Alert archive / Wisconsin / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1996

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 33, NWS Twin Cities, MN

May 18, 1996Polk County, Saint Croix County, Wisconsin

NWS Twin Cities, MN issued this severe thunderstorm warning at May 18, 1996, 11:21 PM CDT for Polk County, Saint Croix County, Wisconsin. It was in force for 54 min. 2 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
May 18, 1996, 11:21 PM CDT (04:21 UTC)
Expired
May 19, 1996, 12:15 AM CDT
In force
54 min
Issued by
NWS Twin Cities, MN
Area
Whole counties

Counties Polk County, WI, Saint Croix County, WI

The radar

The Minneapolis radar (KMPX), 98 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 04:24 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
May 18, 11:27 PM CDTHail 1.75Frederic, WI
May 18, 11:45 PM CDTHail 1New Richmond, 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

Minneapolis, MN (KMPX), launched 00:00Z, 4.4 hours before the alert went out and 101 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, Minneapolis, MN at 00:00Z on 1996-05-19Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 9 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, Minneapolis, MN at 00:00Z on 1996-05-19The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 86 square meters per square second.1939587897Sfc1 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
9 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-231 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
2274 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
76 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
86 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
150 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 KMSP 190422
SVRMSP
MNC025-059-WIC095-109-190515-
 
BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MINNEAPOLIS MN
1121 PM CDT SAT MAY 18 1996
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN MINNEAPOLIS HAS ISSUED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 1215 AM CDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONS...
 
IN EAST CENTRAL MINNESOTA
 
   ...CHISAGO COUNTY...ISANTI COUNTY
 
 
IN WEST CENTRAL WISCONSIN
 
   ...POLK COUNTY...ST CROIX COUNTY
 
AT 1115 PM CDT...DOPPLER RADAR IN CHANHASSEN INDICATED A LINE OF SEVERE
STORMS OVER EAST CENTRAL MINNESOTA INTO EXTREME WEST CENTRAL
WISCONSIN...OR NEAR THE TWIN CITIES TO NEAR HUDSON. THE STORMS WERE
MOVING NORTHEAST AT 35 MPH. SOME CITIES IN THE PATH OF THESE STORMS ARE
HUDSON...CAMBRIDGE...SPRING LAKE...ST CROIX AND GLENWOOD CITY.
 
A TORNADO WATCH IS ALSO IN EFFECT.  REMEMBER SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS
CAN PRODUCE TORNADOES WITH LITTLE OR NO WARNING.  BE READY TO
QUICKLY MOVTE TO THE BASEMENT.
 
JVM

The office that day

Everything else NWS Twin Cities, MN issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 19, 12:07 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMPXPolk53 min
May 19, 12:58 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMPXBarron, Rusk62 min
May 19, 12:58 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMPXPolk62 min
May 19, 1:17 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMPXPierce58 min
May 19, 1:17 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMPXSaint Croix58 min
May 19, 1:59 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMPXChippewa, Dunn, Eau Claire, Pepin76 min
May 19, 1:59 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMPXBarron, Polk, Rusk, Saint Croix76 min
May 19, 1:59 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMPXPierce76 min
May 19, 2:45 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMPXChippewa, Eau Claire60 min
May 19, 2:45 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMPXRusk60 min

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Wisconsin, 1996Every severe thunderstorm warning 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.