.

HENTZ/MEADE

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, Jul 18, 6:16 PM CDT, 2 hours 37 minutes before
WIZ008>009-016>017-027>029-033>034-041-190100-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MILWAUKEE/SULLIVAN WI
615 PM CDT THU JUL 18 1996

THE TORNADO WATCH PREVIOUSLY IN EFFECT HAS BEEN CANCELLE6D IN MUCH
OF WESTERN WISCONSIN. THE THREAT OF SEVERE WEATHER HAS ENDED WEST
OF A LINE FROM PRICE COUNTY SOUTHWARD TO LA CROSSE COUNTY.

BROWNING

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jul 18, 7:05 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMKXFond du Lac, Sheboygan55 min
Jul 18, 7:09 PM CDTTornado WarningMKXFond du Lac31 min
Jul 18, 7:15 PM CDTTornado WarningMKXSheboygan35 min
Jul 18, 7:23 PM CDTTornado WarningMKXDodge, Washington52 min
Jul 18, 7:35 PM CDTTornado WarningMKXFond du Lac50 min
Jul 18, 7:42 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMKXColumbia63 min
Jul 18, 7:51 PM CDTTornado WarningMKXSheboygan44 min
Jul 18, 8:00 PM CDTTornado WarningMKXOzaukee45 min
Jul 18, 8:03 PM CDTTornado WarningMKXColumbia47 min
Jul 18, 8:21 PM CDTTornado WarningMKXDodge, Fond du Lac, Washington44 min
Jul 18, 8:46 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMKXOzaukee49 min
Jul 18, 9:01 PM CDTTornado WarningMKXDodge34 min
Jul 18, 9:10 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMKXWashington60 min
Jul 18, 9:28 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMKXMilwaukee, Waukesha62 min
Jul 18, 9:38 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMKXOzaukee52 min
Jul 18, 9:41 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMKXOzaukee, Washington49 min
Jul 18, 10:09 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMKXMilwaukee36 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.