Alert archive / Wisconsin / Tornado Warnings in 1997

Tornado Warning 21, NWS La Crosse, WI

August 15, 1997Buffalo County, Wisconsin

NWS La Crosse, WI issued this tornado warning at Aug 15, 1997, 9:11 PM CDT for Buffalo County, Wisconsin. It was in force for 49 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
Aug 15, 1997, 9:11 PM CDT (02:11 UTC)
Expired
Aug 15, 1997, 10:00 PM CDT
In force
49 min
Issued by
NWS La Crosse, WI
Area
Whole counties

County Buffalo County, WI

The radar

The La Crosse radar (KARX), 77 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 02:11 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
Aug 15, 9:35 PM CDTThunderstorm Wind 52Fountain City, 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 watch it was issued in

The SPC watch in force over the same counties when this warning went out.

IssuedProductOfficeLasted
Aug 15, 4:15 PM CDTTornado WatchSPC6 hr
Aug 15, 8:00 PM CDTTornado WatchSPC6 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Minneapolis, MN (KMPX), launched 00:00Z, 2.2 hours before the alert went out and 155 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 1997-08-16Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 1954 joules per kilogram.LCLEL10008507005003002001001 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 1997-08-16The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 126 square meters per square second.1939587897117Sfc1 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
1954 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-7 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1106 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
31 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
126 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
194 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
1.0
Supercell composite
5.9

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KLSE 160211 RRA
TORLSE
WIC011-160300-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LA CROSSE WI
911 PM CDT FRI AUG 15 1997

* TORNADO WARNING FOR
    BUFFALO COUNTY - WEST CENTRAL WISCONSIN

* UNTIL 1000 PM CDT
 
* SOME LOCATIONS AFFECTED
    COCHRANE
    BUFFALO
    FOUNTAIN CITY
    WAUMANDEE

* AT 908 PM NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A
  TORNADO 10 MILES SOUTH OF WABASHA...NEAR WEAVER MINNESOTA. THE
  STORM WAS MOVING EAST AT 40 MPH.

* THE STORM WILL BE NEAR COCHRANE BY 930 PM.

IF YOU ARE NEAR THIS DANGEROUS STORM...TAKE COVER IMMEDIATELY IN
THE LOWEST FLOOR AND INNER MOST ROOM OF A BUILDING.

SHEA/NELSON

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Aug 15, 9:30 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningARXTrempealeau45 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Wisconsin, 1997Every tornado warning in 1997Tornadoes in 1997

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.